Ireland: Dublin, Kerry, the Cliffs of Moher and Galway

1. Day 1: Arrive in Dublin

   Dublin Airport to your hotel in the city centre, then a first walk along the Liffey

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Dublin
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Dublin Airport (DUB), about 10 km north of the city, and a driver meets you in arrivals for the ride to our hotel in the centre, within walking distance of Trinity College and Grafton Street. Land by about 2 pm if you can; arriving a day early is easy to arrange and gives you a spare day to get over the flight. In the late afternoon your See Sight Tours guide takes the group on a gentle first walk: along the river to the Ha'penny Bridge, an iron footbridge from 1816, through the narrow lanes of Temple Bar and up Grafton Street to St Stephen's Green, a Victorian park in the middle of Georgian Dublin. It is an easy hour on flat pavements and a chance to learn names before dinner. Then we sit down together for a welcome dinner, with a short briefing on the week ahead: what to pack for the west, how the days are paced and where the music is.

   Included

   • Private transfer from Dublin Airport (DUB)
   • First walk with your guide: the Ha'penny Bridge, Temple Bar, Grafton Street and St Stephen's Green
   • Welcome dinner and briefing

   Free time: Free until the late-afternoon walk

   Activity: About an hour on foot on flat city pavements.

2. Day 2: Trinity College, Georgian Dublin and a music session

   Dublin on foot: Trinity College, Dublin Castle, Merrion Square and O'Connell Street

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Dublin
   Day 2 details

   We walk to Trinity College for the first entry of the morning, before the queue builds, to see the Book of Kells, a gospel book made by monks around the year 800 and the best known of Ireland's medieval manuscripts, with the exhibition Trinity runs while the Old Library's Long Room is closed for conservation; we see what is open that season. Trinity was founded in 1592 and its cobbled squares are still a working university. A local guide then walks us through the city's story: the courtyard of Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral from the outside, the painted Georgian doors of Merrion Square, and the GPO on O'Connell Street, headquarters of the 1916 Rising, with independence told where it happened. The afternoon is yours. The National Museum of Archaeology on Kildare Street is free and holds the Ardagh Chalice and the Iron Age bog bodies; Kilmainham Gaol and the Guinness Storehouse are optional extras we book ahead at the price shown. In the evening your guide takes the group to a pub with a traditional music session, the musicians around a table and the room listening.

   Included

   • The Book of Kells and the current exhibition at Trinity College, first entry of the morning
   • Guided walk of historic Dublin with a local guide: Dublin Castle, Christ Church, Merrion Square and the GPO
   • Evening at a traditional music session with your guide

   Optional experiences

   • Kilmainham Gaol guided tour (extra, booked ahead, price shown at booking)
   • The Guinness Storehouse (extra, price shown at booking)

   Easier option: Leave the walk after Dublin Castle and rest at the hotel before the evening.

   More active option: Walk on from Merrion Square along the Grand Canal towpath, about 3 km, with your guide's map.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Dublin

   Activity: About 3 hours on foot on city pavements, with time to sit at the museum or a cafe.

3. Day 3: The Rock of Cashel and on to Killarney

   Dublin to Cashel, then Mitchelstown, Mallow and Killarney

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Killarney
   Day 3 details

   We leave Dublin at about 8:30 and take the motorway south-west through the Midlands, about two hours to Cashel in County Tipperary. The Rock of Cashel rises out of flat farmland, a limestone outcrop crowned by a round tower, a roofless 13th-century cathedral and Cormac's Chapel, consecrated in 1134, with Romanesque carving and some of the oldest surviving wall paintings in Ireland. This was the seat of the kings of Munster until it was given to the church in 1101. We spend about an hour and a half on the Rock, then sit down to lunch in Cashel town below. In the afternoon it is about two hours more through Mitchelstown and Mallow into County Kerry, with the mountains showing ahead as we near the coast. This is the longest drive of the trip apart from day 6, about four hours in all, split evenly by the Rock and lunch. We reach Killarney in the late afternoon. The evening is free: the town is small, and in season its pubs have music most nights.

   Included

   • The Rock of Cashel: the round tower, the cathedral and Cormac's Chapel
   • Sit-down lunch in Cashel

   Free time: Evening free in Killarney

   Activity: About an hour and a half on foot on the Rock, on grass and uneven stone with a short climb from the car park.

   

4. Day 4: Killarney National Park before the coaches

   Killarney to Ross Castle, Muckross House and Abbey, Torc Waterfall and Ladies View, and back

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Killarney
   Day 4 details

   Killarney National Park begins at the edge of town, and today we take it slowly. Early, before the day tours arrive, we walk the shore path of Lough Leane to Ross Castle, a 15th-century tower house we see from the outside while the lake is still. Then on to Muckross House for one of its first guided tours of the morning: a Victorian mansion finished in 1843, whose estate was given to the state in 1932 and became the core of Ireland's first national park. From the house a level path leads through the gardens and along the lake to Muckross Abbey, a Franciscan friary with an old yew tree growing in its cloister. A short drive takes us to Torc Waterfall, a ten-minute walk up a wooded stream, then we climb the road to Ladies View, the lookout over the Upper Lake named after Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting, who admired it in 1861. We are back in town by about 2 pm, with the afternoon free for a late lunch and a rest. Tonight we have dinner together, with live traditional music.

   Included

   • Ross Castle from the outside and the Lough Leane shore path
   • Muckross House guided tour, its gardens and Muckross Abbey
   • Torc Waterfall
   • Ladies View over the Upper Lake
   • Dinner with live traditional music

   Optional experiences

   • A guided tour inside Ross Castle (timed tours in season), in the free afternoon

   Easier option: Ride from Muckross House to the abbey and back in the van instead of walking.

   More active option: Climb the steps above Torc Waterfall to the viewpoint over the lakes, about 45 minutes up and down.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Killarney

   Activity: About 2 to 3 hours on foot on level park paths, with a short uphill walk at Torc Waterfall.

5. Day 5: Inch Beach, the Slea Head Drive and a night in Dingle

   Killarney to Inch Beach and Dingle, then the Slea Head loop and back to Dingle

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Dingle
   Day 5 details

   We drive west out of Killarney, about an hour and a quarter to the Dingle Peninsula, stopping at Inch Beach, a sand spit of about five kilometres running out across Dingle Bay. Dingle town is in the Gaeltacht, where Irish is spoken day to day, and we have lunch there before the Slea Head Drive. A minivan is the right size for this road: it is narrow, it hugs the cliffs, and we can pull in where we want. We stop at the clochans, dry-stone beehive huts on the hillside at Fahan, at Slea Head for the view to the Blasket Islands, and at Dunquin. The Great Blasket Centre tells the story of the island community, abandoned in 1953, that wrote a shelf of Irish-language books. Coming back past Gallarus Oratory, a dry-stone church shaped like an upturned boat, we reach Dingle by about 5 pm. Tonight is for music: Dingle's pubs are known for their sessions, and your guide takes the group to one.

   Included

   • Inch Beach
   • Sit-down lunch in Dingle town
   • The Slea Head Drive: the Fahan beehive huts, Slea Head and Dunquin
   • The Great Blasket Centre (in season)
   • Gallarus Oratory
   • Evening at a traditional music session in Dingle with your guide

   Easier option: Skip the uphill field path to the beehive huts and watch the view from the van.

   More active option: Walk the coast road from Dunquin pier to the Great Blasket Centre, about 2 km, and meet the van there.

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Dingle before the music

   Activity: Short walks at each stop, on sand, grass and a sloping field path at Fahan. Slea Head is exposed; bring a windproof layer.

   

6. Day 6: The Shannon ferry, the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren

   Dingle to Tarbert, the ferry to Killimer, the Cliffs of Moher, Poulnabrone and Galway

   • Drive about 5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Galway
   Day 6 details

   This is the one day over the driving cap, about five hours at the wheel and 280 km, because it joins Kerry to Galway; the alternative is a one-night stop in Clare and another repack. No leg runs much past an hour and a half. We leave Dingle at 8:30 for Tarbert and the car ferry across the Shannon Estuary to Killimer, about twenty minutes on deck at around 10:30. Lunch is a sit-down meal in west Clare, then we reach the Cliffs of Moher at about 2, after the midday peak. The cliffs run for about 14 km and rise to about 214 m above the Atlantic, and we give them two hours: time to walk north to O'Brien's Tower, built in 1835, and south along the path towards Hag's Head. Heading north by Lisdoonvarna we stop at Poulnabrone, a portal tomb more than 5,000 years old on the bare limestone of the Burren, then follow Galway Bay by Kinvara into the city by about 6:30, with the evening free.

   Included

   • The Tarbert to Killimer car ferry across the Shannon Estuary
   • Sit-down lunch in west Clare
   • The Cliffs of Moher visitor centre and cliff paths, with two hours on site
   • Poulnabrone dolmen in the Burren

   Easier option: Stay on the paved paths near the visitor centre and the viewing platforms by O'Brien's Tower.

   More active option: Walk south on the cliff path towards Hag's Head for about 30 minutes, then turn back, away from the busy central section.

   Free time: Evening free in Galway

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot at the cliffs on paved and gravel paths, with some slopes. Paths close in high wind.

   

7. Day 7: A day in Connemara

   Galway to Oughterard, Recess and Kylemore Abbey, Connemara National Park, Killary Harbour and back by the Maam valley

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Galway
   Day 7 details

   Connemara is the reason to stay two nights in Galway. We head west on the N59 through Oughterard and out into open bog and lake country, with the Twelve Bens and the Maumturk mountains rising ahead. Connemara marble, the green stone used in jewellery and church floors, is quarried in these hills, including at Lissoughter near Recess. By mid-morning we are at Kylemore Abbey, a castle built in the 1860s for the businessman Mitchell Henry and home to Benedictine nuns since 1920; the visit takes in the restored rooms, the small Gothic church and the Victorian Walled Garden. Lunch is at Kylemore. In the afternoon we stop at Connemara National Park at Letterfrack, where the short trails take under an hour and the Diamond Hill loop is there for walkers, then drive along Killary Harbour, a long, narrow sea inlet, to Leenane and back through the Maam valley. If the day is very wet we swap the order and spend longer indoors at Kylemore. We are in Galway by about 6 pm, with the evening free.

   Included

   • The drive through Connemara by Oughterard, Maam Cross and Recess
   • Kylemore Abbey, its Gothic church and the Victorian Walled Garden
   • Lunch at Kylemore
   • Connemara National Park at Letterfrack
   • Killary Harbour and Leenane

   Easier option: Take the shuttle bus between the abbey and the walled garden, and a short level trail at the national park.

   More active option: Walk the Diamond Hill loop, about 7 km and 2.5 to 3 hours, to the 442 m summit with views over Kylemore and the islands; the van waits for you.

   Free time: Evening free in Galway

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot on gravel garden paths and park trails; the Diamond Hill loop is steep and rocky near the top.

   

8. Day 8: Galway's Latin Quarter, Clonmacnoise and back to Dublin

   Galway on foot, then east across the Shannon to Clonmacnoise and on to Dublin

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Dublin
   Day 8 details

   A last morning in Galway, on foot with your guide: from Eyre Square down Shop Street and Quay Street through the Latin Quarter, past St Nicholas' Collegiate Church, founded in 1320, to the Spanish Arch and the river mouth, with the Claddagh, where the ring comes from, across the water. We leave at about 11 and drive east across the Shannon to Clonmacnoise, a monastery founded by St Ciaran in the 540s on a bend of the river. Its round towers, ruined churches and carved high crosses, the originals now kept indoors in the visitor centre, make it one of the most important early Christian sites in Ireland. Lunch is nearby. From there it is about two hours to Dublin on the motorway, arriving in the late afternoon with time to rest. In the evening we gather for a farewell dinner in the city centre.

   Included

   • Guided walk of Galway's Latin Quarter, St Nicholas' Collegiate Church and the Spanish Arch
   • Clonmacnoise monastic site and visitor centre
   • Sit-down lunch near Clonmacnoise
   • Farewell dinner in Dublin

   Free time: Late afternoon free in Dublin

   Activity: About 2 hours on foot, on pavements in Galway and grass paths at Clonmacnoise.

9. Day 9: Depart Dublin

   Your hotel in Dublin to Dublin Airport

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 9 details

   The last morning is free. Have breakfast at the hotel, take a final walk to St Stephen's Green or the doors of Merrion Square, or make a last stop at the shops on Grafton Street. Your guide arranges the transfer to Dublin Airport, about 10 km north of the centre and normally 30 to 45 minutes away depending on traffic, timed to your flight. Book a flight that leaves after about 11 am so you are not rushing breakfast; an earlier flight is fine too, and we time the transfer for it. If you are flying to the United States, allow extra time: Dublin Airport has US preclearance, so you pass US immigration and customs there before boarding. If you want more of Dublin, we can book extra nights at the same hotel. Your guide sees the group off and checks each departure before saying goodbye.

   Included

   • Private transfer to Dublin Airport (DUB)

   Free time: Morning free until your transfer

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 11 am; US-bound travellers should allow time for preclearance.

Wildlife and weather: Ireland's weather changes by the hour in every season, so we keep the order of a day flexible and switch Connemara stops around in heavy rain. The Cliffs of Moher and Slea Head are windy, and cliff paths can close in a gale. Seabirds, puffins among them, nest on the Cliffs of Moher from about April to July. Days are long in June, with light until about 10 pm.

• Dublin2 nights
• Killarney2 nights
• Dingle1 night
• Galway2 nights
• Dublin1 night