I had a work conference in Cork, Ireland near the end of August and we decided to extend our stay early starting in Dublin and working our way counter clock-wise through the country. After sharing my itinerary with several people since I've been back, a few who are from Ireland, they all agreed that making the trip to North Ireland was the right decision, and was one of our favorite cities.
Because my work conference was in Cork, that is where I spent days 8-14 of the trip, but will be focusing on the first week. When I was doing research I found a lot of different options, so this is a similar itinerary I'd do if I were to do it again.
Day 1: Arrive in Dublin, Ireland (sleep in Dublin)
Day 2: Belfast
Days 3 and 4: Galway
Day 5-7: Killarney
Day-by-Day Breakdown
Day 1: Our flight landed early, and we didn't have much plans for the day. We went to the Guinness Storehouse which was very cool, and stumbled upon the Book of Kells which was an awesome surprise. We saw a Globe statue around there and were told there were a few others all around the world, and recently saw another in Italy by accident.
Day 2: Woke up pretty yearly to start our drive to Belfast. We went to Tollymore Forest Park, Inch Abbey, and Castle Ward (Game of Thrones stops)
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| Dark Hedges |
Day 3: We left Belfast pretty early to head to the coast. We went to Randalstown, Cushendun Caves, the Dark Hedges, and Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, and Giant's Causeway. At the Giant's Causeway we did splurge on the audio guide tours which we enjoyed, and skipped on the busses going up and down- the walk wasn't that bad. The weather wasn't good and the Rope Bridge was closed, but it was still worth going to look at the views. We arrived in Galway late afternoon/early evening.
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| Giant's Causeway |
Day 4: We woke up in Galway and walked around the town. We dropped into random pubs, shopped in boutiques, and walked along the river, and ate at our Michelin Star restaurant
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| Cliffs of Moher "no climbing" sign |
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| Torc Waterfall |
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| Ring of Kerry had a lot of beautiful beaches |
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| "Lady's View" is a must see in the Ring of Kerry! |
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| Josh getting eloquence from kissing the Blarney Stone |
Getting Around Ireland
We decided with the amount of cities we wanted to see, renting a car would be our best bet. We were able to find a pretty good deal at Dollar, and my credit card (Chase Sapphire Reserve) included CPI Insurance, which means we saved a few hundred dollars by not needing to purchase the insurance from the car company. Our total was about $600 for the two weeks. I have rented cars several times abroad, and this being an English speaking country we felt confident in our navigating capabilities. Driving was pleasant, the round-a-bouts throughout Ireland became an adventure, and even the few wrong turns were all fixed very easily.
We landed in Dublin and had a pretty easy time getting a car. We had proof of insurance from my Credit Card Company, and put Josh as an authorized driver as he would be doing most of the driving. We downloaded the maps on our phone, and GPS proved to be no problem. Unfortunately, night one in Dublin led to a little adventure- we got hit by a drunk driver.
Neither of us, or my friend who happened to be in Ireland at the time who we were driving home after dinner, was hurt too badly- but I was definitely nervous how this process would unfold. Luckily, many witnesses stopped and told the police what happened, and we ended up not being liable. Unfortunately, Chase's coverage did not cover a part of what the rental car company charged us (Loss of use while under repair), so we ended up spending an extra $1000 on rental car. If I had to rent a car again, I would just pay the extra $300 to use the rental car's insurance as Chase was a huge problem to work with, and took about 6 months to get reimbursed.
The drive time from Dublin ti Belfast was 2 hours, Belfast to Galway was 4 hours, Galway to Killarney was 3 hours, and Killarney to Cork was 1.5 hours. Both of us flew out of Cork at the end of the trip.
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| Car crash in Dublin |
Accommodations
Dublin: We stayed at an AirBnB near Dublin. We picked it because they had free, designated parking, but unfortunately once we got there it was only street parking. The main tip I would give here is get a meeting spot in Dublin other than the actual address, like a nearby store, because things were very hard to find in Dublin.
Belfast: We stayed in this great Air BnB. Jon was a great host, and after a brief tour and some recommendations, we didn't see him again. He is an architect/contractor and his house design is really, really cool and spacious. The views from his backyard are phenomenal, and at $109 a night, this was a great deal.
Galway: This was probably my favorite AirBnB I have ever stayed at! The place was cute, cozy, and a great location. The owners over-communicated and made it super easy to find the location, included lots of maps, and recommendations for great food and drink! This is when we ate at Aniar, which helped make this city our favorite in Ireland. After fees, this was about $150 a night.
Kilarney: We stayed at The Lake Hotel Killarney. This was a beautiful property with a beautiful room, and was the splurge of our trip at about $255 a night. While beautiful, we had a lot to do in Killarney, and didn't get to spend too much time enjoying the beautiful hotel- so if you can budget for this I'd recommend it, but there's so much to do here its ok to find something cheaper.
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