How to do Ireland in 5 days...

An October 2006 trip to Ireland by lizzers

Quote: For starters, don't do Ireland in 5 days. It deserves much more time. However, if you are short on time, here are some tips...

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We saw 5 cities in Ireland in 6 days, and while it was just about possible, we did end up missing some landmarks. Anyway, here are some tips if you want to get everything in...

We flew into Shannon airport and took the first bus to Doolin to see the Cliffs of Moher. The only problem was, we landed at 6am and the first bus didn't come until around 10, much of our first day was wasted sitting around. Anyway, the cliffs were breathtaking and we spent the night in Doolin among the locals. Doolin is a small, traditional town where everyone knows eachother. I highly recommend spending atleast 1 night in a town like this. I wish we could have stayed longer in Doolin, but you can see most of it in 1 day.

We caught a bus at 8 the next morning to Limerick, then on to Killarney where we were to see the Ring of Kerry. We got there about mid day and walked into town to Deros Tours where we paid 17 euros to take the Killarney highlights tour. It is a 3-hour trip and gets all the major parts of the ring of Kerry, but if you can get to Killarney by 10am, I would recommend the full day trip.

Killarney nightlife was considerably more lively than Doolin and there are plenty of bars and pubs to choose from.

The exciting Killarney nightlife caused us to oversleep the next morning so we caught a 10am bus to Cork and arrived there again around mid day. There is NOTHING in the immediate area of Cork, so rather than go everywhere by bus, we opted to rent a car (europcar had the best deals by a long shot). After enjoying the Cork city center all afternoon, we drove to the coastal town of Cobh for a relaxing night at a wonderfully affordable and accomodating hotel. There is much to do around Cork and Cobh and I wish we had had more time there.

The next morning we drove to Dublin, which took about 3.5 hours. It was an easy drive, very scenic, and so much better than being stuck on a bus.

Dublin was terrific. Temple bar is about 3 blocks of bars, pubs, restaurants, and shops. It is all tourists, so you don't get to hang with the locals. Be wary of where you stay. We stayed at a "B and B" next to the busiest bar in the area, but it was actually a hostel, and the wall of our room was the wall of the beer garden next door. Needless to say, I, along with my 10 new roommates, didn't get to sleep until 3am.

On our last day, we flew back to the west coast and spent it in Bunratty. Bunratty is a quaint little historic town and is definately worth going to, but only for a day. I think you quickly run out of things to do. Definately eat at the Creamery Bar, which is just down the road from Bunratty Castle.

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