In late October, we used some airline points to book a trip over my birthday to beautiful Ireland!! The country had been on our must-travel-to list for some time, and when we got a flight deal that was too good to be true, we snapped it up and packed our wellies for the Emerald Isle! Because of the time of year, everywhere we went had a local feel, without the crowds of tours that accompany the warmer months. Here’s our itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive into Dublin, get rental car, head 2 hours to the East Coast and our destination of Galway! We stayed at the Huntsman Inn in Galway and we couldn’t recommend it more! Spacious, modern rooms with a cozy Irish exterior, delicious food and a perfect location. We walked around the town, ate shepherd’s pie at The Pie Shoppe, and explored Connemara National Park (Kylemore Abbey, Ashford Castle and tons of beautiful scenery up there!).
Day 2: Cliffs of Moher!!! We found a back entrance that led you about 10 km back to a house where you drop 2E into a box and hike the opposite direction than the tourism center entrance. Best find ever!!! The Cliffs were SO breathtaking and being the only ones there made it even more special!! After the Cliffs of Moher, we got lunch at an adorable pub and headed for the Dingle Peninsula! We drove all the way out to Dunquin’s Pier for sunset – SO beautiful.
Day 3: Ring of Kerry Drive! We started in Dingle, checked out Inch Beach (famous for its long flat beach where an inch of water sits, reflecting the clouds and sky!). After lots of hot chocolate to load up for the drive, we set out to see the Ring of Kerry castles. Towards the end of the drive, the scenery really started getting incredible and by the time we got to Killarney, we were in love! Killarney’s magical moss covered forests, waterfalls, Lakes of Killarney, castles, estate homes and pubs (oh and Murphy’s ice cream!!!) made us wish we could stay several more days in this amazing area! We found the best local pub in town that night and enjoyed delicious Irish potato stew + Guinness!
Day 4: Breakfast in Killarney, then we started to make the roadtrip back up towards Dublin, stopping at every castle we could, including the Rock of Cashel, before arriving to our hotel.
Day 5: Early morning flight home!
