10 Days in Ireland: Dublin, Galway, Dingle & Kerry

Fly into Dublin, fly home from Cork. In between: Dublin (2 nights) → Galway (2 nights) → Dingle (2 nights) → Kenmare (2 nights) → Cork (1 night). This 10 day Ireland itinerary crosses the island from east to west and then runs down the Atlantic coast, so every day moves you forward.

It leaves out Northern Ireland, the Giant's Causeway and Donegal. They are in the north, and adding them costs three more days. Our 11-day Epic Ireland tour does include them.

Dublin is compact, and a day and a half covers the main sights. The Book of Kells at Trinity College is the headline, and the Long Room library next to it is worth the ticket on its own. Book both for the morning, because the queue builds from 10 am.

The better half-day is outside the city. Newgrange, in the Boyne Valley about 45 minutes north, is a passage tomb built around 3200 BC, older than Stonehenge and the pyramids of Giza. Entry is by guided tour from the Brú na Bóinne visitor centre, and tickets sell out in summer. Dublin pubs can wait for the second night.

The drive from Dublin to Galway takes about 2.5 hours on the motorway. Galway is small, colourful and loud in the evenings: street musicians on Shop Street, oysters and mussels at the Latin Quarter restaurants, and pubs that open their doors to live music most nights.

Use the second day for Connemara or the Aran Islands. Connemara is a drive of lakes, bog and bare mountains, with Kylemore Abbey on the shore of a lough. The ferry to Inis Mór, the largest Aran island, leaves from Rossaveel (about 40 minutes), and a bicycle or pony trap takes you to Dún Aonghasa, a stone fort on a 100-metre cliff edge. The ferries are weather-dependent, so keep both days flexible.

Day five is a long and rewarding day on the road. Drive south from Galway through the Burren, a grey limestone plateau with rare flowers in the cracks, then the Cliffs of Moher, which rise to about 214 metres and run for 8 kilometres. Go early, as the coach groups arrive after 11 am. A short drive south, the Killimer to Tarbert car ferry crosses the Shannon estuary in about 20 minutes and saves around 90 minutes of driving.

Dingle is a working fishing town with a small harbour, a long tradition of live music, and more pubs than you can fit into two nights. The Slea Head Drive, about 47 kilometres around the western end of the peninsula, passes beehive huts, Atlantic cliffs and views of the Blasket Islands. Allow half a day with stops.

From Dingle, take the coast road past Inch beach to Killarney and on to Kenmare, about 1.75 hours without stops. The Ring of Kerry is a 179-kilometre loop around the Iveragh Peninsula. Most coaches go anticlockwise, so going clockwise avoids the convoys and gives you the best views.

Kenmare is a good base: a neat town with good restaurants and a stone circle at the edge. Day eight is the free day. Take a jaunting car or a walk through the Gap of Dunloe, or drive the quieter Beara Peninsula. In summer and early autumn, boats to Skellig Michael, the monastic island in the Star Wars films, run from Portmagee when weather allows. Landings are limited and sell out early, so book months ahead.

Cork is about 2 hours from Kenmare, and a good place to finish. Stop at Blarney Castle for the gardens and the stone, then spend the evening in the city. The English Market, a covered food hall dating from 1788, is the best place to eat lunch, and the pubs on Oliver Plunkett Street fill up from 7 pm. Cork Airport is 20 minutes from the centre.

Dublin: south of the Liffey, near St Stephen's Green or Merrion Square, on foot to everything. Galway: near the Spanish Arch or Eyre Square. Dingle: in town, but on the harbour side. Kenmare: in town or at a country house a few minutes out. Cork: near the river, close to the English Market. Rural Ireland suits small inns and country houses, and they book up early for July and August.

May, June and September are best. The days are long, with light until 10 pm in June, and the roads are quieter than in July and August. Rain can fall in any month, so pack a waterproof coat and plan on one wet day. Many small attractions in the west close from November to March, and some Dingle and Kerry guesthouses shut for the winter.

Want less driving? Drop Cork and fly home from Shannon or Kerry, or end in Kenmare. Want the north? Replace one night in Galway with a night in Belfast and a day on the Causeway Coast, which is the route of our 11-day Epic Ireland tour. Short of time? Our 8-day Wild Atlantic Way tour runs the south-west coast from Cork to Galway in the opposite direction. Got 12 days? Add the Beara Peninsula and a night in Kilkenny.

We book your drivers, timed tickets for the Book of Kells and Newgrange, ferries to the Aran Islands, and small hotels in each town. One person on our team is your contact from the first email to the flight home.