we got to take a 10 day trip to ireland with my parents in october 2018. we fit a lot of activity and sight seeing in 10 days and got to see a lot of the country. there is always more to see, but i think we got a lot done in our time there.
to finish planning your road trip, check out my packing list for 10 days in ireland and my tips for renting a car in ireland.
pin this post to save for later!
we planned this trip so we stayed two nights in a row at each stop. this was nice because it let us settle in a little more than if we would have been moving each night. we also planned so that we would only driver longer distances every other day. this helped keep us fresh and not in the car for more than about an hour on our short driving days. here is what i consider a great 10 day ireland itinerary!
day 1
since we were travelling to ireland from the united states, our first day was spent on the plane. we were able to leave from kansas city and fly to philadelphia where we met my parents before heading out for dublin! i even worked half a day before we left. it’s always great to save vacation time where you can.
for those of you that haven’t flown to europe before, these flights are often overnight flights due to the time difference. you leave the us in the evening and arrive in europe in the morning. it is great if you can sleep on this flight so you have a little energy for the first day at your destination and avoid a little of the jet lag that comes with changing time zones.
day 2
we arrived in dublin at about 9am. once we cleared customs and immigration we took a bus to the gresham hotel to meet up with my cousin. we dropped our bags off and walked to my parents airbnb to do the same. by that time we were hungry so we stopped in a nice little pub for our first irish food and drink. to read more about what we did in dublin during our trip check out that post.
from there we took a free walking tour with sandemans new europe walking tours. this was a three hour walking tour that started at city hall and explored some of the attractions of dublin. there was a lot more standing than walking on this tour, but our tour guide was very entertaining and funny.
dublin castle 
trinity college dublin 
trinity college dublin 
trinity college dublin
we learned about irish history, some irish phrases, saw dublin castle, trinity college, temple bar, and the molly malone statue.
by the end of this tour we were all very tired and decided to stop for a drink at the irish whiskey museum before heading back to bed and to prepare for the next day of our adventure
day 3
for day three we took a day tour to northern ireland. northern ireland is a part of great britian and there is still tension present from the fighting between catholics and protestants. on this tour with wild rover we were in a large tour bus with a driver and tour guide. we learned a lot more about the history of ireland, northern ireland, and how the island got separated into two countries. read more about our day in northern ireland in my post here.
our first stop was in belfast which is one of the hardest hit areas of the troubles. the troubles are conflicts between the protestant english and catholic irish throughout irish history. here we took a “black cab” tour with a local where he showed us around town, told us the history, and shared some of his personal history and involvement in the troubles. there are many murals throughout the catholic side of town to honor those who gave their lives fighting for one ireland.
black cab tour belfast 
peace wall belfast
our next stop was at the giants causeway. we were given quite a bit of time at this location which was great since the weather was beautiful for the most part. the giants causeway is a series of hexagonal basalt columns formed by an ancient volcano, but scientists still don’t know why they took this particular shape. the irish are famous for being story tellers though, and the legend has it that fin mccool, the giant, used these stones as a walkway to bridge the gap to scotland to fued with the giant there. i think either option is a possible origin story
giants causeway northern ireland 
giants causeway northern ireland 
giants causeway northern ireland 
giants causeway northern ireland
this day really felt like we were in ireland getting to see the countryside and that beautiful green grass
our next adventure took us to carrick-a-rede rope bridge. this is an old fishing bridge that is 20 meters long and 30 meters above the crashing atlantic ocean. i have to admit i was a little scared, but i made it across to the tiny island and back in one piece!
carrick a rede rope bridge northern ireland 
carrick a rede rope bridge northern ireland
from here we headed back to dublin. this was a full 13 hour day and the time flew by thanks to all the beautiful sights and commentary by our tour guide. we met back up with my cousin and ate dinner in the temple bar area and experienced a little dublin nightlife. this was actually my birthday and the band at the pub sang happy birthday to me!
my birthday in temple bar, dublin ireland
day 4
we took our time getting ready this morning after our long day in northern ireland. in hindsight getting out of town about an hour earlier would have been nice. we walked to a downtown location to pick up a rental car to head out of town. after a quick lesson about driving on the wrong side of the road from my cousin we were off!
we headed west out of dublin and our first stop was for nick. we stopped at the k club golf course and explored the grounds a club house for a bit.
the k club golf course 
nick on the first tee at the k club golf course
we got back on the highway and headed to tullamore dew distillery. this distillery has recently re-opened and has a fun tour with old equipment in their original location. there is also a restaurant there where we grabbed a quick late lunch. the tour included a whiskey tasting too of course!
we continued westward and this is where the trip got interesting. we were using my phone for gps and it decided to take us on a “shortcut”. this ended up being a tiny, winding two lane road with a speed limit way faster than i felt comfortable going. we pulled in the side mirrors, took our time, and make it safely. this part of the trip was pretty stressful for my first time driving on these narrow roads and on the wrong side of the road though. lesson learned for the rest fo the trip to avoid these types of shortcuts!
our detour did take us by this neat old cemetery where we got out for a bit to stretch our legs and explore. the shortcut wasn’t all bad!
we continued until we reached the cliff of moher. we arrived just in time for sunset and it was beautiful. read more about our stop here.
cliffs of moher 
cliffs of moher
from here we headed to our bed and breakfast in doolin, just about 10 minutes drive away. our host met us and sent us out for some good pub food and music walking distance away.
we use airbnb when we travel a lot. if you haven’t used it before and are interested in trying use this link to sign up. you will get credit to use on your first trip and so will we! our hosts were great and cooked us wonderful breakfasts each morning.
day 5
on day five we had planned to take the ferry from doolin pier to inishmore. this is the largest of the aran islands which has some very old ruins and a lot of irish culture. unfortunately the weather had other plans. all the ferries were cancelled that day.
the beauty of a road trip is that you can be flexible with your plans since you have your own mode of transportation. read here in depth on our two days in doolin.
we explored the burren and went for a nice little hike. we also stopeed in town in doolin for a hot whiskey and an irish coffee to warm up! we saw portal tomb and other attractions in the area.
burren national park 
portal tomb
we spent another great night at a pub in doolin for dinner and music and geared up for our road trip the next day! if you are looking for more great things to do in doolin check out this post from ireland travel guides. they have even more things to see and do here.
day 6
the next day after our breakfast we headed towards dingle. we decided to drive the dingle peninsula to see some of the wild atlantic way and beautiful irish coast. we chose this route instead of the more popular ring of kerry because it is shorter and has less tourist buses i would have to drive by. read more about our dingle peninsula drive here.
cow crossing on the dingle peninsula 
inch beach dingle peninsula 
ireland countryside
we had lunch and ice cream in dingle after our drive before heading out to killarney. we stayed in the very small town of beaufort just outside killarney on a sheep farm airbnb.
murphys ice cream in dingle 
sheep at our airbnb
we went and ate dinner at kate kearneys cottage just outside the gap of dunloe before crashing for the night.
day 7
we took the day today to explore killarney town and killarney national park. stops included the muckross house and abbey, ross castle, torc waterfall, and more ice cream! read all about it here.
carriage ride in killarney national park 
ross castle 
carriage ride in killarney national park 
torc waterfall in killarney national park 
yew tree in muckross abbey 
kerry cows at muckross abbey
we only scratched the surface of killarney national park, but we saw some beautiful scenery and enjoyed our day!
day 8
we headed out this morning for another day of driving back east. our first stop was actually just a minute from our air bnb to see ogham stones.
then we headed to blarney. we got there early enough on a wednesday to miss the crowds. there is so much more to do at blarney castle than just kiss the blarney stone. read about it here!
me kissing the blarney stone 
blarney castle 
blarney castle garden fall colors 
blarney castle
we then headed to waterford to visit the crystal factory. it was great to see them working each step of the process to make the beautiful pieces waterford is known for. read more about our experience here.
who let nick hold the waterford crystal? 
waterford crystal blowing 
waterford crystal 
waterford crystal etching
on all of our driving days we made sure to stop at all the scenic overlooks we came across. we couldn’t get enough of the beautiful countryside.
we ended our day in wicklow ireland in time to check into our airbnb adn graba quick dinner.
day 9
we started our day with a great fresh made breakfast from our airbnb host. we headed to glendalough first for some exploration in a light rain.
glendalough upper lake 
glendalough 
glendalough 
glendalough
we then explored wicklow national park and the wicklow mountains and the guinness lake! read more about our time in wicklow here.
wicklow national park 
lough tay aka guiness lake
for our final adventure of the day we took brides head walk from our airbnb and saw a private beach with a seal and lighthouses. and we saw another beautiful irish sunset.
brides head walk near wicklow 
brides head walk near wicklow 
off the beaten path at wicklow brides head walk 
a seal on our brides head walk near wicklow
we had a great dinner in wicklow. it was also nick’s birthday and we got to celebrate for lunch and dinner. and yes that’s right, we take birthday trips every year!
day 10
our final day in ireland included a visit at wicklow gaol (jail). it was decorated for halloween and a fun interactive experience.
we then headed back to dublin to do some final exploring with my cousin. read more about what to do in dublin here.
walk in dublin with the family 
whelans pump dublin
day 11
ok so there was actually an 11th day to our trip. don’t worry though, it was just to go to the airport and fly home. depending on flight times you could fly out on day 10 as well.
check out my ireland packing list and tips for renting a car in ireland.
so there it is, our 10 day adventure in ireland! we were able to fit so much into our 10 days in ireland! have you seen any of these places? what are your favorite places in ireland we didn’t fit in? leave your comment below!
follow us on social media to stay up to date on all our adventures! facebook, instagram, twitter, and pinterest are great places to get travel and adventure inspiration!
sharing is caring! save this post for your travel inspiration on pinterest!
You must be logged in to post a comment.