With a hired car and just over a week to use it, you will find Ireland offers some truly spectacular sights and stops. Why trust yourself to tour guides when you can pile into your rented car, mark a route on a map and see Ireland your own way? Take in the exquisite Burren plateau, revel in the coastal road in Kerry, and wind up in the bustling city of Dublin.
Take nine days to drive through the regions of Burren and Kerry, then travel across the midlands to Ireland’s capital and fly home from Dublin Airport — if you can bear to leave, once you have seen what Ireland has to offer!
Your first day presupposes arrival at Shannon airport. There, you can hire a car and travel through some charming little villages and towns, including delightful, historic Ennis, to the exquisite fishing village of Doolin. You can take in the Cliffs of Moher before using day two of your trip to explore the beauties of the Burren, which offers visual and historic wonders for all tastes.
Day three will see you on a car ferry across the Shannon River, where you can visit Tralee, a lovely little market town, and a stunning old fort near Caherciveen. Day four why not appeal to the historians in your group, and stop of at Valentia Island, which was the site of the first telegraph across the Atlantic.
On your fifth day, drive to the friendly town of Killarney and take in a few of the attractions there. Admire the lakes, and spend the night in one of the town’s welcoming hotels before day six takes you inland, away from the mountains to County Offaly, home of gorgeous Birr Castle and Demense.
Day seven gives you the chance to run wild in Kildare; why not take a quick jaunt up to Dublin, or take your eighth day to delight in some of the attractions in and around that lovely city, before day nine sees you wrestling with your greatest decision yet— to go home as planned, or settle down to stay!