ellen75005

Greetings Fodorites,

My daughter and I will be in Ireland later this month (March 2022) for a quick week. This will be my first time in Ireland. We will stay briefly in Dublin, then train to Killarney and the Ring of Kerry for a couple of nights, then to Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. We didn't consider Belfast when making the reservations several months ago, but now that travel is easier my question is given the choice, should we pass up Killarney in favor of a couple of nights in Belfast and a day trip to the Giant's Causeway? Thanks in advance; I'd appreciate your thoughts.

bdokeefe

I would stay with Killarney and ROK. It's a beautiful part of the country, and well set up for you to take organized day tours...or are you renting a car? Muckross Farms and Gap of Dunlow are great. How old is your daughter? You can rent e-bikes and ride up to the Gap, or take a boat from Ross Castle, then walk or bring a 'normal' bike through the gap. Biking you continue back to town, and walking you can catch a cab from Kate Kierney's.

​​​​​​https://www.theirishroadtrip.com/the-gap-of-dunloe/

As far as the cliffs go, they are both worth the trip, but Galway is a lively town that your daughter will probably really like, so Cliffs of Moher make sense.

I've been over several times, by myself, with my 3 daughters, with my spouse...one thing that always applies is to take your time and not be in a rush, enjoy the little things. Have a great trip.

ellen75005

bdokeefe,

Thanks so much. I was leaning toward the Ring of Kerry; it does look beautiful. My daughter is an adult, but unfortunately we won't have time to rent bikes. I consider this a "taste of Ireland" week and I'm sure I'll want to return as this is just a quick trip. The Gap of Dunlow is stunning and we've also booked a Cliffs of Moher day trip from Galway. I can't believe that we'll be there in just two weeks!

copperwolff

Ellen75005,
I’m wondering what you decided and how your trip was. I’m actually taking my adult daughter this march to Ireland and we too were debating rings of Kerry or giant’s causeway as the main area to focus around. Originally I was planning on both, but the more I’ve read I think we will do one or the other. That’s why I was wondering what you chose. I’ve been reading an awful lot of ‘the irishroadtrip’ and we definitely are looking more for the hiking, walking, scenic views and history type of trip.

thanks for sharing what you have thus far,
erica

LinksLover22

Where are you getting your flight into? If it's Dublin, then it's quicker to get to the North Antrim coastline (Giant's Causeway) if you are renting a car. The Causeway itself is slightly underwhelming in reality, but the wider coastal region is stunning. The Ring of Kerry will realistically require you to spend at least a night getting to there. It's 6 hours to get there in a car (Ireland's road system is excellent between cities, but the smaller roads are still built on routes that are hundreds of years old).

ellen75005

copperwolff, did you get my private message in response to your first question? Let me know if you didn't.

When we were in Ireland we opted for trains. My daughter volunteered to drive, but I wasn't comfortable driving on the left on the narrow, winding lanes. We didn't get to Northern Ireland, so I can't comment on getting there. We took a train from Dublin to Killarney, then Killarney to Galway and Galway back to Dublin. As I recall, we had to change trains for the first two, but Galway to Dublin was direct and a relatively short trip.

Again, let me know if my private message didn't reach you!

Ellen

kleeblatt

My favourite spot in Ireland hands down was Inishmore. It’s a day trip from Galway where time is slower. It also offers you the best cliff experience in all of Ireland.

I also enjoyed the Dingle loop more than the Ring of Kerry.