Ireland
Ireland, in a few days
From Dublin across to Galway, then the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren and the Ring of Kerry: the map, what is worth booking, everything that costs nothing, and where to sleep at three budgets.
- Day by day
- 1 Dublin Days 1-2
- 2 Galway Days 3-4
- 3 The Cliffs of Moher and the Burren Day 5
- 4 The Ring of Kerry Days 6-7
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
Day by day
Dublin
A city of writers, four of them Nobel laureates. Trinity College has held the ninth-century Book of Kells since 1661, and Temple Bar has held the noise since rather later.
- Trinity College and the Book of Kells2h · from €20An illuminated gospel made around the year 800, and the Long Room library above it holding 200,000 old volumes.
- Whiskey distillery tour and tasting2h · from €25How triple distillation works, and how Irish whiskey went from ruling the world to almost disappearing inside a century.
- Temple Bar
- St Stephen's Green
- Dublin Castle, from outside
- The Liffey quays
Galway
A harbour town on the west coast, young and loud, and the way into the Connemara. Street musicians play through the year, weather permitting or not.
- Aran Islands day tripFull day · from €45A ferry out to three limestone islands where Irish is still the daily language, and a prehistoric fort sits on a cliff edge.
- Trad music night in a pubEvening · from €15Musicians in a circle rather than on a stage, playing tunes older than the building they sit in.
- The Latin Quarter
- The Salthill promenade
- The pubs
- Galway market
The Cliffs of Moher and the Burren
Two hundred metres of sandstone dropping into the Atlantic, with the bare limestone plateau of the Burren starting just inland.
- Visitor centre and guided cliff walkHalf day · from €15How the cliffs were laid down, then the path along the top with someone who knows where the wind comes from.
- The 200 metre cliffs
- The Burren and its bare limestone
- Doolin
- Sunsets over the Atlantic
The Ring of Kerry
A 179 kilometre loop around the Iveragh peninsula, past coast, lakes and painted villages.
- The Ring of Kerry, guidedFull day · from €55A full day on the loop from a coach seat, which leaves you free to watch the road rather than drive it.
- Skellig Michael, in seasonFull day · from €90A monastery of stone beehive huts on a rock twelve kilometres offshore, reachable from May to September and only when the swell allows.
- The coast roads
- Killarney National Park
- Empty beaches
- Painted villages
Worth sorting before you go
Rent a car · The Wild Atlantic Way is a driving road, 2,500 kilometres of it along the west coast, and driving is on the left.
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Compare the agencies before you land.
Compare · Booking
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Irish stew: lamb, potato and onion, cooked slowly and seasoned lightly.
- Soda bread: raised with bicarbonate instead of yeast, baked that same morning.
- Atlantic seafood, and Galway oysters before anything else.
- The full Irish breakfast, which doubles as lunch if you time it right.
- Guinness, and Irish whiskey after it.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Driving is on the left, and the lanes are narrow, wet and walled.
- Drinking in pubs is expensive: a pint in Dublin runs well over six euro.
- Book early along the Wild Atlantic Way, above all in July and August.
- Dress in layers: four seasons in a day is a description, not a joke.
Words that help
The practical page
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/ireland
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.