Ireland itinerary, day by day

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.

🗓️ 4, 7 or 10 days📍 4 stops☀️ Best time: May to September

Falaises de Moher · Photo Joanie Tidwell / Pexels

Route map (numbers = order of the stops).

Ireland in 4 days

2 stops · 12 things to do · ≈ 350 km

1Dublin

Days 1-2

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.

🎟️ Worth booking

Trinity College and the Book of Kells2h · from €20
An illuminated gospel made around the year 800, and the Long Room library above it holding 200,000 old volumes.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Whiskey distillery tour and tasting2h · from €25
How triple distillation works, and how Irish whiskey went from ruling the world to almost disappearing inside a century.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Temple Bar · St Stephen's Green · Dublin Castle, from outside · The Liffey quays

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Generator Dublin (€45 a night) · Mid-range: The Dean Dublin (€190 a night) · Luxury: The Shelbourne (€380 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Chapter One Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.8 · 1166 reviews · €€€€
Etto ↗ ★ 4.8 · 906 reviews · €€€
Richmond ↗ ★ 4.8 · 885 reviews · €€
D'Olier Street Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.8 · 363 reviews · €€€€
La Caverna Restaurant and Wine Bar ↗ ★ 4.7 · 3305 reviews · €€

Photo Mathias Reding / Pexels

🚗 Car · 2h30 · 210 km

2Galway

Days 3-4

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.

🎟️ Worth booking

Aran Islands day tripFull day · from €45
A ferry out to three limestone islands where Irish is still the daily language, and a prehistoric fort sits on a cliff edge.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Trad music night in a pubEvening · from €15
Musicians in a circle rather than on a stage, playing tunes older than the building they sit in.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Latin Quarter · The Salthill promenade · The pubs · Galway market

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Snoozles Galway (€42 a night) · Mid-range: The Hardiman (€150 a night) · Luxury: Glenlo Abbey (€340 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Rúibín Bar & Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.8 · 1049 reviews · €€
La Collina ↗ ★ 4.8 · 773 reviews · €€
Alma Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.8 · 197 reviews
The Dough Bros ↗ ★ 4.7 · 5631 reviews · €€
Dela Restaurant ↗ ★ 4.7 · 1994 reviews · €€

Photo Mario Spencer / Pexels

Ireland in 7 days

4 stops · 23 things to do · ≈ 700 km

1Dublin

Days 1-2

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.

🎟️ Worth booking

Trinity College and the Book of Kells2h · from €20
An illuminated gospel made around the year 800, and the Long Room library above it holding 200,000 old volumes.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Whiskey distillery tour and tasting2h · from €25
How triple distillation works, and how Irish whiskey went from ruling the world to almost disappearing inside a century.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Temple Bar · St Stephen's Green · Dublin Castle, from outside · The Liffey quays

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Generator Dublin (€45 a night) · Mid-range: The Dean Dublin (€190 a night) · Luxury: The Shelbourne (€380 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Mathias Reding / Pexels

🚗 Car · 2h30 · 210 km

2Galway

Days 3-4

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.

🎟️ Worth booking

Aran Islands day tripFull day · from €45
A ferry out to three limestone islands where Irish is still the daily language, and a prehistoric fort sits on a cliff edge.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Trad music night in a pubEvening · from €15
Musicians in a circle rather than on a stage, playing tunes older than the building they sit in.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Latin Quarter · The Salthill promenade · The pubs · Galway market

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Snoozles Galway (€42 a night) · Mid-range: The Hardiman (€150 a night) · Luxury: Glenlo Abbey (€340 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Mario Spencer / Pexels

🚗 Car · 1h30 · 85 km

3The Cliffs of Moher and the Burren

Day 5

Two hundred metres of sandstone dropping into the Atlantic, with the bare limestone plateau of the Burren starting just inland.

🎟️ Worth booking

Visitor centre and guided cliff walkHalf day · from €15
How the cliffs were laid down, then the path along the top with someone who knows where the wind comes from.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The 200 metre cliffs · The Burren and its bare limestone · Doolin · Sunsets over the Atlantic

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Doolin Hostel (€45 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Doolin (€160 a night) · Luxury: Armada Hotel (€200 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Oar Restaurant & Rooms ↗ ★ 4.9 · 228 reviews
The Ivy Cottage ↗ ★ 4.7 · 1527 reviews · €€
O'Donohues Pub ↗ ★ 4.6 · 620 reviews · €€
Riverside Bistro Doolin ↗ ★ 4.6 · 278 reviews · €€
Vaughans Anchor Inn ↗ ★ 4.5 · 1254 reviews · €€

Photo Joanie Tidwell / Pexels

🚗 Car · 3h · 200 km

4The Ring of Kerry

Days 6-7

A 179 kilometre loop around the Iveragh peninsula, past coast, lakes and painted villages.

🎟️ Worth booking

The Ring of Kerry, guidedFull day · from €55
A full day on the loop from a coach seat, which leaves you free to watch the road rather than drive it.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Skellig Michael, in seasonFull day · from €90
A monastery of stone beehive huts on a rock twelve kilometres offshore, reachable from May to September and only when the swell allows.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The coast roads · Killarney National Park · Empty beaches · Painted villages

🛏️ Where to sleep · Luxury: Sheen Falls Lodge (€360 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Kingdom 1795 ↗ ★ 4.9 · 201 reviews
O'Neills The Point Seafood Bar ↗ ★ 4.8 · 1043 reviews
Bricín Restaurant and Boxty House ↗ ★ 4.8 · 991 reviews · €€
The Strawberry Field ↗ ★ 4.8 · 781 reviews · €€
J.M. Reidy's ↗ ★ 4.7 · 3152 reviews · €€

Photo Reinhard Bruckner / Pexels

Ireland in 10 days

4 stops · 23 things to do · ≈ 800 km

1Dublin

Days 1-3

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.

🎟️ Worth booking

Trinity College and the Book of Kells2h · from €20
An illuminated gospel made around the year 800, and the Long Room library above it holding 200,000 old volumes.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Whiskey distillery tour and tasting2h · from €25
How triple distillation works, and how Irish whiskey went from ruling the world to almost disappearing inside a century.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

Temple Bar · St Stephen's Green · Dublin Castle, from outside · The Liffey quays

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Generator Dublin (€45 a night) · Mid-range: The Dean Dublin (€190 a night) · Luxury: The Shelbourne (€380 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Mathias Reding / Pexels

🚗 Car · 2h30 · 210 km

2Galway

Days 4-5

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.

🎟️ Worth booking

Aran Islands day tripFull day · from €45
A ferry out to three limestone islands where Irish is still the daily language, and a prehistoric fort sits on a cliff edge.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Trad music night in a pubEvening · from €15
Musicians in a circle rather than on a stage, playing tunes older than the building they sit in.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The Latin Quarter · The Salthill promenade · The pubs · Galway market

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Snoozles Galway (€42 a night) · Mid-range: The Hardiman (€150 a night) · Luxury: Glenlo Abbey (€340 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Mario Spencer / Pexels

🚗 Car · 1h30 · 85 km

3The Cliffs of Moher and the Burren

Days 6-7

Two hundred metres of sandstone dropping into the Atlantic, with the bare limestone plateau of the Burren starting just inland.

🎟️ Worth booking

Visitor centre and guided cliff walkHalf day · from €15
How the cliffs were laid down, then the path along the top with someone who knows where the wind comes from.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The 200 metre cliffs · The Burren and its bare limestone · Doolin · Sunsets over the Atlantic

🛏️ Where to sleep · Budget: Doolin Hostel (€45 a night) · Mid-range: Hotel Doolin (€160 a night) · Luxury: Armada Hotel (€200 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Joanie Tidwell / Pexels

🚗 Car · 3h · 200 km

4The Ring of Kerry

Days 8-10

A 179 kilometre loop around the Iveragh peninsula, past coast, lakes and painted villages.

🎟️ Worth booking

The Ring of Kerry, guidedFull day · from €55
A full day on the loop from a coach seat, which leaves you free to watch the road rather than drive it.
Book on GetYourGuide →
Skellig Michael, in seasonFull day · from €90
A monastery of stone beehive huts on a rock twelve kilometres offshore, reachable from May to September and only when the swell allows.
Book on GetYourGuide →

✦ Free, not to be missed

The coast roads · Killarney National Park · Empty beaches · Painted villages

🛏️ Where to sleep · Luxury: Sheen Falls Lodge (€360 a night)

🍴 Where to eat · top rated

Photo Reinhard Bruckner / Pexels

Hotel prices are per room per night, activity prices per person, checked when written. Some links are affiliate links (Booking, GetYourGuide): we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

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Good to know before you go

🍽️ What to eat

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.

⚠️ What to avoid

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.

Plan this trip

📒 The free printable Ireland guide→ 🗓️ Best time to visit Ireland, month by month→ 🎟️ What to book before you go→

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