7 Days in Ireland

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A week is the sweet spot for a first trip to Ireland — long enough to do Dublin properly and get a real run at the west coast, short enough that you don't need to plan like a military campaign. The trap most one-week itineraries fall into is a different hotel every night. This one doesn't: three bases, unpack three times, and let the day trips do the driving.

It runs Dublin → Kerry → Clare/Galway, which keeps the driving legs sensible and saves the biggest scenery for when you've found your feet on the roads. Read our guide to renting a car in Ireland before you book anything — it covers the insurance and narrow-road realities the rental desks gloss over.

Day 1 — Arrive in Dublin

Land, drop your bags, and resist the urge to nap. Dublin is a walking city, so start on foot: Trinity College and the Book of Kells, Grafton Street, and St Stephen's Green cover the classic first afternoon. In the evening, eat early and find live music — and here's the honest bit: have your one look at Temple Bar, enjoy the atmosphere, and then drink somewhere else. The pubs a few streets away are better and half the price.

Don't hire the car yet. A car in Dublin is a liability — parking is expensive and you won't use it. Collect it when you leave on Day 3.

Day 2 — Dublin's Big Hitters

Book Kilmainham Gaol well ahead — it sells out days in advance and it's the single best history stop in the city, told brilliantly by the guides. Pair it with the Guinness Storehouse (the Gravity Bar view over the city earns the ticket price) or the whiskey alternative at Jameson Distillery. In the afternoon, choose your Dublin: EPIC (the emigration museum, genuinely moving) and the Ha'penny Bridge north of the river, or the National Museum and Georgian squares south of it.

Finish with a proper session — the trad pubs around Smithfield and Stoneybatter are where the locals actually go.

Day 3 — Dublin to Killarney, via the Rock of Cashel

Collect the hire car and head southwest. It's motorway most of the way (about 3.5 hours direct), but break it at the Rock of Cashel — a spectacular medieval cathedral complex on a limestone outcrop, more or less exactly halfway and ten minutes off the M8.

Arrive in Killarney with the afternoon to spare and spend it in Killarney National Park: Muckross House, Torc Waterfall, and the Ladies' View lookout over the lakes. Evening in town — Killarney does hospitality better than almost anywhere in Ireland.

Day 4 — The Ring of Kerry

The big one: a 179km loop around the Iveragh Peninsula. Leave before 9am and drive it clockwise — the tour coaches go anticlockwise by convention, so clockwise keeps you out of their convoy. Highlights: Sneem's coloured houses, the beaches around Waterville, the Skellig viewpoint near Portmagee, and the Kerry Cliffs. The joy of the Ring is in the pull-ins, so build in more stops than you think you need.

If you've booked months ahead and the Atlantic cooperates, a landing tour to Skellig Michael is a once-in-a-lifetime add-on — but treat it as a bonus, not a plan, because roughly a third of sailings are cancelled by weather.

Day 5 — The Dingle Peninsula & Slea Head

Day-trip west to the Dingle Peninsula — quieter than the Ring and, many would say, more beautiful. The centrepiece is the Slea Head Drive, a 38km loop past Ventry Beach, Coumeenoole, Dún Chaoin Pier and the Gallarus Oratory. Drive it clockwise and give it at least half a day. Lunch on seafood in Dingle Town, then back to Killarney for the evening.

Honest aside: Dingle absolutely deserves its own overnight — that's what our 4 days in Kerry itinerary does. But in a one-week trip, the extra hotel change costs you more than it gives; the day trip version keeps the week calm.

Day 6 — North to the Cliffs of Moher & Doolin

Leave Kerry via the Tarbert–Killimer car ferry across the Shannon (20 minutes, runs hourly, no booking needed) — it saves a long detour through Limerick and feels like part of the adventure. You'll reach Clare by early afternoon.

Go to the Cliffs of Moher late in the day — after 4pm the coaches are gone, the light is better, and the visitor centre crowds thin out. Then settle into Doolin, a tiny village that happens to be the trad music capital of Ireland. A session in one of its three famous pubs is the evening sorted. Prefer city energy? Galway City works as the base for these two nights instead — same day trips, more restaurants, less village magic.

Day 7 — The Burren & Galway City (or the Aran Islands)

Two great versions of your final day. Version one: spend the morning in the Burren — the strange, beautiful limestone landscape inland from Doolin, with the Poulnabrone dolmen as its 5,000-year-old centrepiece — then give the afternoon and evening to Galway City: the Latin Quarter, buskers on Shop Street, dinner in the West End.

Version two: take the ferry from Doolin to the Aran Islands for the day — Inisheer is the closest and the most doable — or the Cliffs of Moher cruise that sees the cliffs from sea level, which is arguably the better angle.

Getting Home

From Doolin or Galway it's about 2.5–3 hours on the motorway back to Dublin Airport. For a morning flight, either drive back the evening before and stay at an airport hotel, or build in a comfortable 4-hour buffer — the M6 is easy, but you don't want your last memory of Ireland to be a sprint through Terminal 2.

Make It Longer (or Shorter)

With 10 days, give Kerry the extra nights it deserves — our 4 days in Kerry itinerary slots straight into the middle of this trip — and add a night in Connemara after Galway. With only 5 days, cut Dublin to one night and skip Day 7's Burren morning. The three-base structure holds either way.

Practical Tips for This Itinerary

Book the small towns first. Doolin and Killarney's central hotels are the pinch points — in summer, sort them four to six months ahead.

Don't take the car into Dublin. Collect it on Day 3 when you leave; you'll save money and stress.

Drive the big loops early. The Ring of Kerry and Slea Head are different experiences at 8.30am versus 11am.

Pack for four seasons. The west coast does all of them before lunch. Layers and a rain jacket, whatever the forecast says.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is one week enough for Ireland?

For a first trip, yes — comfortably, if you resist trying to see everything. This route covers Dublin plus the best of the west coast without rushing. The whole island in a week is not a trip, it's a driving endurance event.

Should I do this route clockwise or anticlockwise?

As written — Dublin first, then Kerry, then north to Clare and Galway. It front-loads the easy motorway driving while you adjust to Irish roads, and ends near Galway for a relaxed final day.

Do I need a car for this itinerary?

From Day 3, yes — the Ring of Kerry, Slea Head and the Burren aren't realistically doable otherwise. In Dublin, you're better off without one.

What about Northern Ireland, Cork or Donegal?

All worth it — on a longer trip. Adding them to a week means undoing the thing that makes this itinerary work: enough time in each place to enjoy it.