Ireland • July 2022
Slow roads. Small towns. Big memories.
Ireland rewards travelers who leave room for it to surprise them.
Our two-week road trip took us from a farm treehouse near Kilkenny to the Ring of Kerry, three memorable nights in Dingle, the quieter cliffs at Kilkee, Galway, a medieval tower house near Nenagh and finally Trim.
But the route isn't really the reason we're still talking about the trip years later.
Some of our strongest memories came from things we could never have put on an itinerary: a bartender teaching us about Irish whiskey, a café owner pulling up a chair to join us for lunch, a B&B host going shopping for a cheese we'd fallen in love with, and a falconer who had nowhere else to be that afternoon.
Other parts didn't go nearly as smoothly. We lost a day before we even reached Ireland. Our luggage disappeared for a week. A highly recommended stop turned out not to fit our travel style at all.
And somehow, it remains one of our favorite trips.
This isn't our checklist for seeing Ireland. It's what we learned from planning it, driving it, getting things wrong and discovering what mattered to us along the way.
Two Weeks in Ireland: What Worked, What Didn’t & What We’d Do Again
A missed connection, seven days without luggage and an unrushed road trip taught us plenty about traveling Ireland. Here's what worked, what didn't and what we'd do again.
A Kilbeggan Distillery Stop Became One of Our Favorite Ireland Afternoons
We planned a Sunday afternoon whiskey experience because Kilbeggan fit naturally into our route to Trim. What we couldn't plan was a café full of conversation, local pride, a Guinness lesson and the people who turned a few-hour stop into one of our favorite afternoons in Ireland.
Why We Gave Dingle Three Nights and Would Do It Again
Three nights in Dingle gave us time for Conor Pass, local recommendations, an unplanned hike and something even better: nowhere else we needed to be.
Three Unforgettable Ireland Experiences We Still Talk About
Some of our strongest memories from Ireland weren't about famous attractions. A falconer who gave us his time, castle owners who changed their plans for us, and an unexpected encounter in Trim reminded us that the people you meet can become as memorable as the places you visit.
How We Planned a Two-Week Ireland Road Trip Without Overplanning It
We didn’t start with a day-by-day itinerary. We started with a few places we knew we wanted to experience, put them on the map, and let the route grow around them. Our two-week Ireland road trip became a lesson in using anchors, manageable driving days, and plenty of white space for the places we hadn’t discovered yet.
What Type of Lodging Is Right for Your Trip? Lessons From Ireland
A treehouse, country house, full-service hotel, medieval tower and a perfectly good B&B we can no longer name taught us that there isn't one “best” kind of lodging. The better choice depends on what you need each stay to add to the trip.
Driving in Ireland: It’s Not as Scary as You’ve Heard
Driving on the left, narrow country roads and unfamiliar speed limits can make renting a car in Ireland sound intimidating. After two weeks behind the wheel, we found that taking your time, choosing the right car and accepting the occasional wrong turn mattered far more than the horror stories.
Kilkee or the Cliffs of Moher?
We went looking for an alternative to one of Ireland’s most famous attractions and made Kilkee our Plan A, while keeping the Cliffs of Moher in reserve. A few hours walking the cliffs, eating our packed lunch and enjoying the solitude taught us something bigger about travel planning: the most famous experience isn’t always the one that fits you best.