A 10-day Ireland itinerary: the west coast, properly

If a week is the minimum, ten days is the trip I’d choose for you if you only ever come once. It adds the piece the week can’t hold — Connemara and Galway — and it lets every base breathe.

The shape of it

Shannon in, Dublin out, four bases: Kerry, Clare, Connemara, Dublin. Notice the order: I run this one south to north, because arriving into Kerry’s lakes and mountains after an overnight flight is gentler than arriving into the Atlantic, and because it leaves Galway’s music for the nights when you’ve found your feet.

Days 1–3: Kerry

Land at Shannon, a slow morning, and a drive down through Adare — afternoon tea at Adare Manor if you can keep your eyes open — to Killarney or Kenmare for three nights.

Day two: the Gap of Dunloe the old way, pony and trap up and an open boat back across the lakes. Day three: the Dingle Peninsula and Slea Head, or the Ring of Kerry driven the right way round, or Skellig Michael if the sea allows. Evenings in Kenmare or Killarney, where the music is real.

Days 4–5: Clare

North across the Shannon on the Tarbert ferry — golfers stop at Ballybunion and Lahinch on the way — to two nights near Doolin. The Burren by day, the Cliffs of Moher at sunset when the coaches have gone, and the Doolin session that night. Day five, if the weather is kind, the ferry to Inis Oírr, the smallest of the Aran Islands, and a currach on the slipway.

Days 6–8: Connemara and Galway

This is the stretch the week can’t fit and the one that makes the ten days. Along the coast into Galway, then out into Connemara: bog and mountain and sea, Kylemore Abbey, the Sky Road above Clifden, a walk in the national park, and a pub where the conversation is in Irish at the bar. Base in Clifden, Roundstone, or Galway city itself depending on what you want the evenings to be. Galway on a Saturday night is worth building the trip around.

Days 9–10: Dublin

Across the country on the motorway — two and a half hours — or by way of Clonmacnoise, the monastic city on the Shannon in my own County Offaly, which almost nobody visits and everyone should. Two nights in Dublin: one full day for the Book of Kells, the Georgian squares and a pint where the locals are, and a last dinner before an early flight home.

What makes this version work

• Four bases, not ten. Every extra hotel costs half a day.
• South to north so the first morning is gentle and the music builds.
• The Cliffs at the end of the day, not the middle.
• Connemara gets three nights, because two is a drive-through and it deserves better.
• Dublin gets two, because it’s the part of Ireland most like home.

What to leave for next time

Donegal, Belfast and the Causeway coast. Cork and the southeast. Scotland — the companies I work with cater for it too, and plenty of guests pair a week in Ireland with a few days in the Highlands, but not in ten days.

Who drives

You can self-drive it. Most of my guests, for a route this long, choose a private driver-guide: ten days of small roads, ferries, and evenings where nobody has to count drinks. For a party of four or more it often costs less per person than two rental cars, and it’s a different trip entirely.

None of this is a package. Tell me your dates and your people on the planner and I’ll tell you honestly which ten days are yours.