23/10/2025
I just spent the past 4 weeks travelling on a self-drive trip around Ireland and the UK. Here is a summary of what we did in Ireland:
Dublin – 2 nights
• Accommodation was at Staycity Aparthotels Tivoli, just a 10min walk from Temple Bar.
• Explored Dublin City, stopping off at St Patricks Cathedral, St Stephens Green, Grafton St, Trinity College, Ha’penny Bridge, Temple Bar, Dublin Castle, and Christ Church Cathedral.
• Did the Kilmainham Gaol tour.
• Did the Guinness Storehouse experience and had a few pints in the Gravity Bar at the top of the Storehouse.
We left Dublin and visited the Rock of Cashel on our way to our next stop at Killarney.
Killarney – 4 nights
• Accommodation was at Park Place Apartments, just on the top side of the main street.
• On our first day we drove down to County Cork, 1hr away, and visited the Blarney Castle and kissed the Blarney Stone. We then drove down to Kinsale and had lunch at Kitty O’Shea’s and a wander around town. We then capped the day off exploring Charles Fort, just outside of Kinsale, before heading back to killarney.
• On our second day we drove to the Di**le Peninsula and Slea Head Drive and visited Inch Beach, Minard Castle, Ventry Beach, Fahan Beehive Huts, Cross at Slea Head, Coomenoule Beach, Dunquin Pier, Ceann Sibeal Viewpoint (Star Wars location and Three Sister’s), then spent lunch and the afternoon exploring Di**le Town.
• On the third day, we drove the Ring of Kerry and Skellig Ring, and visited Cahergall Stone Fort, Ballycarbery Castle, Valentia Island, Fogher Cliffs, Geokaun Mountain viewpoint, Kerry Cliffs with views to Skellig Michael, Waterville, and Derrynane Beach and Abbey.
• The last day before our drive to Galway we spent the morning in Killarney National Park where we drove the Gap of Dunloe, and visited Ladies View, Muckross House and Abbey, Ross Castle, and had a cruise on Lough Leane.
Galway – 3 nights
• Accommodation was at Galway Bay Seaview Apartments in Salthill.
• Our first day we started off by walking along the Salthill Promenade. We then explored Galway City by visiting Galway Cathedral, Salmon Weir Bridge, Eyre Square, O’Connell’s Beer Garden in Eyre Square, Wiliam Street, Shop Street, High Street, Latin Quarter, The Quays Pub, King’s Head Pub, Spanish Arch, Wolfe Tone Bridge, the coloured houses on the Long Walk, and finished off by settling in at Monroe’s Pub in the west end for a few pints and to listed to trad music.
• The second day we drove down to the Clare Coast and visited the Cliffs of Moher, had lunch at McGann’s Pub in Doolin, drove back along the coast towards Galway through the rocky landscape of The Burren, and stopped off in Kinvarra which is where some of our ancestors are from.
We left Galway for a day of exploration in Derry, where we walked along the Derry Walls, saw the Derry Girls Mural, did the Free Derry Museum, visited the Sunday Bloody Sunday Memorial, walk past the painted murals on the houses, and crossed the Peace Bridge over to Erbington Square.
Portrush – 2 Nights
• Accommodation was in a 6 bedroom, three storey house in Portrush.
• We had a full day along the Causeway Coast, where we visited Royal Portrush Golf Course, Dunluce Castle, Bushmills, Giant’s Causeway, and crossed the rope bridge at Carrick-a-Rede. We then had an afternoon wandering around Portrush.
Belfast – 1 Night
• Accommodation was at Holiday Inn Express Belfast City, close to the University.
• From Portrush, we drove straight to Titanic Belfast and the SS Nomadic, we then did a Black Cab Tour of Belfast City focusing on ‘The Troubles’, before finishing off the 12 days with dinner at Crown Liquor Saloon.
Highlights:
Slea Head Drive and Di**le Town were standouts for me. Slea Head Drive for the narrow roads, ancient sites, and awesome postcard Irish scenery. Di**le Town, with its colourful shop fronts, fantastic fish and chips, and pubs that double as shops, such as Foxy John’s (Hardware shop and pub).
Best Food:
Kitty O’Shea’s in Kinsale. Had the garlic and chilli sizzling prawns for lunch washed down with a pint of Murphy’s Irish Stout. It was so good!
Best Desert:
If you are travelling in Ireland and need to get fuel, make sure to get a ‘99’, an oversized soft serve ice cream in a cone. Beats the tiny soft serves you get here from McDonalds.
Best Tour:
It’s a tie between Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin and the Black Cab Tour in Belfast. The Goal gave us an insight into Ireland’s fight for independence. You can get tickets at 9am on the morning of the day you want to do the tour, but you need to be quick as the tours sell out quickly. The Black Cab Tour in Belfast takes you through the Republican and Unionist areas of West Belfast. We got to visit and sign the Belfast Wall that still divides the inner west of the city and is still locked at night, limiting any potential threat of violence on the streets at night.
Best pint of Guinness:
Station Bar in Portrush. The pint was creamy and the glass was laced all the way to the end. How a Guinness should be. And at only 5.70 Euros. But also, any of the ‘Old Man’ bars in and around the towns have fantastic Guinness.
Best Place to Stay:
Killarney in Kerry without a doubt. It is in a great location for easy access to Killarney National Park, County Cork, Ring of Kerry, and Di**le Peninsula. There is loads of stuff to do withing a few hours drive. The town is small enough to navigate on foot. And there are plenty of bars and restaurants to keep you entertained.
Cost of living:
I thought Ireland was quite reasonable in price. We got 0.56 Euros to our Aussie $ but when you take into consideration the high wages that are paid in Australia compared to Ireland that seems to compensate for the difference in the exchange rate. Fuel was around 1.60 Euros per litre, you could buy a litre of milk for 1.70 Euros, we bought 2 rib eye steaks for 4.99 Euros, and pints were no more than 5.70 Euros, apart from the 10.45 Euro pint of Guinness at ‘The Temple Bar’. We did however notice a slight increase in prices once we hit Portrush in the North of Ireland because of the changeover to Pounds.
If you would like me to plan your next trip to Ireland please contact me at [email protected] or on 0411 388 562.
