Seven days is the ideal length for Ireland's classic western circuit — two days in Dublin for Georgian architecture, the Book of Kells, and the world's best Guinness, then west to the Cliffs of Moher, Connemara, and Galway, before sweeping south through the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula. A hire car is essential from Day 3 onwards.
Days 1–2: Dublin
Fly into Dublin Airport (DUB) and take the Airlink Express bus to the city centre (30 minutes, €7). Day 1: Trinity College is the centrepiece of Georgian Dublin — the Book of Kells (Ireland's most famous illuminated manuscript, c.800 AD) and the Long Room library are extraordinary. Book tickets in advance. Walk south to Merrion Square — the finest Georgian square in Ireland, with Oscar Wilde's childhood home on one corner. The National Museum of Ireland (Archaeology) on Kildare Street has the Tara Brooch, the Ardagh Chalice, and the bog bodies — Ireland's greatest treasures, and free to enter. Evening: dinner in the Portobello or Ranelagh neighbourhood — Dublin's best restaurant areas, away from the tourist centre. Day 2: the Guinness Storehouse (book in advance; the rooftop Gravity Bar has the best views in Dublin) in the morning. Afternoon: the Kilmainham Gaol — the prison where the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were executed, now a powerful museum of Irish independence. Evening: a proper Dublin pub crawl — Kehoe's, Mulligan's, and The Long Hall are the most atmospheric traditional pubs. Avoid the Temple Bar tourist strip for drinking.
Day 3: Dublin to Galway via the Cliffs of Moher
Pick up your hire car and drive west to Co. Clare (2.5 hours). The Cliffs of Moher are Ireland's most visited natural attraction — 214-metre sheer cliffs dropping into the Atlantic, stretching for 8km. Go early morning (before 10am) to beat the tour buses. The cliff walk north from the visitor centre to O'Brien's Tower is spectacular. Continue north to the Burren — a unique limestone landscape of karst pavements, ancient dolmens, and wildflowers. The Poulnabrone Dolmen (a 5,500-year-old portal tomb) is the most photographed prehistoric monument in Ireland. Drive north to Galway (1 hour) and check in. Evening: Galway is one of Ireland's most vibrant cities — the Latin Quarter has excellent restaurants and traditional music pubs. Tigh Coilí and Tig Coilí on Mainguard Street have the best trad sessions.
Day 4: Connemara
Drive west from Galway into Connemara — one of the most dramatic and desolate landscapes in Ireland. The N59 road through Connemara passes Lough Corrib, the Twelve Bens mountains, and the extraordinary bog landscapes of the Connemara National Park. Kylemore Abbey — a Victorian Gothic castle reflected in a lake, now a Benedictine monastery — is the most photographed building in Connemara. Allow 1.5 hours. Continue west to Clifden — the "capital" of Connemara, a small town with good restaurants and pubs. The Sky Road loop from Clifden (16km circular drive) has extraordinary Atlantic views. Return to Galway via the coast road through Roundstone — a beautiful fishing village with a good pub (O'Dowd's) for lunch.
Day 5: Galway to Killarney via the Burren
Drive south from Galway through Co. Clare and Co. Limerick to Killarney (3 hours with stops). Stop at the Rock of Cashel — a spectacular medieval fortress on a limestone outcrop in Co. Tipperary, with a 12th-century round tower, Romanesque chapel, and Gothic cathedral. Allow 2 hours. Continue to Killarney — the gateway to the Ring of Kerry and Killarney National Park. Check in and take an evening jaunting car (horse-drawn carriage) through Killarney National Park to Muckross House — a Victorian mansion on the shores of Muckross Lake. The park has red deer, ancient oak woods, and three lakes — one of Ireland's most beautiful landscapes.
Day 6: Ring of Kerry
The Ring of Kerry (N70/N71) is Ireland's most famous scenic drive — a 179km circuit of the Iveragh Peninsula with extraordinary mountain and coastal scenery. Drive anti-clockwise (the direction tour buses go clockwise, so you'll meet them head-on less often). Key stops: Cahersiveen (the birthplace of Daniel O'Connell, Ireland's great 19th-century political leader), Waterville (a charming seaside village — Charlie Chaplin's favourite holiday destination), Derrynane National Historic Park (the ancestral home of Daniel O'Connell, with a beautiful beach), Sneem (a colourful village on the Kenmare River estuary), and Kenmare (an elegant market town with excellent restaurants — the best lunch stop on the Ring). The Skellig Ring (a detour off the main Ring) has views of Skellig Michael — the extraordinary 6th-century monastic island used as a filming location in Star Wars.
Day 7: Dingle Peninsula & Departure
The Dingle Peninsula is less visited than the Ring of Kerry but many argue it's more beautiful. Drive north from Killarney to Dingle town (1 hour 15 minutes). Dingle is a charming fishing town with excellent seafood restaurants and traditional music pubs — Murphy's ice cream is a local institution. Drive the Slea Head Drive (50km circular route) — the westernmost point of Europe, with extraordinary Atlantic views, ancient beehive huts (clochán), and the Blasket Islands visible offshore. The Great Blasket Island was inhabited until 1953 — the islanders produced some of the finest literature in the Irish language. Return to Dublin via the N21/M7 motorway (3 hours) for your departure flight, or fly from Kerry Airport (KIR) — 30 minutes from Killarney.
