Steal our Itinerary: 14 Days in Ireland and Northern Ireland

Fourteen Days in Ireland and Northern Ireland: History, Wild Coast, Good Food, Music, and a Few Good Books

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There’s no such thing as enough time in Ireland. 

We landed in Ireland for the first time on August 1st, 2022, and stayed for nearly three months. During those three months, we lived in Kinsale, a brightly hued Tidy Town at the start (or endpoint) of the Wild Atlantic Way. From Kinsale, we made time for “touristy” destinations like Blarney Castle and more local experiences, like attending a hurling match.  We road tripped on the Ring of Kerry and spent weekends in Dublin, Galway, and Kilkenny.

As soon as we left, I wanted to go back.

On our second visit, we were limited to a week. Our main goal for the trip: to hike Skellig Michael, one of the world’s most dangerous tourist attractions. We rounded out our time with less daring adventures. 

Before I walked from the terminal to the plane, my denim jacket protecting my hair from the rain, I wanted to return. Two years later, we did. While I waited, I read books like This Is Happiness by Niall Williams, My Favorite Mistake by Marian Keyes, and Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. I rewatched Derry Girls. 

I dreamed, researched, routed, and re-routed. This fourteen-day itinerary is the result. In fourteen days, we visited two countries, experienced history, literature, and music, ate some extraordinary food, and explored a few wild coastlines. 

Our route: Dublin → Derry → Belfast → Antrim Coast → Heaney Country in South Derry → Ennis → Dingle → Kinsale → Dublin

In This Guide

Landing in Dublin | Two Days in Dublin | Two Days in Derry | The Antrim Coast Drive | A Full Day in Belfast | Seamus Heaney Country | Sean’s Bar in Athlone | An Overnight in Ennis | The Dingle Peninsula | Kinsale & Cobh | Back to Dublin | There’s Always More Ireland

Landing in Dublin

We landed at Dublin Airport and made our way to the taxi stand at around eight o’clock in the evening on October 28th, 2025. If you’re not renting a car, a taxi is an easy way to get downtown. It’s a short walk from baggage claim to the taxi stand. A person will ask you how many, point to the cab you’re to get in, and off you go. Any line is well-organized and moves forward at a reasonable pace. I prefer it to squinting at license plate numbers to see whether the vehicle pulling up is the ride-share I requested. 

Travel Tip: I’m often asked about getting money exchanged before a trip. There are ATMs at the airport right in the luggage claim area. You can get what you need there without paying large fees. If you’re given the option between EUR and USD, choose EUR. Banks charge fees for the privilege of selecting your own currency. 

You can take a look at what it’s like in this YouTube short.

Two Days in Dublin

Whether it’s music, history, literature, or good craic you’re after, you’ll be spoiled for choice in Dublin. You can party in Temple Bar, shop and watch buskers perform on Grafton Street, or visit museums and heritage sites of all sorts. We’d been to tourist favorites like Kilmainham Gaol and Guinness Storehouse on previous trips to Dublin. On these two days, we balanced Chris’s love for music, mine for literature, and our shared appetite for history and food. Since it was nearly Halloween, we added a bit of the macabre as well.

History & Culture

EPIC Museum + Jeanie Johnston Famine Ship —  The stories on the Jeanie Johnston brought tears to my eyes. The EPIC Museum felt colder with its electronic everything, yet it delivered a mix of tragic and hopeful stories that scattered my emotions. Allow a full morning.

St. Michan’s Church — Popular for its remarkably well-preserved mummies in the crypt and its Bram Stoker connection, a stop here is brief, inexpensive, and memorable (especially if a firework happens to go off within earshot). Plan for around 45-minutes.

Windmill Lane Recording Studios — Tour a working studio and experience forty years of music history. You’ll explore the same studios where U2, The Rolling Stones, The Cranberries, Bruce Springsteen, and dozens more recorded. In addition to some cool stories, you get to learn how tracks are put together. Tickets are required in advance and sell out.

The Winding Stair Bookshop & Restaurant — Follow the chalkboard sign up the winding staircase to this beloved Dublin institution overlooking the River Liffey. Earthy, hearty Irish fare served by staff with warm, wry smiles. Don’t skip the bookshop downstairs. Their slim Irish volumes on the front table make for easy-to-carry souvenirs. Reservations can be made up to two months in advance. This stop also belongs in the restaurant section. 

The Dublin Literary Pub Crawl — An evening in Ireland, wandering in and out of pubs, the words of Irish literary greats spoken by those with genuine love for their works hang in the air. James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Oscar Wilde, and more. Reserve your spot on the tour.

Food & Drink

Gallagher’s Boxty House
Here, the humble spud is made beautiful in a variety of boxty dishes – Ireland’s traditional stuffed potato pancake. It’s located within Temple Bar, but isn’t a tourist trap. Save room for the whiskey-salted-caramel sticky toffee pudding.

Darkey Kelly’s
Named after an 18th-century madam and serial killer found guilty of witchcraft, Darkey Kelly’s is a jovial pub on a quiet street near the edge of Temple Bar. The Guinness is good, the live music is the kind that puts tears in your eyes, and when Sweet Caroline starts, everyone sings.

For more on where we ate and drank and the stories behind the places, visit Dublin Restaurants & Pubs with Stories to Tell.

Practical Notes

Ruby Molly Hotel Fun, funky, and welcoming. There are amps in every room, and you can borrow guitars and bring them to your room. Decline housekeeping and collect drink vouchers for the bar instead. The chia pudding at breakfast is worth skipping the croissant for. Affordable and centrally located. Book your stay. 

Getting around: Entirely walkable. When the rain went sideways, we spoiled ourselves with an Uber. 

Two Days in Derry: The Walled City

On Halloween, we took a train from Connolly Train Station in Dublin to Belfast and another from Belfast to Derry. The oldest walled city in Ireland, Derry, is home to Europe’s largest Halloween celebration. Our biggest reason for taking the train instead of renting a car and driving is that Chris didn’t want to have to find parking on one of the city’s busiest days. The ramp at the hotel was completely full when we arrived, so he made the right choice.

History & Culture

The Troubles Bogside Walking Tour – We met our guide, a man whose brother was killed by the British Army on Bloody Sunday, at the Museum of Free Derry. From there, we went on a walking tour of murals that depict Northern Ireland’s Civil Rights Movement, saw where Bloody Sunday took place, and saw the bullet holes that remain. We ended at a monument dedicated to the thirteen people killed on Bloody Sunday. It was profound, somber, and insightful. Book your tour.

Tower Museum — We went for the Derry Girls exhibition featuring sets, props, costumes, and scripts from Lisa McGee’s incredible hit show. Then we walked through the city’s rich history, from the Middle Ages to Modern Times. 

We gave ourselves time to walk along Derry’s historic walls and across its Peace Bridge. 

Halloween in Derry

It’s possible that the best Halloween experiences in Derry happen on the days leading up to Halloween. We’d love to have been there for the Awakening of the Walls and other spooky season experiences, but we didn’t arrive until Halloween, when they were done. While the parade and fireworks were nice and atmospheric, we suspect the big excitement was in the pubs on Waterloo Street. For us, the best part of Halloween in Derry was meeting a friend we’d become acquainted with online and dining with her at El Tapas Grà. 

Food & Drink

El Tapas Grá
Derry’s buzzy Spanish tapas spot punches well above its modest exterior. The Carne Asada and Milanesa de Pollo are standouts, the Padron peppers are perfect, and the spicy margaritas are dangerously good. Warm, attentive service on a busy night made it feel genuinely special.

Mekong
Don’t let the small size fool you. Mekong delivers some of the most memorable food in Derry. This award-winning Vietnamese restaurant on Magazine Street serves up unexpected, delightful dishes. The teriyaki portobello spring roll is extraordinary, the service is genuinely joyful, and the layered aubergine dish is a showstopper.

Blackbird
A Victorian-feeling bar with pretty tapestries, chilled whiskey glasses, and an acoustic guitarist who will play Mr. Brightside and mean it. Order a pour of Red Breast 12-Year neat and settle in. The crowd is local and dressed up.

Evie
A tucked-away café in Derry’s Craft Village with just a handful of tables. Ideal for warming up between sights with a cappuccino or peppermint tea. Small, cozy, the kind of unhurried pause a good travel day needs.

The Sandwich Co.
A quick, cheerful lunch stop with funky decor that feels like a beloved college-town café. The baked potato with real butter is deceptively comforting, the kind of simple thing that tastes like a memory. Exactly what you need before a walking tour of the Bogside.

For more on where to eat and drink in Derry, check out our Where to Eat in Derry post.

Practical Notes

We stayed within Derry’s historic walls at Maldron Hotel Derry, an ideal location for exploring the city. Our room, a Deluxe Double Room, provided excellent views of the city. Service is kind, the hotel is clean and quiet. However, compared to other stays during our time in Ireland, it felt a bit dated and underwhelming. Book your stay.

We picked up our rental car at Derry Airport the day before we left to optimize our time on the Antrim Coast, often referred to as the Causeway Coastal Drive. Thanks to it being November 1st and no longer Halloween, parking in the hotel’s underground lot was easy to secure.

If you want to explore the Causeway Coastal Drive without renting a car, you might want to check out one of the day trip options available on Viator. 

Road Trip: The Antrim Coast Drive aka Causeway Coastal Drive

We took the Causeway Coastal Route from Derry to Belfast. It’s one of our three favorite drives in Ireland. Do it slowly and stop often. We went in November, a time of year with limited daylight, so we couldn’t go quite as slow or stop as often as we might’ve on a summer’s day. Thanks to our off-season trip, we didn’t have to compete with crowds on our stops. 

Our Two Stops

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge — First erected by salmon fishermen in 1755, it’s a bouncy bridge suspended over the Atlantic with amazing views. Tickets are timed, so arrive early and allow time to walk the headland. Chris was nervous. I was not, which I cannot entirely explain except that something about a swaying bridge over the ocean makes me feel like the heroine of an adventure I didn’t plan. He said what got him across was looking at me. I went first both ways. See what crossing the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge is like.

Giant’s Causeway — 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and more interesting with a guide than without. Ours was John, who pointed across the water toward Jura, the Scottish island where George Orwell wrote 1984, and mentioned it’s possible to visit the house where he wrote it. That detail alone was worth the tour. One more place that’s tempting me to return. 

The Stops We’ve Saved for Next Time

There are dozens of places we didn’t stop along the Causeway Coastal Drive. Here are the ones we most wish we’d had the extra time for that are currently on our next time list:

• Portrush – in an episode of Derry Girls, the family and friends take a train to Portrush for a wee holiday. I’d love to go here in the summertime to experience the carnival aspects in the episode. On our next trip to Ireland, I want to spend a night here.
• Dunluce Castle – a castle on a cliff with a former resident banshee? I’d like to see its ruins. 
• The Old Bushmills Distillery – the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery. They offer tours. 
• The Dark Hedges (though I’m torn on actually taking the time for this one). They look cool, but I’ve never watched Game of Thrones, and there are so many things to see along the route.
• Rathlin Island – If you’re there between April and July, there’s likely to be puffins on the island! My favorite bird. There’s a lighthouse, remnants from shipwrecks, and all sorts of things to check out here. I’m selling myself on returning to Ireland sooner than later (always). 
• Glenariff Forest Park has walking trails and waterfalls.

If you don’t want to rent a car, but do want to explore places on the Causeway Coastal Drive, there are plenty of tours that depart from Belfast and Dublin. Several day trip options are available on Viator.  

For more details, see our The Causeway Coastal Route: A Landscape That Tells Stories post. 

A Full Day in Belfast

Belfast’s recent history runs deep. Two chapters dominate a first visit: The Troubles and the Titanic. This itinerary gives each the time and attention it deserves.

History & Culture

The Iconic Belfast Black Cab Tour of the murals, Falls Road, Shankhill Road, Divis Tower, and the Peace Wall — 90 minutes, both sides of the divide, essential context for understanding The Troubles and modern Belfast. Book the Iconic Belfast Black Cab Tour early to prevent disappointment. 

Travel Tip: Read Say Nothing before your trip for context. Although we definitely learned even more from our driver, who lived through The Troubles himself.   

Titanic Belfast — the story of the ship told in the city where it was built. My favorite part was The Shipyard Ride and the more personal stories. Chris soaked it all in. We spent three hours here, exploring at our own pace. 

Food & Drink

The Piano Lounge (Europa Hotel)
The Europa’s cocktail lounge earns its fancy reputation. Order a French 75, work through the warm bread board (the balsamic-pickled onions and sourdough are highlights), and consider lingering for afternoon tea if your itinerary allows. An unhurried hour in a beautiful room.

The Causerie (Europa Hotel)
The Europa’s main restaurant offers polished, unfussy Irish fare in an elegant setting. The Irish Chicken Supreme is delicately breaded and beautifully portioned, and a Gunpowder Gin and tonic pairs with it perfectly. A reliable, refined dinner after a long day of sightseeing.

The Crown Liquor Saloon
Reserve a snug. Seriously, book one of the ten ornate Victorian snugs in this 1885 National Trust gin palace before you arrive. The match-striker plates on the walls, the antique bell system, the Steak and Ale Pie, and a Buffalo Trace Old Fashioned make for an unforgettable Belfast evening.

Practical Notes

We stayed at The Europa Hotel Belfast. A hotel that holds a singular distinction: bombed 33 times during The Troubles, it never once closed. Today it’s impeccably warm, surprisingly intimate, and worth every penny. The Piano Lounge alone earns its place on your Belfast itinerary. Book your stay. 

Seamus Heaney Country – A Day in South Derry

This is the landscape that made Nobel Laureate poet Seamus Heaney: the Moyola River, the bogs, the fields. HomePlace is the anchor, but each stop is time well spent.

The Seamus Heaney Trail

Seamus Heaney HomePlace — The arts and literary center dedicated to Heaney’s life and work. Words in English, Irish, and Scots Ulster hang from the ceiling; QR codes connect you to the OpenGround app, which extends the experience into the surrounding landscape. We had the place nearly to ourselves on a Tuesday after Halloween. It was mentioned to me that it’s usually busy with visiting schools on weekdays, so a weekend visit might be best. Allow two hours minimum.

The Moyola Riverwalk — A fifteen to twenty-minute stroll along a paved path to the bridge Heaney watched trains cross. At the end of the path, a small metal post holds two buttons: press one to hear him read Broagh, and press the other to hear him read Moyulla. The woods run gold in autumn. Don’t skip this.

The Digging Sculpture — Worth a stop on your way through Bellaghy. “Digging” is the poem that introduced me to Seamus Heaney’s work in college. I had way too much fun explicating it. My guess is that it’s often the first Heaney poem students encounter.

Food & Drink

The Taphouse Bar & Restaurant in Bellaghy
A Seamus Heaney portrait greets you at the door of this Victorian-pretty pub in Heaney’s home village. The drink menu features a dedicated Heaney Collection. Order the Chicken Spice Bag; its spiced fries and peppers are addictive, and take your time with the atmosphere.

The Old Thatch Inn
Built in 1832 and located beside Seamus Heaney’s birthplace, has earned its reputation for excellent food and service. The beef fillets with Bushmills sauce are exceptional, a fire burns as you walk in, and the fog rolling in on a November night made our experience feel like something out of a poem.

Practical Notes

Laurel Villa, Magherafelt — A boutique guesthouse where each room is dedicated to a different poet. We stayed in the Seamus Heaney room, which has a pitched ceiling, antique touches, framed poems above the bed, and Thompson’s Teas on the dresser. Heaney himself gave readings here. Elegant, calm, and completely sold out the following night on a Tuesday in November. Book well ahead.

Drop off the car at Belfast Airport on departure. While it’s a small fee to drive a car rental in both Ireland and Northern Ireland, it’s considerably more to pick it up in Northern Ireland and drop it off in Ireland, or vice versa. The bus from Belfast Grand Central Station to Dublin Airport is direct and straightforward. From the Dublin Airport, we picked up a car for the remainder of our time in the Republic of Ireland.

You might want to consider an In The Footsteps of Seamus Heaney | Private Car Tour if you’re staying in Belfast and don’t want to rent a car.

An Essential Stop: Sean’s Bar in Athlone

The oldest pub in Ireland, dating to 900 AD, and a natural stop if you’re driving between Dublin and the west. The interior is warm and unpretentious; go past the front room if it’s crowded, there’s considerably more space toward the back.

We stopped at Sean’s Bar for an Irish Coffee (for me) and a Smithwick’s (for Chris) and stayed longer than planned, because a woman in her eighties with soft grey curls and the kindest eyes came over from her table to ours. She lit our candle, held my hand, and offered us a place to stay if we ever needed one. She lived between Sean’s Bar and the post office, she said, and wasn’t that just the best spot?

Stop here on the way to Ennis. It only adds ten or fifteen minutes to the drive, and you don’t know what you’ll find or who you might meet.

An Overnight Stay in Ennis, County Clare

Ennis is worth more than one night, but even an overnight allows you a glimpse of a town with more layers than you might expect. If you’re driving west from Dublin, it’s a natural stop. If trad music is on your list, County Clare is where you want to be. It’s also a great County Clare base if you want to explore the settings of This Is Happiness by Niall Williams. 

History & Culture

• The Edna O’Brien Mural — Worth finding on your morning stroll. Her Country Girls trilogy was banned in Ireland in 1960. Today she’s a point of national pride.
• The Sisters of Mercy Sculpture — A more complicated stop than it first appears. The sculpture commemorates the Sisters’ arrival in 1854, but it stands where an industrial school once operated. Read Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These before you visit.
• Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul — The limestone exterior and Shane Gilmore’s Hands sculpture across from the Old Ground Hotel are worth a few minutes even if you don’t go inside.
• The Ennis Sculpture Trail — Threads contemporary art through the whole town. Pick up the Ennis Town Map and follow it if time allows.

If you have more time, The Ennis Walking Tour with Local Guide Ger Considine and O’Brien’s Private Ennis Dark History Tour both come highly recommended.

Food & Drink

Town Hall Bistro (Old Ground Hotel)
Elegant and relaxed. The Roasted Chicken Supreme wrapped in pancetta with wild mushroom sauce is one of the finest plates of the trip, the wine list is excellent, and the service has the warm, good-humored Irish hospitality that makes dinner stretch happily past its scheduled hour.

Poet’s Corner Bar (Old Ground Hotel)
Tucked between the hotel lobby and Town Hall Bistro, this classy bar is worth stopping in for a post-dinner drink. The bartender assisting us was a cocktail enthusiast. If he’s there, let him talk you into a Dingle Single Malt Old Fashioned instead of a Jameson. You won’t regret it.

Mondo Coffee Shop
A clean, cheerful specialty café open Monday through Saturday. The caramel latte with coconut milk is a lovely morning start, the berry scones come out warm, and the vibe is the kind of low-key neighborhood spot that makes a town feel like somewhere you live.

Practical Notes

Where we stayed: Old Ground Hotel, Ennis — A restored 18th-century manor house in the heart of Ennis. The Deluxe King room has a deep-soaking tub, a proper teapot, and a Nespresso machine. Don’t miss dinner at Town Hall Bistro or a Dingle Single Malt Old Fashioned at Poet’s Corner. Book your stay.

For more details to help you plan your time in Ennis, read our post Why Ennis is the Perfect Base for Exploring County Clare.

En Route from Ennis to Dingle: Bunratty Castle & Folk Park

At Bunratty Castle & Folk Park, a 15th-century castle anchors a living museum of a folk village filled with cottages, a working blacksmith’s forge, and a fisherman’s house built from driftwood. Don’t miss Weavers of Bunratty for scarves worth the stop; allow at least three hours.

The Dingle Peninsula – Two Days at the Edge of Europe

The Slea Head Loop is the reason most people come to Dingle, and it is extraordinary. The peninsula is more than its headline attraction. Dingle, the town is small and unhurried, and in November the crowds are gone. We held a baby lamb in the morning (yes, even in November) and enjoyed a sunset from our balcony while drinking a glass of wine, and decided that next time, this destination deserved at least a week of our time.  

The Slea Head Loop Drive

Allow a full day, eight to nine hours if you stop properly. The landscape shifts from mountain to cliff to ocean in a way that doesn’t feel real. Build your stops around the Blasket Centre, Gallarus Oratory, and Kruger’s Bar.

Hold a Baby Lamb — Yes, really. Feeding is at 9 AM and you will not regret it. Gary at Greenmount House will laugh at you for wanting to do this in November. Go anyway.

The Great Blasket Centre and Island — The story of the Great Blasket Island, abandoned in 1953, and the extraordinary writers it produced. If you go between April 1st and September 30th, you can board a ferry and head to the island, weather permitting, of course.   

Gallarus Oratory — A thousand years old, the size of a small room, built without mortar and still standing. Seamus Heaney wrote a poem about it. It will stop you.

Kruger’s Bar — Ireland’s most westerly pub, open since the 1930s. Doesn’t open until noon

The drive can seem a bit perilous along the Slea Head Loop and Dingle Peninsula. If you’d rather enjoy the sights and leave the driving to someone else, you might like one of these Slea Head Loop and Dingle Peninsula tours on Viator.

Food & Drink

Dick Mack’s
Equal parts pub and leather workshop, with a craftsman making belts behind the bar as part of the experience. Sit at the bar, order a Dingle Gin with Poachers Wild Tonic, and let the rhythm of the room wash over you. Quiet as a church one moment, full of chatter the next.

Paudie’s Bar
A hotel bar with more elegance than the category usually delivers. The Chicken Supreme with Peperonata is beautifully plated and thoughtfully prepared. End the night with an Irish Coffee or a Dingle Single Malt Old Fashioned and consider yourself well taken care of.

The Half Door
A Dingle classic with relaxed blues-and-whites décor and attentive service from the moment you walk in. Like so many Irish spots, it’s bigger inside than it first appears, and that sense of pleasant surprise feels like a fitting metaphor for the town itself.

Practical Notes

Greenmount House, Dingle — A sea-view B&B with a balcony, a deep soaking tub, included breakfast, and a story: Julia Roberts fled here in 1991 to avoid the paparazzi after calling off her wedding to Kiefer Sutherland. She had great taste. Book the Seaview Superior. It’s grand. Book your stay. 

In November, some cafés and attractions operate reduced hours or close for the season; check ahead. If we’d arrived a day later, we wouldn’t have been able to see The Great Blasket Island Centre.

Allow a full day for the Slea Head Loop, at least 8 to 9 hours if you stop properly. Two days might be even better.

Arriving via Conor Pass — If you’re coming from the north, the pass is spectacular and requires your full attention. Rust-colored mountainsides, serious drops, worth every moment of it.

Kinsale & Cobh

We didn’t go to Kinsale as tourists. We lived there for three months, long enough to have a regular table, a favorite walk, and a sense of what the town feels like when the visitors have gone. To discover those, read Kinsale: Your Romantic Weekend Escape Planned and Best Restaurants in Kinsale, Ireland: Where to Eat Now. Going back was something different from sightseeing. Cobh is another story. Despite it being less than an hour’s drive from Kinsale, we never managed to make it over when we lived there.

History & Day Trips

Titanic Experience Cobh — Cobh was the Titanic’s last port of call, where over 100 third-class passengers, most of them emigrating to the United States, boarded alongside a handful of first and second-class passengers. The experience is intimate and focused on what happened here specifically.

Spike Island — A star-shaped island fortress in Cork Harbour, once the largest prison in the world. The history is devastating in the way that Irish history often is: the crime of poverty, the youngest prisoner was just nine years old, conditions designed to use people up rather than reform them. The ferry crossing is worth it, and so is the full tour.

Shopping – Kinsale is the best town in Ireland to shop, full stop. My opinion might be biased. Weavers of Ireland is the place for sweaters, proper ones, worth the price. Ditto for the Ruxx Handbags, made locally. Allow time to wander.

Food & Drink

Finns’ Farmcut
A Kinsale must for steak lovers, run by husband-and-wife team John and Julie Finn. The grass-fed beef is sourced from their own family farm, the wine list is curated with real care, and Julie’s desserts are reason enough to pace yourself through three full courses. Arrive hungry and thirsty.

The Wharf Tavern (Trident Hotel)
Designed by a local yacht designer, with harbour views to match. Reliable pub classics, a solid lunch roast, and vegan options done right. No reservation needed. On our most recent visit, Chris had the hake and I had the Chicken Supreme from the lunch roast. Both were excellent.

Practical Notes

Where to stay: Trident Hotel — A four-star harbour-view hotel at the edge of town, within easy walking distance of everything. Floor-to-ceiling windows, a king bed, and a deep soaking tub. Breakfast in Pier One Restaurant with harbour views is a good start to any morning. Free parking, no complications. Book your stay. 

Kinsale is 15 km from Cork Airport — an easy place to begin or end a trip.

Cobh is a half-day from Kinsale. Spike Island and the Titanic Experience can easily be combined into a day trip.

Back to Dublin – A Last Day

The drive from Kinsale to Dublin takes about three hours. We left mid-morning, dropped the rental at the airport, and joined the taxi queue one last time. I had three places on our itinerary that I wanted to make it to, but our hotel had other ideas about how we’d spend the afternoon. We received an unexpected upgrade to an expansive suite with a terrace and city views, making leaving the room a harder decision than it had any right to be.

History & Culture

MoLI — Museum of Literature Ireland — First editions, personal effects, and the literary DNA of a city that takes its writers seriously. Beckett’s telephone, Bram Stoker’s Dracula under glass, Patrick Kavanagh’s typewriter, and a writer’s wall where you can add your own words. Allow two hours minimum. Ticket is good all day; last entry 4:30 PM.

I wanted to visit these places, but the hotel’s fabulousness stole my time:

• Marsh’s Library — Ireland’s oldest public library; small, extraordinary, unhurried
• Bewley’s on Grafton Street — coffee, people-watching, the particular pleasure of a city café you’ve been coming back to for years

I guess we’ll have to return to Dublin. Darn. 😀

Food & Drink

The Exchange (NYX Hotel Dublin)
Vibrant and colorful without feeling chaotic, The Exchange is a genuinely good restaurant that happens to be inside a hotel. Let your server guide the wine list. The Chilean bottles come highly recommended, the menu is solid across the board, and you’d happily return even without a room upstairs.

Practical Notes

We stayed at NYX Hotel Dublin Christchurch, a design-forward Temple Bar hotel with a rock n’ roll edge, central to everything. We were upgraded unexpectedly to the Heaven Suite on the top floor, with a terrace balcony, city views, a sculptural guitar taller than Chris, and so much more. The Exchange Bar & Restaurant is worth a visit even if you’re not staying. Book your stay.

A note on the rental car: NYX Hotel Dublin Christchurch doesn’t offer onsite parking. Since we had an early flight, we dropped the rental at the airport on arrival. Smooth, logical, worth planning for.

How Much Did This 14-Day Trip Cost Us?

There’s Always More Ireland

This itinerary covers a lot of ground, but there’s always more to see in Ireland. Here are the destinations we didn’t include this time around, not because they’re not worth it, but because we wanted to spend most of our trip at new-to-us destinations within Ireland. 

Kilkenny, the most beautifully preserved medieval city in Ireland → 24 Things to Do in Kilkenny, Ireland in 24 Hours

Galway, the west’s well-rounded creative capital, bookshops, traditional music, a whiskey trail, and a poetry trail → 8 Ways to Fall in Love with Galway, Ireland

The Ring of Kerry, the classic drive, yes, but worth doing slowly, in the shoulder season, when the road belongs to you → Ring of Kerry: Everything Worth Stopping For (2-Day Itinerary)

Skellig Michael, a UNESCO World Heritage Site rising out of the Atlantic — a sixth-century monastery clinging to a rock face, Star Wars filmed here for good reason. There is nowhere else like it on earth. → Skellig Michael: How to Hike Ireland’s Wildest Island

For more Ireland planning help, get our free Ireland Insider Guide. For even more, we put everything we know into our 131-page Ireland travel guide. It’s the trip companion I wish we’d had on our first visit.

Prefer to skip the research and have someone build the perfect trip for you? I’m also a luxury travel advisor specializing in Ireland — let’s plan your trip together →

Fourteen days in Ireland is enough to fall in love and not enough to see everything. That’s not a flaw in the itinerary, it’s the nature of the place. We came back a third time, and we still left with a list. Whatever draws you here, history or coastline, literature or food, a good pub on a rainy evening, Ireland makes returning feel inevitable. Start planning the next one before you’ve landed home from this one.

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