One of the best trips we’ve taken was exploring the Emerald Isle! Between the nine days we spent driving on the “wrong side” of the road and the countless pints enjoyed, we loved every second! So if you are thinking about heading to Ireland (which we think you should) read on for our best tips on driving through the land of leprechauns! 
Night 1: Dublin
Night 2: Galway
Night 3: Galway
Night 4: Bunratty
Night 5: Kenmare
Night 6: Kenmare
Night 7: Kinsale
Night 8: Kilkenny
Night 9: Dublin
We flew into Dublin (overnight from Orlando), arrived around 10AM and took a cab into the city to drop our bags at our hotel in the Temple Bar district. It is really easy to get a cab at the airport as well! We stayed at Temple Bar Inn which is an adorable boutique hotel with lovely helpful staff. After dropping our things, we thought it would be a great idea to do a hop-on-hop-off bus tour to quickly see the highlights of Dublin. We saw St. Patrick’s Cathedral and went to the Guinness Storehouse. The Guinness Storehouse is a fun experience where you can learn how to complete the perfect pour and sample some beer. The best part (well besides the beer) are the beautiful views over the city. Sounds like a great day, right? Here’s where we went wrong- thinking we could stay awake on a bus after little to no sleep the night before (is this where the term struggle bus comes from? Because we were on it)!!
Ultimately we gave in and went back to the hotel for check in and a quick nap – we know napping is a dangerous road when dealing with jet lag, but call us rebels! After setting multiple alarms to make sure we got back up, we went out for a night on the town. Our hotel was in such a great location, we were able to walk to multiple pubs-score! The live music and tasty beer made for a great time! BUT, and this is a big but, please don’t go to Ireland and only stay in Dublin. It would be such a shame to miss out on the fantastic small towns that are such a better experience than Dublin itself. Obviously you know that, and that is why you came here to read about our trip. Right? You know better! And if you live under a rock didn’t know, now you do, right?
Aaaannyway moving on, the next day we took a cab to Enterprise Rent-a-Car to pick up our vehicle for the rest of our journey. Keep in mind, we had zero experience driving on the “wrong side” of the road. We reserved an automatic as we didn’t want to have to try to shift while also driving on the “wrong side” of the road – and truthfully only one of us knows how to drive manual and she was not on this trip! We know, we should learn, it’s a good life skill, yada yada. Stop lecturing us because this is an important tip – Make sure you know if the car you are renting is manual or automatic when you make the reservation. It will save you lots of headaches! BIG PRO TIP HERE: BUY THE INSURANCE. You might be thinking you never buy the insurance on rental cars, that your credit card covers it, or the infamous, oh nothing will happen. But unless you are sure your credit card covers you specifically in Ireland (MOST DON’T), you should get it. The driving is most likely NOT what you are used to, and not only because you are on the “wrong side” of the road. The road can be very, very narrow with two cars trying to squeeze by. Piece of mind is worth it. Let’s just say one of us scraped a stone wall of a barely one-car width wide bridge. We sure were happy to have the coverage!
Into our trusty sedan and off we went- chanting “stay left, stay left” at times. Don’t be afraid to do it, drive on the “wrong side,” it’s definitely very doable if you are a decent driver, but it does take a lot of concentration and some getting used to! Our next stop was the city of Galway. Luckily, it was mostly highway driving, though roundabouts – those are very interesting on the opposite side of the road – and they sure do love their roundabouts! What’s so cool about renting a car and going off on your own is the opportunity to stop wherever you wish. Ireland has such cool little things to see around every corner; castle ruins, abandoned abbeys and fairy tale cottages are everywhere! It’s really so cool.
We ended up making two stops on the way to Galway. The first was to a small town which is home to a pub that is certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest bar in Ireland. Now keep in mind you will see that claim everywhere – literally every other pub states they are the oldest – but this one had the official certification so maybe it was true? It’s called Sean’s Bar and dates back to 900AD. It has a sloped dirt floor and great beer on tap.
Our second stop was to tour the Athenry Castle. It gave you a good overview of small castles with a short video presentation and we got to pretend we were princesses because we practically had the castle to ourselves to explore. Pretty cool experience! We went to the little town of Athenry and had some really good lunch!
In Galway, we stayed at Habour Hotel. We chose this location for the available parking and it was easy walking distance for us to explore Galway. We didn’t realize that it would also have soft comfy beds and a delicious (included) breakfast! Score! (Those rashers tho!)
As we wandered around Galway that evening we fell in love with the city. Galway > Dublin. For reals. We decided we could live in Galway. The next day, we arranged a guided tour through Connemara and it was nice to sit back and let someone else manage those roundabouts! During our tour, we saw gorgeous Ireland landscapes and enjoyed the beautiful architecture of Kylemore Abbey. Guys, We even saw sheep roaming around the rolling hillside. It was a fabulous day trip!
We stayed over in Galway one more night and had one more tasty breakfast before heading to see the Cliffs of Moher. To get there, we took the Wild Atlantic Way and were in for a day of beautiful landscapes. The cliffs are even better than you expect and the viewing area is very nice, just be prepared to pay 6 Euro for parking.
From the cliffs we drove to a town called Bunratty. It’s a very small town but famous for it’s dinner banquet held inside Bunratty Castle. We couldn’t pass up a chance to dine like royalty inside a real castle! Megan Markle move over! We checked into our lovely BnB which was strategically located within walking distance to our royal dinner. Before dinner we decided to grab drinks at the original Durty Nelly’s, which is right outside the castle grounds. We maaay have taught the bartenders there how to make a Durty Hoe (Guinness and Hoegaarden). #keepitclassy Pro tip: The grounds of the castle take a while to walk through to get to where the dinner is held within the actual castle. We underestimated this and had to basically run to get there on time. Don’t be us. You don’t want that Durty Hoe rearing her ugly head too soon! The dinner banquet is a great time and they put on a fantastic and entertaining show. We definitely recommend you book it in advance!
Next up; Kenmare. On the way there we drove through the quaint town of Adare to see the lovely thatched roof cottages, medieval monastery, ruins and a park. Onward to the small town of Kenmare chanting “stay left, stay left” on the narrow stone-wall lined roads.
We became enchanted with Kenmare as soon as we tuned onto it’s main drag – which is essentially one triangle of a city center. The streets are lined with pubs, restaurants and BnBs. This is a great jumping off point to explore some of Ireland’s best drives; Ring of Beara and Ring of Kerry. The Ring of Kerry is the most famous path and because of this we read it can be very congested with tourist buses and hoards of people. This is why we chose the less traveled Ring of Beara. We were not sorry. We enjoyed the gorgeous vistas and small towns throughout, especially the Buddhist monastery we found, set on the ocean. Talk about random and serene!
After the drive we went back to Kenmare for some delicious dinner, some pub entertainment and of course, libations (if you like beer you MUST try the Franciscan Well Rebel Red. We haven’t been able to find it ANYWHERE since)!
A new day brought a new Irish town. Kinsale is an adorable (isn’t everything in Ireland adorable?!) seaside town. In recent years it’s also become a hot culinary destination. We stayed in a multi-level BnB in the heart of the city (Desmond House BnB). Once we checked into our spacious room (it was seriously huge, basically a whole floor of an old house!) we decided to go on a local ghost tour. We cannot recommend this tour enough, it was soooo much fun and didn’t take itself seriously. So great. Just do it. Kinsale Ghost Tours.
After more exploration of the sailboat-lined town square and twin forts, we ventured on to Kilkenny. We stopped on the way to check out the Rock of Cashel. Super cool place, highly recommend! Kilkenny ending up being one of our favorite stops! The town has the so-named, Medieval Mile, which is rich in history, and has, you guessed it, pubs! You MUST visit Kyteler’s Inn and hear about the incredible past owner! The Smithwick’s brewery tour is really cool too, if that’s your cup of….um.. beer?
Sadly after our amazing time in Kilkenny we had to head back to Dublin, and in turn, home. We hit up some more pub hopping in Dublin our last night before we had to say adieu to the lovely Emerald Isle.
Have you been to Ireland? Have any tips to share? Planning a trip there soon?
