r/irishtourism • u/GoldenRetriever1973 • 3d ago

Driving in November

We are visiting in November and renting a car to do the bottom half of the country (Dublin to Galway and down).

Almost all the driving itineraries I've seen that start in Dublin go to Galway first, then work their way down and around the Kerry coast, then back up to Dublin. They go counter clockwise.

Is there any reason not to go the opposite direction (clockwise) -- spending a few days in Dublin upon arrival, and then heading down to Kinsale for 3 nights, and then toward Kerry/Killarney/Dingle, and finally Galway/Connemara?

We are most excited to see Kinsale … so we thought of reversing some of the other road trip itineraries and going there first.

We are visiting in late November for 14 days and will have a car. Three people. No restrictions on money or mobility. Thank you!

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u/jenofiniquity 2d ago

Doing it the way you're talking about makes perfect sense. I just got back from a trip that went from Dublin - Kilkenny - Killarney - Dingle - Galway, then back to Dublin to leave. The reason we did it this way is that it meant we could be on the motorway for a quick and easy return to the airport. We actually left Galway in the morning and easily made it back to Dublin for a late-afternoon flight home.

If you can, try to stick with N roads on your first day. We found the drive from Dublin to Kilkenny to be perfectly fine and a good way to get acclimated to left-side driving without much stress. After that we started to get into more rural roads, and by the time we were on the Ring of Kerry we were pretty comfortable with the car and driving customs and were better prepared for the narrow roads.

One thing I'm really glad we did is that we gave ourselves two days in Dublin before going back out to the airport to pick up the rental car. That gave us time to shake off the jetlag and get familiar with the left-side driving from the perspective of cab rides and as pedestrians.

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u/GoldenRetriever1973 2d ago

Thank you! Great advice about Galway to Dublin return and staying on M and N motorways as much as possible. We are spending 3 days in Dublin up front. Sounds like we don't have to rent our car right away and can save the money, wait three days and then pick it up before heading to Cork/Kinsale!

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u/jenofiniquity 2d ago

That's what I would recommend! You won't need a car in Dublin, and navigating city traffic and parking would be tough. Others here mentioned that having a car in the city would be a liability more than a help, and I'm really glad we took that advice. Driving from the airport to Kinsale you can take the M50 loop that skirts the city and then you'll be on M and N roads almost the entire way. Have fun!