Traditional Irish pubs, stunning natural landscapes, the lovely accent, the rich history, the people, and the heartwarming feeling when their eyes light up telling stories. Ohh, and the locals meeting in small towns in Ireland figured out after a one-minute conversation that they grew up in the same place and 100% have someone in common! Lovely.
My point is.
You’ll fall in love with Ireland. There is no doubt. My only mission here is to give you guidance on how to plan the perfect trip. This 7 days itinerary for Ireland is suitable for you no matter if you travel alone, with friends, or with family.
I solo travel and I felt very safe in Ireland, and it was easy to make friends. So let me share with you my one week itinerary for Ireland, including top tips for visiting Ireland, favorite places, restaurants, tales, and Irish legends.
You will notice that I decided to do part of the trip through a tour company and it’s been the best experience ever. I chose the same company I visited Scotland with back in 2021, Rabbies Tours, because they do go beyond the guidebooks in showing you the hidden gems, places only known by locals, and they offer an overall intimate experience. This blog post is not sponsored, but I recommend them with all my heart. There is a small chance I could have seen that much of Ireland by myself.
AT A GLANCE: 7 DAYS ITINERARY IN IRELAND
DAY 1: Arrive in Dublin
DAY 2: Dublin – Glendalough – Rock of Dunamase – driving the Wild Atlantic Way – Dingle
DAY 3: Dingle Peninsula
DAY 4: Dingle – Rock of Cashel – back to Dublin
DAY 5: Day trip to Cliffs of Moher and Galway
DAY 6: Dublin
DAY 7: leave Dublin
One thing I regret after this trip is not having the time to spend the night in Galway. Do it. Galway is an incredibly lively city, and I think you can only get the real vibes if you spend one night there. I’ll definitely be back in Ireland for this!
Table of Contents
ONE-WEEK IRELAND ITINERARY
Here is everything you should expect from a one week in Ireland, or at least what I think will give you the full Irish experience!
DAY 1: Get a taste of Dublin
Odds are you will be flying to Dublin Airport. Here’s my first tip: take the bus to the city center, not the shuttle. This will save you around 4€, not a fortune, but why not spend that money on a Tesco lunch deal?
Best time to visit Ireland
I visited Ireland during summer and the weather was amazing. I recommend going in the summer, but…you don’t have to. I think every season has its perks. For instance, I did a Rabbies tour around Scotland in November 2021 and the foliage was stunning + the weather was really good. Spring can be a good season to visit Ireland too, with temperatures not that low and prices not that high. In general, aim to visit Europe during the shoulder season, which is between September-November and March-May.
Where to stay in Dublin
I solo traveled to Dublin, so I stayed in a hostel. Since I visited in the summer the hostel prices were a bit outrageous (yes, I think 100€ for a hostel bed is quite a lot), so I picked probably the cheapest hostel in Dublin, Apalache, and went there with very low expectations. Honestly, it was not bad at all. The location is perfect, the rooms are clean and big, and you get discounts for the pizza store next door.
However, the best hostels in Dublin are Abbey Court, Jacobs Inn, and Generator. I stayed in the latter when I came back from the Wild Atlantic Way tour and it was really nice. They have pub crawls every night, walking tours, a bar, and an overall social atmosphere! I arrived in Dublin during a football game with Galway, so I went out to party with the locals. I don’t remember who won, but Irish people know how to have fun and enjoy a night out at the pub!
DAY 2: Dublin – Glendalough – Rock of Dunamase – driving the Wild Atlantic Way – Dingle
On day 2 I started my Rabbie’s tour, so I was up early and headed to the meeting point. I was surprised to see that it was just me and another woman on the tour, but this is their policy: no cancellation, they’ll do the tour no matter if 2 or 20 people signed up for it.
Once we left Dublin, our driver started to tell us about all the amazing places we were about to see, answered all our questions (it did feel like a private tour), and asked what we’d prefer to listen to between Irish tales or music.
When heading to Glendalough through the Wicklow Mountains we reached a road where the car would move upwards by itself. The legend of the place goes something like this: the devil asked a local to murder someone and since he refused, the devil put a curse on the road. The other person on this tour said it’s something to do with gravitational force and physics, but you’re free to believe either (legends sound a lot more fun though).
We also had a stop at ‘Ireland’s Prettiest Village’, Adare. We visited the ruins of a 15th-century Franciscan Monastery and noticed there was a tower in the middle. After visiting, our guide asked us why we think there is a round tower there. After our silly answers, he said it was used for protection from the Vikings. The monks reckon that the Vikings would climb on the tower.
Driving the Wild Atlantic Way was my favorite part of the tour, so beautiful and peaceful, especially with Irish songs playing in the background.
Once we arrived in Dingle we went to the Bed & Breakfast and had the rest of the afternoon to explore. Concerning the accommodation, you can either book it yourself or have Rabbie’s do it for you. I chose to do this because they know the best local, really authentic places to stay at.
Dingle is a port city, one of the most popular and probably the cutest in Ireland, especially because of its cute dolphin mascot, Fungie.
DAY 3: Dingle Peninsula
Today we explored the area around Dingle, Gaeltacht. Since we were a small group, we started the tour backward than any other tour companies do, so we would have the places to ourselves. Did I say before how much I love Rabbie’s?
Some highlights of the day: Conor Pass, Tóchar Maothaithe, the Beehive Huts, Slea Head, and Gallarus Oratory.
One of the spontaneous stops was at Tom Creen’s pub, an arctic explorer and the personal hero of our guide. Please google all the incredible things he did because he might become your role model too, especially if you’re into traveling (and if you’re reading my blog, you most probably are!).
We spent the night in Dingle and after exploring the town we headed for some dinner. I had the most delicious seafood chowder! It’s heavy, you won’t be hungry for another 8 hours, but d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!
After dinner, we went to an Irish pub. You can’t simply visit Ireland, and especially the small towns, without heading to an Irish pub for a Guinness pint or two. Everything is so vibrant there; you just listen to locals’ conversations and Irish songs. You eat a pie. You look around you and see people living life. Like, actually living, dancing, and laughing.
DAY 4: Dingle – Rock of Cashel – back to Dublin
After leaving our lovely B&B, the first stop was at Inch Beach. This is not the typical tropical beach destination you might be used to, but a wide stretch of sand where you can seat to read a book and look at the seagulls and the Kerry mountains. We had no time to read books though because we had a full day in front of us: Killarney and Rock of Cashel, before heading back to Dublin.
Although the last day of the tour was rainy, I still enjoyed visiting the Rock of Cashel. I think it even added to the mystic vibe of the medieval buildings.
DAY 5: Day trip to Cliffs of Moher and Galway
Since I didn’t have an extra day, I couldn’t spend a night in Galway, but I regretted it a lot. They were having the Galway Races that weekend, which meant lots of people were partying around the city. Instead, I decided to do a one-day tour that included both Cliffs of Moher and Galway.
We departed from Dublin at 6:45 in the morning (a mood killer, I know) and headed to the Cliffs of Moher, where we had 1,5 hours to explore the view over the Atlantic Ocean. By the time we finished, it started to rain, so I couldn’t be happier to have seen the place without clouds for that first hour.
In Galway, we only had around 2 hours to explore, so that’s why I recommend you spend the night there. However, the city is small so you can see all the important landmarks in one hour! We got back to Dublin at around 8:30 PM and I checked in to a new hostel – Generator. I really liked its vibes and the fact that it had a bar where I could make some friends and join them in a pub crawl.
DAY 6: Dublin
On my last day, I met a friend that I made on the Yes theory Dublin WhatsApp group. We had so much fun visiting the Leprechaun Museum and joining another pub crawl at night.
PRO TIP: you can join as many pub crawls as you want with the same bracelet!
DAY 7: leave Dublin
I left Dublin early morning and headed to the airport. I recommend you take the bus to get there instead of the shuttle because it costs less and only takes 15-20 minutes more time.
That’s a wrap! I hope you enjoyed this Ultimate One Week Itinerary for Ireland!
Any other recommendations for Ireland? Which are your favorite spots?
