Mr. Selfish and I had originally intended to start our trip in London, since Mr. Selfish had found some great flights to London at the beginning of August 2012.  Unfortunately, this happened to coincide with the Olympics.

As a result of our poor timing, housing was 300% more expensive than normal and completely out of our price range.  Not to be deterred, we decided to head straight to Dublin and spend a week exploring Ireland.  That way, when we returned to London, the Olympics would be over and housing would be affordable again.

Ireland Trip Report

1. Ireland Overview
2. Driving in Ireland
3. Castles, Castles, and more Castles
4. Kylemore and Connemara
5. The Cliffs of Insanity!
6. The Loop Around the Dingle Peninsula
7. Searching for the Best Guinness in Dublin
8. 6 Hotels in 7 Nights! Part 1
9. 6 Hotels in 7 Nights! Part 2
10. Ireland’s Fine Eats – Part 1
11. Ireland’s Fine Eats – Part 2

After doing a little research I settled on a week-long trek through southern Ireland.  Since Mr. Selfish and I wanted to see as much of Ireland as possible we decided to stay in 6 different hotels over the course of 7 days.  Here’s our very ambitious (crazy) itinerary:

Day 1 – We landed in Dublin and immediately drove to Trim, a small town 45 minutes away.  We explored Trim and spent the night there.

Day 2 – We visited Kylemore and Connemara National Park, spending the night in Galway, a scenic town overlooking Galway Bay.

Day 3 – We explored the Cliffs of Moher and spent the night in Dingle.

Day 4 – We drove around the Dingle Peninsula and spent the night in Cork.

Day 5 – We visited Barryscourt Castle and spent the night in Waterford.

Days 6 and 7 – We toured Kilkenny Castle and then dropped off the car at the airport.  We spent two nights in Dublin and searched for the best Guinness in town.

That’s about 570 miles.  On the left side of the road.  In a manual rental car.  More on that later…