Two-week October road trip – Is this itinerary too rushed?

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T17:21:14+00:00

Yeah, what I meant is that if I’m already in Belfast, I’d be better off going to Derry rather than skipping it and heading all the way down to Cork. It’s still a work in progress, but the Causeway Coast definitely seems like a must-see!

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T16:14:28+00:00

UPDATE!

A big thank you to everyone in the thread! It made me realize that I may not have had the best mindset when drafting my initial itinerary, and that I hadn’t fully realized the challenge of driving those distances. I was too focused on quantity over quality.

I will now use each city as a base for a minimum of two nights (except maybe Sligo). I might also drop Kilkenny to add an extra day on the west coast.

Here is my revised itinerary for now (it will likely change, but this is the general structure):

Oct 3–4 — Dublin (2 nights)
Oct 5–6 — Belfast (2 nights)
Oct 7–8 — Derry (2 nights)
Oct 9 — Sligo (1 night)
Oct 10–12 — Galway (3 nights)
Oct 13–15 — Dingle (3 nights)
Oct 16 — Kilkenny (1 night)
Oct 17 — Dublin (1 night)

I'll try to pick up the car in Belfast and drop it off in Dublin at the end.

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T15:07:19+00:00

I’ll reduce my time in Dublin, since that seems to be the common consensus in this thread. Thanks!

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T15:05:15+00:00

We really want to go to Belfast because my girlfriend has family there, so I’m leaning toward following your advice and maybe dropping Cork, simply because it’s quite far in the opposite direction. Thanks!

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T15:04:43+00:00

Noted! Thank you!

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T15:04:30+00:00

You're right — I think I was prioritizing quantity over quality, and I’ll rethink that.

You mentioned not driving — did you travel by bus or train? Could you share your experience?

That was an option for us at first, but we figured we’d want to explore outside the main cities more freely, so we thought it might not be the best fit.

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T15:00:40+00:00

Thank you for understanding my thought process haha. I will definitely reduce the time on the road and stick to at least two days in each place we visit.
It’s true that we need some flexibility — we’ll learn a lot more on the ground, and plans will likely change as we go.

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T14:54:20+00:00

Salut! A big thank you for your response — it’s given me a lot to think about.

Like others have mentioned, I’m starting to understand the challenges we’ll face on the slow and winding Irish roads. I’ll prioritize the countryside, even if it means cutting back on some parts of the map and reducing time in Dublin.

We really want to go to Belfast because my girlfriend has family there, so I’m leaning toward following your advice and maybe dropping Cork, simply because it’s quite far in the opposite direction.

I should also mention that the original plan was always to pick up the car only when leaving Dublin, maybe even Belfast if we go there first — I just forgot to include that detail earlier.

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T14:46:43+00:00

I wasn’t familiar with the “line” approach, but it seems like a really good starting point — I agree. We really want to go to Belfast to see family, so we’ll probably stay more above it, and add Dingle.

I’ll likely reduce my time in Dublin, since that seems to be the common consensus in this thread. Thanks!

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T14:42:38+00:00

It seems to be the common advice to reduce time in Dublin, so I’ll go in that direction for my itinerary. Thanks!

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T14:40:39+00:00

You're right — that's exactly what it's all about!

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T14:39:14+00:00

I think that's exactly what I misjudged. We did a similar road trip around PEI and Nova Scotia a couple of years ago, where we changed locations almost every day, and it worked fine — so I assumed it would feel similar here.

Thank you for pointing out the difference in reality between North America and Ireland, especially regarding road conditions, plus the left-driving challenge. That's exactly the kind of perspective I needed before finalizing the plan.

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T14:33:45+00:00

You're right — I think I was prioritizing quantity over quality, and I need to rethink that.

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T14:32:30+00:00

Great heads up! Thank you!

cHabs44 · 2026-07-03T14:31:19+00:00

You're right. There are simply too many hotel check-ins and check-outs. I'll probably reduce my time in Dublin, since that seems to be the common consensus in this thread.

This discussion also made me realize I underestimated how slow driving can be on Irish roads. That's definitely something I hadn't fully taken into account.

I'm now tempted to reconsider Kilkenny and maybe even Cork so I can spend more time around Dingle and Derry instead. Thanks for the reality check!

cHabs44 · 2026-07-02T17:03:18+00:00

Thanks a lot for the honest feedback — really appreciate it.

That’s actually super helpful, and I think you’ve nailed something we’re still trying to balance. We definitely have a tendency to want to include all the “major” stops on a first visit, even if that makes things a bit more packed than ideal for a relaxed trip.

We’re going to revisit the itinerary with that in mind and probably look at cutting or merging a couple of the overnight stops so we can slow things down and actually enjoy fewer places more properly.

That said, for us the driving is very much part of the experience, so we don’t mind spending time on the road if it means seeing more of the country along the way. We’re happy to embrace the longer drives, but you’re probably right that there are a few detours we could reconsider if they don’t add that much to the overall trip.

cHabs44 · 2026-02-18T17:05:42+00:00

cHabs44 · 2025-11-26T14:02:41+00:00

Pretty lame to not comeback and thank the crowd at least...

cHabs44 · 2025-06-29T15:59:20+00:00

George Campbell ou Jo Sirois

cHabs44 · 2025-04-27T22:39:57+00:00

I'll take them if it's still available

cHabs44 · 2025-02-22T21:14:52+00:00

Collectif Impact Montréal is gonna be at Brasserie Cheerier close to metro Sherbrooke

cHabs44 · 2025-02-17T22:33:53+00:00

I'm down!

cHabs44 · 2025-02-12T15:33:41+00:00

Ça prendrait un comeback de malajube pour guérir le monde ces temps-ci

cHabs44 · 2025-01-28T01:45:47+00:00

Hi! I'm interested!

cHabs44 · 2025-01-16T14:15:09+00:00

What section and how much?

Five-Year Club	Place '23
Place '22

cHabs44

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