The Perfect 3-Day Ireland Road Trip
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If you’re visiting Ireland, there is no better way to explore this beautiful country than by jumping in a car and road tripping through it’s many different counties. We’ve pulled together the ultimate 3-day Ireland road trip, including a stop at the famous Cliffs of Moher.
Our snazzy little car that we rented to drive around Ireland!
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Ireland is, in our opinion, one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Dublin in itself is such an incredible city, full of so much life, but no trip to Ireland is complete without hitting the road and exploring some of the other many counties. If you’re planning a trip to Ireland, you absolutely should schedule in a road trip, whether it be just a couple of days like this guide, or a couple of weeks!
Now a little known fact is that Rosh is half-Irish, so fortunately for us she has some family living in Ireland. When we visited in August/September 2023, we spent 2.5 weeks in Ireland, most of our time in the Dublin area. Having visited Dublin together previously, we decided to schedule in a little road trip this time around, mostly because we were desperate to see the Cliffs of Moher, but little did we know, there was so much more that we would see and do that would leave a lasting impression.
If we had our time again, we would definitely do a longer road trip, however, for whatever reason, that is not always possible for everyone, whether it be time or money, so we have pulled together the ultimate 3-day Ireland road trip!
DAY ONE
Generally speaking, most people travelling to Ireland will begin their time in Dublin, so that is exactly where this road trip will begin. Now Dublin is definitely worth spending a few days exploring at least - it is such a fun and vibrant city - however, you will need to schedule that in before or after this road trip, as we’re hitting the road nice and early!
TIP: If you’re looking for ideas of what to do in or just outside Dublin, check out our video where we take you to all the top sights, including some hidden gems just outside the city!
It’s time to hit the road and head towards County Cork. As you exit County Dublin, you will cross through several other counties on your way to stop one, including Kildare, Laois, Kilkenny and Tipperary, before finally crossing into County Cork.
Now that you’re in County Cork, approximately 3 hours later, it’s time to make the first stop of the road trip at Blarney Castle. Entrance to the grounds will cost you 20 Euro and we’d plan to spend a few hours here at least, as there is so much to explore. In fact, the grounds are around 60 acres!
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Blarney Castle is known for it’s beautiful gardens, over 500 year old medieval castle, and of course, the Blarney Stone. For the latter, be prepared to line up, in fact there are signs of estimated wait times just like you’d see in Disneyland. We were there late morning and waited around 30-minutes to make it up to the Blarney Stone for the infamous kiss. If you have a fear of heights, prepare yourself - kissing the stone is quite an experience.
If you want to read more about Blarney Castle, check out our article here!
After a few hours exploring the grounds, it’s time to move on and now that we’re in county Cork, we’d highly suggest heading towards Cork city, which is about a 20 minute drive from Blarney Castle. Depending on how you’re going for time, you can park the car and jump out and explore Cork. Being Ireland’s second largest city, it’s certainly busy and quite difficult to get parking, so keep that in mind! A beautiful city with colourful buildings bordering the River Lee. Depending on how long you spend at Blarney Castle you may not have time to stop in Cork, but at the very least we’d recommend driving through it!
TIP: If you want to extend your road trip out, why not spend a night in Cork!
Once you’re done exploring Cork, or if you are just passing through like we did, a great spot to spend the night is Killarney, which was a little over an hour drive away, in County Kerry. Our accomodation for the night was one of the coolest places we’ve ever stayed in! Think spacious, glamorous, camping pods with our own private bathroom and kitchenette. These things felt like the tents in Harry Potter - from the outside they didn’t seem big, but the second you step foot inside it’s like another dimension of spaciousness. A very short drive away was the town of Killarney, which is worth exploring as well. A typical Irish town, where live music surrounds the streets and pubs are ubiquitous. We loved it here and hope to go back one day!
If you’re looking for a unique stay in Killarney you should check out Priory Glamping Pods!
The rest of the day is largely up to you! You can settle in for the night, or venture out and wander through the streets of Killarney. Don’t stay out too late though, because day 2 is going to start nice and early!
DAY TWO
The Cliffs of Moher may be one of the greatest natural beauties you will ever see!
The main attraction of day 2 of this itinerary is a visit to the Cliffs of Moher. For us, this was a bucket list destination and one of the main reasons we went on a road trip in the first place! Before arriving at the Cliffs though, there is still quite a bit of a journey and there are a couple different options on how to get to the Cliffs from Killarney.
The Ferry port in Tarbet.
The first option is the option Google Maps will suggest, which is roughly a 2.5 hour drive through the countryside, and is not very scenic. This is the route we had planned to take (Google Maps is never wrong right?), until the host of our accommodation suggested we take an alternative route, which would save us a bunch of kilometres of driving, albeit will take slightly longer. This route involves driving from Killarney to Tarbert, which is roughly a 2-hour drive. Once in Tarbert, you will take the car ferry across the largest river in Ireland, River Shannon, and arrive in Killimer about 20 minutes later. From Killimer, it is roughly another hour of driving along the coast. When we took the ferry in September 2023, it cost us 23 Euro for the car, for the one way journey.
Most people will suggest the better route for saving time will be the former, and it is also known to have better roads, however, we loved taking the latter route, as once we crossed on the ferry, we got to drive along to coast until we reached the Cliffs of Moher. This route also allows you make a stop in some of the picturesque, seaside towns, and we’d highly recommend making a stop in Lahinch where you can take in the contrast of the luscious green fields meeting the dark blue ocean scape. You can marvel at the surfers, or munch on some fish and chips, before continuing on to the Cliffs.
The beautiful seaside town of Lahinch.
The perfect stop on route to the Cliffs of Moher!
Not a bad place to graze if you ask us!
As we said, the main attraction of day 2 is the Cliffs of Moher, and my god they will take your breath away. While the Cliffs are known for often having a heavy fog and quite strong winds, we hit the jackpot when we visited, as it was clear blue skies, and barely any wind at all! The Cliffs are in both of our top 5 sights we’ve visited in our 8 months of travel so far, so you absolutely cannot miss them on your trip to Ireland.
Wanting to visit the Cliffs of Moher but don’t want to drive? That’s okay! There are plenty of tours that offer day trips from Dublin or Galway out to the Cliffs of Moher. You can check them out here!
The Cliffs of Moher were formed over 320 million years ago, which means they will almost definitely be the oldest sight you visit on your Europe trip! They span 14 kilometres along the coast of County Clare, and at the highest point, rise to a height of over 700ft!
Entrance to the Cliffs of Moher is 12 Euros per person and once you’re done admiring their natural beauty, make sure you also pop in to the visitor centre! It’s quite a unique building, literally built into the lush Irish hills.
TIP: Be prepared for any type of weather because Ireland can be unpredictable! Even if it is meant to be a warmer day, it can be quite windy at the Cliffs so we’d suggest packing a jacket just to be safe! If you’re lucky like us and strike gold with the weather, make sure you bring a hat!
At the Cliffs of Moher there are plenty of different spots for some epic photos, and you can walk along the Cliffs in either direction. There are signs noting the danger of doing so, so if you do decide to go for a walk, make sure you read the signs and stay on the designated paths for your own safety!
If you’re anything like us, you’ll probably have spent hours marvelling at the Cliffs, but eventually, you will have to move on. Now you can’t do an Ireland road trip without visiting Galway, so we’d suggest heading in that direction. However, before you do, we’d suggest making one more stop, and fortunately this other natural beauty sits right next to the Cliffs of Moher - The Burren. The Burren is kind of like Ireland’s lunar landscape and in our opinion, is a pretty underrated sight to visit in Ireland. If you’re lucky, you may even spot a Puffin (unfortunately, we weren’t)!
If you’re wanting to stay in County Clare you can check out some of the accommodation options here.
This is one of the more unique landscapes you will ever visit, appearing to be composed entirely of limestone pavement, and yet somehow, plants and greenery seem to grow through.
The unique landscape of The Burren!
We told you we had perfect weather!
Once you’re done at The Burren, continue on to Galway. Ideally, staying in Galway would allow you to maximise your day 3, however, if you are looking for something a little more affordable, we actually stayed about 40 minutes outside the city of Galway at a lovely family homestay. It was a beautiful property in a quaint little town, and we would love to return one day. If you’d like to check it out for yourself, you can do so by clicking here.
We had a classic Irish pub meal for dinner, which you can do pretty easily just about anywhere in Ireland. If you are staying in Galway, you absolutely must have a pub meal with some live music, as this is one of the most popular things to do in Galway!
While there are so many different photo spots, this was our favourite view!
Weather at the Cliffs of Moher doesn’t get much better than this!
DAY THREE
Galway’s famous Latin Quarter.
For your third and final day of your road trip, it’s time to explore the city of Galway. Galway itself has a lot of history, and fortunately it has a free city museum you can explore to learn a little more. On the way to the museum you can also check out some of Galways medieval history at the Spanish Arch. This monument is over 400 years old!
Tip: Parking in town can be quite expensive, however, there is a public car park on Dyke St, only a short walk from the centre of town, for 6.50 euro for the whole day.
If you didn’t check out any live music last night, then we’d highly recommend finding somewhere for lunch where you can enjoy a traditional Irish pub meal and soak in some live music. Some other cool things to do in Galway include checking out the street art in the Latin Quarter, and if you’re in the market for a Claddagh ring, why not check out the store where they originated way back in 1750 - T Dillon and Son!
Once you’ve done everything you wanted to see in Galway, it’s time to hit the road again, back to Dublin. If you do have some time left in the day, we’d also recommend making a stop at Newgrange on the way back to Dublin. Newgrange was built around 5,200 years ago, making it older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza!
Access to Newgrange is only available by guided tour from the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre, so if you are wanting to do this, make sure you plan ahead and pre-book your tickets, as they do sell out. We unfortunately left it too late and tickets were sold out, but this is definitely worth checking out if you have the time!
Just like that you’ve arrived back in Dublin and your 3-day epic Ireland adventure is over! As some final notes:
Car Hire in Ireland
The two main options for care hire would be to hire a car from Dublin Airport, or to hire it in the city centre. As with most countries, it will be cheaper if you pick up and return the car to the same rental location, so keep that in mind when selecting. We had already been in Dublin over a week when we picked up our car, and we decided to rent from Dublin Airport so we could return it when it was time for us to fly out. This is a great option if you don’t want a car during your whole stay in Dublin, but want an easy way to get yourself to the airport.
Dublin’s public transport system is fairly efficient, and it was only a 20-30 minute bus from the city centre to the airport. If you do want to hire a car in the middle of your stay, than hiring from the city is probably the better option.
Make sure you check out the terms and conditions before booking any car or buying any car insurance. We’ve had a bit of trouble both times we’ve hired a car in Ireland, once based on our age, and secondly, because the company wouldn’t accept our third party insurance, so wanted us to buy their insurance or otherwise pay a 2000 Euro deposit (which had to be by credit card, and only a card in the drivers name).
When?
We were extremely lucky with the weather (we visited in early September), as Ireland was having a belated summer after weeks and weeks of rain. We’d suggest the closer to mid-summer you can get, the higher the likelihood of some nice weather. Plus, as you head into winter the days are much shorter so you are more limited in what you can fit into your itinerary.
Check out some ideas of things to to do in Dublin below or otherwise check out our article on 5 UNMISSABLE experiences for your European summer to get broader Europe inspiration!
