Ireland is an amazing country that we absolutely loved! We spent 4 days road tripping through various parts of this beautiful country and easily could have spent a few more weeks! But if you only have a few days it’s completely doable to see and do a lot. Here is our 4 day Ireland road trip itinerary including everything you can do with a short amount of time!
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Getting to Ireland
You will most likely fly into Dublin airport in northern Dublin. From the airport it’s about 11 km north of the center of Dublin. You can get to and from Dublin and the Dublin Airport by taking bus 700.
If you’re coming from England you can also take a ferry from Liverpool or Holyhead to the port in Dublin. The ferry from Liverpool to Dublin takes 2 1/2 – 3 1/2 hours on a fast ferry and over 7 hours on a slow ferry so plan ahead. It costs about 200 Euros for a standard ticket or $223 USD.
- We originally planned on taking the ferry from England to Ireland but it was going to take all day to get there and cost a lot of money. It was actually significantly cheaper for us to fly from Gatwick Airport to Dublin than to take the ferry.
Do You Need to Rent a Car in Ireland?
We went back and forth for a while about renting a car in Ireland or taking buses and trains. We traveled almost entirely by trains for 3 months around all of Europe using our Eurail Passes. We’ve gotten pretty good navigating train changes and all kinds of public transportation, but I always imagined driving through the Irish countryside and couldn’t get that out of my head.
You can absolutely travel via buses and trains in Ireland. There are buses that are not too expensive from Dublin to all different stops throughout the country. However, it means you’re on the timeline of the bus schedule. Ultimately we rented a car and absolutely loved it! Driving was one of the highlights of our entire trip! Everywhere you drive is so beautiful and we could pull over and get out whenever we wanted.
Read More: 10 Tips for a Road Trip in Ireland
Day 1: Dublin
Depending on what time of day you fly in take as much time as you have to explore Dublin. The city itself isn’t huge so you can easily see a bunch in a few hours. Highlights in the city include Dublin Castle and the Guinness Storehouse.
We got in later in the day but one thing we knew we wanted to do in Dublin was visit the Guinness Storehouse. The Guinness Storehouse is the original building where Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease in 1759.
The storehouse is made up of 7 floors each of which is dedicated to a different part of the brewing process or a different piece of the history of Guinness. You can go as quickly or as slowly as you want on the self guided tour. Or you can opt for the guided tour but there is so much information throughout each floor it’s really not necessary.
Tickets for the Guinness Storehouse cost 19-24 Euros depending on the day and time. With your ticket you get a tasting in the tasting room as well as a voucher for 1 pint of Guinness. You can choose to have it at a restaurant where you can learn how to properly pour a Guinness or on the top floor bar with views overlooking the city of Dublin.
Tickets are timed so you can pick the start time that best works for you. Online it gives you information regarding the availability of tickets so you can gauge how full or empty each time slot is.
- We purchased them online because it was quick and easy but if you see the time is empty you could definitely wait and purchase them there!
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Day 2: Cliffs of Moher & Doolin
Start driving early on day 2 to the west coast of Ireland. You want to get an early start because there is so much to see! We got so lucky and ended up having the best weather!
We drove for just over 2 hours mostly on the M4 and M6 which are large highways before going south on R460 which is a significantly smaller road. It looked exactly how we expected the Irish countryside to look! Small, winding roads surrounded by greenery. We stopped at Kilmacduagh Abbey, a monastery in County Galway. We spotted the circle tower from the road and quickly decided to pull over.
- There is a parking lot directly past that you can park for free. We were literally the only people there which was so cool! We took about 40 minutes to walk around and explore a little before hopping back in the car.
From there it’s just under an hour of driving until you get to the Cliffs of Moher. This stretch of the drive was absolutely beautiful! We would have made it there much faster if we hadn’t stopped a million times. But so much of the advantage to renting a car in Ireland is being able to stop whenever you want so plan ahead! There are so many little pull off areas so you never have to worry about where to park. We drove by so many stone walls, grazing cows and castle ruins.
The Cliffs of Moher are one of the most visited attractions in Ireland and for good reason! They are a stretch of rugged cliffs that extend for 5 miles. The cliffs go in and out along the coastline giving amazing views! You can see the Aran Islands if you get lucky enough and if you look down you can see tremendous waves crashing along the cliffs. It was seriously one of our favorite days! The Cliffs of Moher are absolutely beautiful and we would highly recommend visiting!
- We visited in November when there were only a handful of other people. However, in the summer months we imagine it would be much more crowded. If you’re planning on visiting in June through August try going early in the morning for a quieter experience and you will also get a discount on parking!
Read Our Complete Guide to Visiting the Cliffs of Moher for everything you need to know!
One of the closest towns to the Cliffs of Moher is the small town of Doolin. Doolin is about 9 kms north of the Cliffs of Moher and is a really good choice to stay close by. We stayed at the Harvest Moon B&B and loved it! The owners were so incredibly nice. They cooked us eggs and bacon in the morning and gave us so many suggestions for our drive the following day.
- There is a small grocery store and a few local pubs to choose from.
- We did a lot of research on where to stay close to the Cliffs of Moher and Doolin was a really good choice! You definitely need a car to access it but it’s definitely worth it! We also looked at Ennis but its farther and therefore requires more of a drive to the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre.
Day 3: Doolin to Galway
Day 3 is all about the journey from Doolin to Galway and less about getting to your destination early. The Wild Atlantic Way is a drive along over 2,000 kms of coastline along the western coast of Ireland. Driving along this coastal route from Doolin to Galway isn’t even a fraction of the whole thing but it was so beautiful and so worth the extra time!
Leave Doolin and head north on R479 to R477 which runs along the coast. About 2.5 kms from the intersection that joins the two roads is your first stopping point of the day! We’re not sure what its called or if it even has a name but it’s a really cool spot to stop! There is an area to park on either side of the road. You can walk out on the rocks all the way to the edge. We were the only ones there and really enjoyed watching the waves come in!
- You can find it using these GPS coordinates 53°03’33.9″N 9°21’42.4″W.
- The rocks were a little slippery from rain the previous night so we were glad to have our hiking shoes on!
From there it’s about a 20 minute drive to Fanore Beach. You will spot the beach on your left hand side while driving so you won’t miss it! There is a large parking lot as well as bathroom facilities although in November they were closed. It’s a large and really beautiful beach with rocks on one side and lots of space to sit or lay out!
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We stopped again about 10 minutes down the road from Fanore Beach at another no name spot. It just looked really cool with all the rocks and ocean in the background. There is a large area to pull over and park. While looking more closely the stone walls actually look like they were built in lines going to the ocean.
- There is also a sign with more information about what you’re looking at.
- You can find it using these GPS coordinates 53°08’25.2″N 9°16’34.1″W.
At that point we went inland a little on R480 to visit the Poulnabrone Dolmen which is a tomb that’s over 5,000 years old. It’s free to enter and has a large parking lot nearby to park. It’s about 20 kms from the previous stop so while it’s a bit inland and out of the way it’s really interesting to see something that old!
- At this point in the day it started raining (it is Ireland of course) so we threw our rain jackets on so we could still pop in and out of the car. Make sure no matter what time of year you’re visiting to bring a rain jacket!
Drive back the way you came and continue north along N67 to Dunguaire Castle. It should take about 30 minutes from the Poulnabrone Dolmen. This tower castle sits on Galway Bay and has since the early 1500’s. You don’t have to go out of your way to find it as you should drive right past it.
- There is a parking lot before the entrance to the castle on the righthand side.
- Even just walking up to the entrance makes for a really good photograph!
From there it’s only about 30 more minutes of driving before arriving in the city of Galway. Galway is a large city which will make for a much different feel than Doolin. With so many stops you will likely arrive to Galway a little before dinner.
We dropped our bags at our Airbnb and then went to get a nice Irish meal. We ate at the Front Door Pub and really enjoyed it! Dave got the beef and Guinness stew and I got the shepherd’s pie and both were delicious!
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Day 4: Galway back to Dublin
If you have some time before leaving Galway spend a little walking around the city. There are so many nice streets with so many pubs, restaurants and shops.
- If you’re visiting in November or December like we did you will find the city decked out for the holiday season!
Once you leave Galway it’s almost a straight drive east back to Dublin on the M6. It’s actually a slightly shorter drive than you did a few days ago. It’s just over 200 kms and a pretty easy drive!
If you have extra time you could make more stops along the way back or spend more time exploring other parts of Dublin!
We absolutely fell in love with Ireland and know we will be back soon! We now have so many more places we want to visit in this beautiful country. But hopefully this 4 day Ireland road trip itinerary shows you that you can see so much with a short amount of time!
