Ireland is the much shorter journey and less exhausting travel legs. We almost always fly United nonstop from Newark (take Amtrak from BWI airport station near Annapolis to Newark airport station, walk right onto airport tram rail to international terminal) to Shannon in the west of Ireland. Overnight flight, fly into a great airport not set in a metropolitan area, ideally located for either drives to the northwest, southwest or southeast.
We rent a car. I navigate. He dodges lorries on the secondary and tertiary roads.
Given your timeline, I suggest heading for 1 location and making day trips out from there.
We have carved up Ireland doing this because I loathe packing and unpacking every night. So we either cruise or do our hub city/town adventures.
With Shannon as a base airport, a sampling of what we have done:
- Drive south and east to Cashel. Take your time, enjoy the scenery, have a good breakfast or pub lunch on the way. Stay there. See the castle ruins there. Visit Kilkenny, Waterford, Blarney Castle.
- Drive south and west. We stayed in Kenmare. Drove the famed Dingle Peninsula Ring and the Beara Peninsula just south. There are three other famous southern peninsulas - all stunning with rolling hillsides. Crashing ocean waves, stark cliffs, islands. The others are Iveragh, Sheep’s Head and Mizen. Local places to stop for a Guinness or Harp and some local cheese. Kinsale as a day trip - reminded me of Annapolis, small boating town on a beautiful harbor.
- North toward Galway, stopping at the iconic Cliffs of Moher on the way. See The Burren enroute. Plenty of scenic drives. Visit Kylemore Abbey and Gardens. We stayed at Ashford Castle that trip, as it was a milestone event trip. We did the half-day falconry course there at the Ireland School of Falconry. Ventured into the Gaelic-speaking far northwest to visit an ancestral clan castle ruin.
Where to stay: Lots of choices. Castle hotels and country estate hotels to B&Bs. We have had great experiences using Irish Board of Tourism site to book farmhouse or B&B stays.
There are UNESCO heritage sites, castles, henges, country estates, gardens, abbeys, cathedrals, prehistoric sites - anything you like.
As much as I research on the internet, I still buy an old-school paper driving map that shows all the fun ways to get someplace and is handy where there is no phone coverage. The more numbers in the route name, the smaller the road and more serendipitous. I also have the Michelin Green Guide so I can know exactly what is in the area.
We have done similar things flying into Dublin in the east, and either driving north, south or central to our hub town. That’s a whole ‘nother bunch of writing, those trips. The National Stud of Ireland! Newgrange!
Of course, I was stationed in Italy for just under 3 years. You could travel weeks and weeks there and never get it all.
All that said - July and August are horrible times to travel to either country. Tour buses clog the Dingle Peninsula. Crowds everywhere at the major sites. Italy is hot and it’s the vacation month for people there. We typically travel Europe in the shoulder months pre or post summer season.
A last note on Shannon - unless it has changed, you can clear U.S. Customs right at that airport. Saves time in U.S. Shannon also has a great duty-free shipping area. No VAT tax. Buy your gifts there. Caveat: I love the artisanal shops in Kilkenny, beautifully set in the former mews of the Butler family great house. I dislike tourist schlock. Give me handmade woolen socks in the local pattern every time!
A final thought - if you don’t want to drive, fly to Dublin, taxi to a center city place to stay. Get out and walk. Jump in the hop-on-hop-off bus for one daily fare to visit the main sites at your leisure. Eat well.
. We have also discussed the need to cross the pond for some long weekends to see Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales.
