← All Dublin tours via partner · From €137 · 5 days 
From Dublin: 5-Day Tour to the Southwest with Accommodation
Free cancellation 30 traveller reviews Booked securely via partner
Check availability & prices →
From €137 per person
Five days from Dublin to the wild Atlantic southwest - taking in whiskey distilleries, early Christian monasteries, limestone karst country, dramatic cliff edges, and the fishing harbours where you eat seafood watching the boats come in. The accommodation in Galway and Killarney is included, and the itinerary is built around the kind of places that stay with you.
Day 1 heads west through the peat bogs and farmland of Kildare and Offaly. The first stop is Kilbeggan Distillery, one of Ireland’s oldest whiskey distilleries, where a sample comes with the visit. From there, the tour moves to Clonmacnoise on the River Shannon - a significant early Christian monastic site with ancient churches, high crosses, and round towers rising from the riverside. After lunch in a traditional village pub, the day ends in Galway city.
Day 2 starts with a coastal drive out to the Burren, a unique limestone landscape with rare flora and early Christian heritage. The route takes in Kilfenora - known as “the town of the crosses” - and its ancient cathedral, then lunch in one of the local villages before the Cliffs of Moher. Travelling south through County Clare, there’s a brief stop at Lahinch beach and a ferry crossing of the Shannon Estuary before the night in Killarney.
Day 3 is the Dingle Peninsula. Starting at Inch Beach, the route winds through to the town of Dingle, then continues out to Slea Head with its ancient stone forts, early stone dwellings, and views across to the Blasket Islands. Weather allowing, there’s time to walk the beaches and cliffs. Free time in Dingle gives you a chance to find some fresh seafood before heading back to Killarney for the night, with time for a walk in the National Park.
Day 4 takes the Ring of Kerry - winding through valleys and villages in the shadow of the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks, with views of Carrauntoohil (Ireland’s highest mountain). The route passes through Cahersiveen and continues around the Iveragh Peninsula.
Day 5 brings the journey back to Dublin.
Galway city on the first night is worth staying up for. The city’s pub and music scene is one of the best in Ireland, and after a day of driving through the midlands, an evening session in one of the Quay Street bars is a proper reward. Your accommodation is included, so there’s no rush to find your feet - just ask your guide which pub has trad on that night.
The Burren on Day 2 is one of those landscapes that needs a bit of time to understand. At first glance it looks barren - bare limestone pavement, very little soil. But the Burren supports an extraordinary range of wildflowers, including Mediterranean and Arctic species growing side by side, and the early Christian connections through Kilfenora and the surrounding ring forts go back over a thousand years. Don’t rush through it.
Dingle town on Day 3 has an excellent seafood scene built around what’s coming off the boats that day. Crab claws, chowder, and fresh fish are all worth seeking out during your free time, and the standard is generally high across the town’s restaurants and pubs. Ask locally what’s freshest that day.
Slea Head at the western tip of the Dingle Peninsula is the closest point in Ireland to North America, and on a clear day the Blasket Islands sit just offshore looking almost close enough to walk to. The Great Blasket was inhabited until 1953 and produced an extraordinary body of literature - your guide can fill in that story as you look across.
The Ring of Kerry on Day 4 is famous enough that it gets busy in summer. Tour coaches travel it in a clockwise direction, so going anti-clockwise (if your itinerary allows) tends to mean fewer head-on encounters and better opportunities to stop without blocking the road. It’s worth mentioning to your guide if you want to make the most of the viewpoints.