Travel Information

Planning Your Self-Drive Tour of Ireland For Visitors Hiring a Car at Dublin, Cork or Shannon Airports For those who want to meet the Irish people and experience all the country has to offer, there really is no better way than to hire a car and take a self-drive tour of Ireland, or one of its regions.

By planning your self-drive tour of Ireland now, you can simply pick up your hire car at Dublin, Cork or Shannon airport, and get started on your experience of Ireland straight away. Read our article on why car hire is more than just a cheap way to see Ireland.

How to Plan Your Route: The Automobile Association in Ireland has created an excellent online route planner, which can be found at: http://www.aaireland.ie/routes/default.asp.

The AA Route planner will give you detailed directions, including all road names and junctions , and signs to follow. You should print out and keep for your journey in advance of your trip.

The planner will also give you estimated journey times - though of course you should add on more time, as required, for each of the stops you are going to make. Here are suggestions for just some of the places you may want to stop on your self-drive tour of Ireland, depending on your arrival airport:

• Shannon Airport (Southwest/West):
  • Limerick City
  • Cliffs of Moher
  • The Burren
  • Aillwee Cave
  • Bunratty Castle
• Galway City
  • Aran Islands
  • Kylemore Abbey
  • Clifden Town
  • Roundstone Village
  • Westport Town
  • Shannon Heritage
  • Dromoland Castle
• Cork Airport (South/Southwest):
  • Cork City
  • Cobh Town
  • Fota Island Golf Club
  • Queenstown Story
  • Jameston Distillery
  • Kinsale Town
  • Mizen Head
  • Ring of Kerry
  • Gap of Dunloe
  • Killarney
  • Tralee Town
  • Dingle Town
  • Blasket Islands
• Dublin Airport (East/Southeast):
  • Dublin City
  • Wicklow Mountains
  • Glendalough
  • Avoca
  • Tintern Abbey
  • Wexford Town
  • Waterford City
  • Kilkenny City
  • Japanese Gardens
  • Kildare