There’s something magic about a first trip to Ireland — that first proper pint of Guinness, the first time the fog lifts off a cliff edge, the first “top of the morning” joke you just can’t resist making. Ours was extra special because it was also our daughter’s first trip anywhere overseas. She came along for every mile, from ancient pubs to castle grounds to windswept cliffs.

Three generations, one sometimes good-natured baby, and nine days on the road. Here’s how our first trip to Ireland went, county by county — and hopefully it gives you a solid starting point for planning your own.

Our 9-Day Ireland Itinerary at a Glance

• Dublin (or driving in from Northern Ireland) → Athlone
• Galway
• Cliffs of Moher
• Kinsale & Blarney Castle
• Waterford
• Dublin
• Howth

First Stop: Ireland’s Oldest Pub

We crossed over into Ireland after a few days in Northern Ireland (more on that leg in my Northern Ireland post). Once we crossed the border, we drove straight to Athlone for a pint at Sean’s Bar. It’s in the Guinness Book of World Records as Ireland’s oldest pub, pouring drinks since around 900 AD. Standing in a room with that much history, ordering our first round felt like the right way to kick off the Ireland leg of the trip.

Wandering Galway

Galway City ended up being a favorite for everyone — small enough to explore on foot in a day or two, colorful enough that nobody got bored.

Start your morning in the Latin Quarter with a free walking tour. They leave from Eyre Square and run about ninety minutes, covering Galway’s medieval walls and merchant history — a great way to get oriented before you’re on your own. Keep an eye out for the Galway Girl statue near the Spanish Arch, a nod to the city’s musical roots and a popular photo stop. From there, follow the Long Walk, the row of candy-colored houses facing the water. It’s one of the most photographed spots in the city, especially at low tide when the colors reflect in the mudflats.

Take a stroll through the Galway Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed Into Heaven and St Nicholas, to admire its magnificent dome. Spend an hour exploring the Galway City Museum, located next to the Spanish Arch. Despite its small size, the museum offers captivating maritime and cultural exhibits that are worth a visit.

For coffee, duck into Coffeewerk + Press on Cross Street. Hands down my favorite coffee in Ireland — and the awards on their wall back that up. Fairhill Coffee & Design nearby is another good option with a similar design-forward vibe. Both lean into Galway’s creative cafe scene. For something quieter, look for the Secret Garden Tea House. It’s tucked away and easy to miss, but a nice spot for tea and cake in a hidden courtyard.

Salthill

You don’t need a car to get to Salthill. A tourist road train loops from the city center along the promenade, or you can just walk it in about twenty-five minutes along the Corrib. Once there, watch the divers leap off Blackrock diving tower into Galway Bay (a local rite of passage that draws a crowd on sunny afternoons), then finish your walk with the traditional kick of the wall at the far end of the prom.

When evening comes, head to O’Connor’s Famous pub in Salthill. It’s all mismatched antiques and curiosities on the walls, with reliably good live traditional music most nights — the kind of place where a session starts with two musicians and ends with eight.

The Cliffs of Moher

No first trip to Ireland is complete without standing at the edge of the Cliffs of Moher, and we lucked into one of those rare, brilliantly clear days on the Wild Atlantic Way. The cliffs run for five miles along the coast, dropping more than 700 feet straight into the Atlantic, and on a clear day the view stretches out toward the Aran Islands.

Before heading out to the cliff walk, stop into the underground visitor center built into the hillside. The exhibits on local geology and wildlife give you some good context, and we followed a self-guided audio tour that pointed out landmarks and folklore along the path above.

Farm Mornings and Kinsale’s Painted Streets

Just outside Kinsale, we woke up on a working farm to hens wandering past a wooden picnic table, horses, and green fields rolling toward the hills — the kind of quiet countryside morning that photos never quite do justice to. We stayed at the Airbnb: Savannah Luxury Lodge Kinsale, with the most hospitable host, Marie.

After a slow morning, we headed into Kinsale itself. This harbor town is famous for its rows of candy-colored shopfronts — pinks, greens, purples, and mustard yellows lined up shoulder to shoulder — and honestly, it earns the reputation. You’ll end up wandering an extra hour just to see what color the next building is. We took a walking tour that ended at an old stone church near the town square, then pointed the car back toward Cork.

Blarney Castle and Gardens

From Kinsale, it was on to Blarney Castle and Gardens. The castle sits at the heart of a sprawling garden complex, and we spent a good chunk of our visit wandering through it before we ever reached the tower — mossy stone paths, towering old trees, and even a poison garden, clearly labeled with warnings.

The castle itself rises out of the woodland, the kind of proper medieval tower you picture when someone says “Irish castle,” with the famous Blarney Stone waiting at the very top. Getting to it means a long wait in line, then a climb up a narrow, winding staircase — worth it for the view alone. At the top, we skipped kissing the stone (I’m too much of a germaphobe), but we watched plenty of other visitors lean back for the kiss that supposedly grants “the gift of gab.”

A Stop at the Waterford Crystal Factory

On the drive to Dublin, the Waterford Crystal factory is worth the detour — just book your tour in advance. We watched master cutters carve patterns into glass blanks with a precision that’s almost hypnotic up close, then wandered the showroom past cases of Lismore-pattern glasses and decanters that have been in continuous production since 1952. You leave with a much better appreciation for how much handwork goes into something you’d normally just see sparkling on a shelf.

Dublin Is Not Dirty

Dublin deserves at least two full days of proper city sightseeing. We heard from a lot of people before we left that Dublin was dirty and not worth the time — we found the opposite to be true.

We started with a walking tour around the city center, the easiest way to get your bearings since most of the highlights are within walking distance of each other. That took us through Temple Bar and the surrounding cobblestone streets, all ivy-covered pub facades and narrow lanes — worth seeing in daylight, when it’s still walkable and you can actually take it in.

From there we toured Trinity College’s campus, which led into the Old Library and its famous Long Room: two-story oak shelves lined with 200,000 of the library’s oldest books, a barrel-vaulted ceiling overhead, and that particular smell of old paper no photo can capture.

We also made time for the Guinness Storehouse, a multi-story deep dive into the brewery’s history and brewing process, with a stop along the way to learn how to pour your own proper pint. The tour ends at the Gravity Bar, a glass-walled rooftop space with a 360-degree view over the whole city — one of the best panoramas in Dublin, pint in hand.

We rounded things out with Dublin’s two main cathedrals, St. Patrick’s and Christ Church, both worth a walk-through even if you’re not going for the history. For food, we ate at The Bank Bar and Restaurant, a converted 19th-century bank with all its original architectural details still intact — high ceilings, ornate moldings, and a genuinely good Irish menu to match the setting. Afterward, we walked down Grafton Street, Dublin’s main shopping stretch, worth a stroll even if you’re not buying anything.

Howth: The Perfect Day Trip From Dublin

Howth is an easy day trip from Dublin — about a 30-minute ride out on the DART, roughly nine miles northeast of the city center. It drops you right into a working fishing harbor, boats bobbing at anchor and gulls picking through the catch of the day.

We spent the morning on the cliff path that wraps around Howth Head, with sweeping views out to Ireland’s Eye and the lighthouse at the tip of the peninsula — one of the best coastal walks of the whole trip. Along the way, we stumbled onto Ye Olde Hurdy-Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio, a genuine hidden gem tucked into an old Martello tower and packed with antique radios and wartime memorabilia — the kind of quirky stop you’d never plan for but end up loving.

We fueled up with coffee from Off Grid Coffee and Bodega Coffee Company, both good excuses to sit and people-watch by the harbor, and grabbed lunch at the Doghouse, a casual, unique little spot. Howth is a slower, saltier contrast to the city, and it’s worth carving out a full day for on your first trip to Ireland.

If You Have More Time: Dingle Peninsula & the Ring of Kerry

Nine days covered a lot of ground, but two spots we had to skip are worth building into your own itinerary if you can spare an extra day or two in the southwest.

The Dingle Peninsula is quieter and less crowded than Ireland’s other big coastal drives. The Slea Head Drive passes cliffside sheep pastures, old stone beehive huts left by early Christian monks, and the Gallarus Oratory, a stone church over 1,000 years old that’s still watertight. Dingle town itself is small and colorful, with good food and live music — a nice place to spend the night.

The Ring of Kerry is the bigger, more famous 179-kilometer loop around the Iveragh Peninsula, and it lives up to the hype. Highlights include the view from Ladies View over Killarney National Park, a stop at Muckross House and its gardens, and on a clear day, a distant glimpse of the Skellig Michael islands offshore. Drive it counterclockwise so you’re ahead of the tour buses running the route the other way.

Final Thoughts on My First Trip to Ireland

Ireland has a way of being generous to first-time visitors. The pubs are old and welcoming, the coastline does most of the heavy lifting scenery-wise, and even a very small traveler took it all in stride. Nine days, five counties, more Guinness than we’re admitting to, and a baby who now has passport stamps before she can walk.

If you’re planning your own first trip to Ireland, my advice is simple: don’t over-schedule the driving days. Those winding roads will take longer than you think.

Stay whimsical, xoxo