Emerald Marathon: Your 21 Day Ireland Itinerary For The Full Irish Experience

Your Day-By-Day 21 Day Ireland Itinerary (Plus What The Guidebooks Won’t Tell You)

The beauty of a 21 day Ireland itinerary lies in its breathing room—the space between must-see attractions where actual travel happens. This isn’t the highlight-reel version of Ireland but the director’s cut: extended scenes, character development, and those quiet moments that never make the trailer but somehow become your favorite memories. Let’s break this emerald marathon into digestible segments, shall we?

Days 1-3: Dublin and Surroundings (The Gentle Immersion)

Begin your Irish adventure in Dublin—not just because it’s likely where your plane lands, but because it offers a civilized transition into Irish culture before you’re navigating narrow country roads while your body still thinks it’s 3 AM. Dublin serves as Ireland’s cosmopolitan front door, with an international veneer that gradually gives way to unmistakably Irish substance.

Skip the overpriced Book of Kells line at Trinity College ($17 for what amounts to a two-page viewing) and head instead to the Chester Beatty Library—free admission for a world-class collection that makes Manhattan’s Morgan Library look like a community college reading room. The National Museums won’t cost you a penny either, offering cultural context that will enhance everything else you’ll see in the coming weeks.

Literary Dublin deserves at least one afternoon. While most tourists crowd into the Temple Bar area paying inflated prices for watered-down experiences, the genuine article waits at establishments like The Palace Bar or Davy Byrnes, where Joyce, Behan, and O’Brien drank themselves into various states of immortality. The bartenders here don’t wear themed t-shirts—they wear the slightly haunted expression of people who’ve heard every tourist question imaginable but will still answer yours with surprising patience.

On day three, escape the city for coastal Howth, just 30 minutes by public transit (DART; $7 round-trip). The cliff walk offers views comparable to coastal Maine, but with more sheep and fewer L.L. Bean outlets. The seafood at the harbor comes fresh enough to practically introduce itself. For lodging, consider Brooks Hotel ($200/night) for mid-range comfort in a perfectly central location, or the Generator Hostel ($30/night) if you’d rather spend your euros on experiences than thread counts.

Days 4-6: Southeast Ireland (Medieval Meets Maritime)

As you bid Dublin farewell, enter the softer, gentler southeast—Ireland’s sunniest region, which admittedly is like being called the tallest Hobbit. Still, with 25% less rainfall than the west coast (only 150 rain days annually!), the odds of glimpsing blue sky improve dramatically.

The Wicklow Mountains National Park offers Ireland’s answer to New Hampshire’s White Mountains, though scaled for a country where nothing is more than a few hours from anything else. Glendalough’s 6th-century monastic settlement provides a peaceful introduction to Ireland’s medieval heritage without the crowds you’ll encounter at more famous sites later. Give yourself half a day to walk the lakeside paths and contemplate how monks survived Irish winters in stone huts without Gore-Tex or central heating.

Kilkenny deserves a full day for its compact medieval center and imposing castle ($15 admission). This is where urbane Dublin attitudes give way to Ireland’s smaller-city charm—friendlier, less hurried, but equally sophisticated in its own way. The Waterford Crystal Factory tour ($15) raises an important travel question: is watching glass being blown worth precious hours of your 21 day Ireland itinerary? The answer depends entirely on your interest in manufacturing processes and whether you need an expensive, fragile souvenir that will cause anxiety for the remainder of your trip.

For accommodations, the Pembroke Hotel ($150/night) offers modern comforts in Kilkenny’s historic center. Budget travelers should consider Kilkenny Tourist Hostel ($25/night), while luxury seekers can venture slightly out of town to Mount Juliet Estate ($300+/night) for a proper Irish country house experience.

Days 7-9: Cork and Kerry (The Postcard Zone)

Now we’re entering what most Americans imagine when they dream of their 21 day Ireland itinerary—the southwest’s dramatic coastlines, emerald pastures, and villages that appear to have been art-directed for maximum charm. The region delivers on these expectations but offers depth beyond the surface beauty.

Cork City proudly maintains its reputation as Ireland’s rebellious second city. The English Market puts Seattle’s Pike Place to shame, offering everything from traditional tripe (an acquired taste) to artisanal chocolates in a Victorian iron-and-glass structure. The city’s compact center rewards aimless wandering, with unexpected lanes revealing pubs where traditional music sessions break out with suspicious regularity.

Blarney Castle ($18) presents a conundrum: it’s unapologetically touristy, with its famous stone worn smooth from generations of backward-bending visitors seeking the “gift of gab” (as if Americans need help in that department). Yet the gardens surrounding the castle offer genuine charm, and the structure itself has undeniable historic significance. Consider instead Cahir Castle ($5)—equally impressive but with one-tenth the visitors and no requirement to sanitarily questionable stone-kissing.

The Ring of Kerry’s 110-mile scenic drive delivers postcard views around virtually every bend, but timing is everything. In peak summer, tour buses clog the narrow roads, transforming Ireland’s most famous scenic route into a slow-moving parking lot with impressive views. Start early (before 9 AM), travel counter-clockwise contrary to the buses’ clockwise routing, and prioritize stops at Ladies View, Moll’s Gap, and Derrynane Beach. For accommodations, consider the Butler Arms Hotel in Waterville ($140/night)—an old-school hotel where Charlie Chaplin regularly holidayed, proving that even silent film stars appreciated the value of a proper Irish breakfast.

Days 10-13: The West (Clare, Galway, and the Wild Atlantic)

The west of Ireland is where the country sheds its remaining inhibitions and fully embraces its wild side. Atlantic winds shape both landscape and character here, creating an Ireland that feels elemental and slightly untamed. A 21 day Ireland itinerary gives you time to appreciate the subtle differences between regions that shorter trips often blur together.

The Cliffs of Moher ($8) deserve their fame—650-foot drops to crashing Atlantic waves below tend to make an impression. But avoid the crowds by arriving before 10 AM or after 4 PM, when the site transforms from tourist obligation to genuinely moving experience. The visitor center does an admirable job explaining the geology and ecology, but it’s the raw power of the place that stays with you.

Nearby, the Burren presents Ireland’s most unusual landscape—a lunar-like limestone plateau where Arctic and Mediterranean plant species somehow coexist in defiance of botanical logic. Walking these stone pavements feels like exploring an alien planet that somehow supports flower-filled crevices and Bronze Age tombs in equal measure.

Galway City provides the west’s urban heartbeat—a university town with a perpetual festival atmosphere. The live music scene ranges from traditional sessions in pubs like The Crane Bar to whatever cutting-edge acts are playing at Róisín Dubh. For fish and chips that justify their calories, McDonagh’s ($15) has been setting the standard since 1902. The pedestrian-friendly center invites hours of wandering, with street performers providing free entertainment along Shop Street.

Budget at least one full day for the Aran Islands ($40 ferry from Galway), where Ireland preserves its traditions like artifacts in amber. On Inishmore, rent bicycles to visit the prehistoric fort of Dún Aonghasa, perched dramatically on a 300-foot cliff with no guardrails whatsoever—a refreshing reminder that liability lawsuits haven’t quite conquered the world. The islands provide Ireland’s most concentrated Irish-language environment, where English becomes the second language and traditional ways endure not for tourists but because they work.

Days 14-16: The Northwest (Mayo, Sligo, Donegal)

Now we’re venturing into territory that one-week Ireland visitors rarely glimpse—the rugged northwest, where tourism infrastructure thins out and authentic experiences multiply. This region offers a chance to see what Ireland looked like before tour buses and gift shops selling leprechaun figurines made in China.

In County Mayo, Croagh Patrick provides Ireland’s most famous pilgrimage site, with the truly devoted climbing barefoot to the summit where St. Patrick allegedly spent 40 days fasting. Modern visitors can keep their hiking boots on for the strenuous climb, comparable to tackling a section of the Appalachian Trail but with religious significance and superior views of island-dotted Clew Bay.

Achill Island, connected to the mainland by bridge, offers Ireland’s most dramatic Atlantic Drive—a winding coastal road where sheep claim right-of-way with the confidence of tenured professors. The abandoned village at Slievemore provides a haunting reminder of famine times, with stone cottages slowly returning to the earth from which they were built.

Sligo connects landscape to literature through Yeats Country, where landmarks from the poet’s work reveal themselves around every bend. Visit his grave at Drumcliffe (“Cast a cold eye on life, on death. Horseman, pass by”) before exploring the landscapes that inspired his most famous poems. Ben Bulben mountain looms over the region like nature’s own monument to the poet who immortalized it.

Donegal offers Ireland at its most remote and spectacular. Slieve League Cliffs rise nearly three times higher than the Cliffs of Moher but attract one-tenth the visitors. Glenveagh National Park provides Ireland’s answer to Glacier National Park—on a compact Irish scale, certainly, but with similar dramatic beauty. For a splurge, Lough Eske Castle Hotel ($250+/night) delivers five-star luxury in restored 19th-century grandeur.

Days 17-19: Northern Ireland (Politics, Landscapes, Television Dragons)

Crossing into Northern Ireland presents the only border you’ll encounter on your 21 day Ireland itinerary—though these days it’s marked merely by road signs changing from kilometers to miles and currency shifting from euros to pounds sterling. The political situation has evolved from the dark days of the Troubles to something approaching normalcy, though certain conversational topics still benefit from American neutrality.

Belfast has transformed itself from conflict zone to vibrant city break destination. The Titanic Museum ($25) offers the world’s most comprehensive examination of the ill-fated vessel, built in the city’s shipyards. Political murals tours ($20) provide context for the city’s troubled past from local guides who lived through it. The Cathedral Quarter now buzzes with restaurants and bars where the only tensions involve securing a table on busy weekends.

The Antrim Coast provides Northern Ireland’s scenic showstopper, with the Giant’s Causeway’s 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns creating a geometric puzzle that looks man-made but isn’t. Comparable to California’s Devil’s Postpile but with added mythology involving an Irish giant outwitting his Scottish counterpart, the site draws crowds but remains genuinely impressive.

Game of Thrones fans can indulge in filming location tours ($40), visiting everything from Winterfell to the Iron Islands. Even non-viewers can appreciate the dramatic landscapes that made northern Ireland George R.R. Martin’s real-world Westeros. The Dark Hedges—an avenue of intertwined beech trees—draws photographers regardless of their television preferences.

For accommodations, consider the Merchant Hotel ($225+/night) for historic luxury in downtown Belfast, or Jury’s Inn ($100/night) for mid-range practicality. Budget travelers will find Belfast’s hostels remarkably clean and well-run compared to their counterparts in the Republic.

Days 20-21: Return to Dublin (The Civilized Wind-Down)

Completing your circuit of the island, return to Dublin for decompression before flying home. Rather than repeating earlier sightseeing, explore overlooked attractions like Marsh’s Library (unchanged since 1707), the Irish Jewish Museum in Portobello, or the delightfully macabre Glasnevin Cemetery tour.

For last-minute shopping, avoid Temple Bar’s inflated prices and head to the Powerscourt Centre for Irish design or the Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre for more mainstream needs. If you’ve purchased enough to worry about luggage weight, remember the VAT refund process can save approximately 23% on major purchases—those forms the shopkeepers gave you aren’t just administrative busywork.

End your 21 day Ireland itinerary with a final dinner at a restaurant that won’t break the bank but will leave a lasting impression—perhaps The Winding Stair overlooking the Ha’penny Bridge or L. Mulligan Grocer for elevated Irish comfort food paired with craft beers. As you raise a final glass, consider how different your understanding of Ireland is now compared to when you arrived—less a collection of postcard images and more a complex, contradictory, endlessly fascinating small nation that somehow feels much larger than its geography would suggest.