The road from Kenmare to the Killarney National Park, the N71 through the Gap of Dunloe, the tunnel of the trees, the mountains rising on both sides, and the lakes, the Killarney, the Muckross, and the upper Lake, appearing in the gaps between the hills, is the most beautiful drive in Ireland. The road is narrow (the single track, the passing places, and the patience of the Irish driver), the landscape is green (the 40 shades of green that the Irish joke about and the foreigner recognises as the literal truth), and the experience, the window down, the smell of the peat and the rain, and the sense of driving through a poem, is the reason the car is the essential mode of transport in Ireland. Ireland is a small country (the 486 km from the Malin Head in the north to the Mizen Head in the south, the length of the country, the 84,421 km² of the island, smaller than the US state of Maine), and the car, the freedom of the road, the detour to the standing stone, the B-road to the pub, and the discovery of the Ireland that the tour coaches cannot reach, is the best way to see it. Here is your guide.

The Best Way to See Ireland is by Car

• The essential Ireland road trip, a one-week itinerary: Day 1–2, Dublin: the car is a burden in Dublin (the traffic, the parking, and the city that is best explored on foot), and the essential strategy: collect the car on the morning of day 3 from the Dublin Airport (the rental desks at the airport, the car is cheaper and the departure from the airport, past the Swords, the M50, and the N7 to the south, avoids the city entirely). Day 3–4, the Kilkenny and the Rock of Cashel: the drive from Dublin to Kilkenny (the 125 km, the M9, the 90 minutes, and the medieval city, the castle, the Kilkenny Design Centre, and the best pub lunch in Ireland at the Kyteler’s Inn, the 1324 inn, the witch trial of Alice Kyteler, and the best pint of Smithwick’s in Kilkenny. ~€15 for the lunch). The Rock of Cashel (the 12th-century ecclesiastical site, the round tower, the Cormac’s Chapel, and the most beautiful ruin in Ireland. ~€8, and the essential stop on the drive to Cork). Day 5–7, the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula: the Ring of Kerry (the 179 km circuit of the Iveragh Peninsula, the N70, the mountains, the sea, and the most famous drive in Ireland. The essential strategy: drive anti-clockwise, the coaches drive clockwise, and the anti-clockwise car avoids the worst of the bus convoy. Start early, the 7am departure, and the road is yours). The essential stops on the Ring: the Ladies’ View (the view of the Killarney Lakes, the Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting who visited in 1861, and the most beautiful view on the Ring), the Staigue Fort (the Iron Age fort, the dry-stone walls, and the best ancient site on the Iveragh Peninsula), and the Derrynane House (the home of Daniel O’Connell, the “Liberator,” the most important Irish political figure of the 19th century. ~€5). The Dingle Peninsula: the alternative to the Ring of Kerry, the smaller, the more beautiful, and the less developed. The Slea Head Drive (the 47 km circuit, the Dingle, the Slea Head, and the Blasket Islands, the view of the Skellig Michael, the 6th-century monastery, and the most dramatic island in Ireland). The essential pub: the Tig Áine at the Slea Head (the pub on the edge of the cliff, the Guinness, and the best view of any pub in Ireland. ~€5). More Ireland →
• The essential rules of the Irish road: The narrow road: the roads of rural Ireland are narrow, the verges are soft, and the sheep are unpredictable. The essential rule: the car is narrow, the speed is low, and the passing place is the opportunity to thank the oncoming driver (the raised finger of the steering wheel, the wave, and the courtesy of the Irish road). The weather: Ireland is green because it rains, and the rain is the companion of the road trip. The essential strategy: the waterproof, the patience, and the pub (the rain is the reason the Irish pub is the best in the world, the turf fire, the Guinness, and the roof that keeps the rain off your head). The petrol: the petrol stations close early in the rural areas (the 6pm, the Sunday, and the tank that is half-full is the tank that is refilled at the earliest opportunity). The essential rule: the tank is never below the quarter
• The best detours, the Ireland beyond the roads: The Burren (County Clare): the limestone plateau, the “fertile rock”, the 250 km² of the bare limestone, the cracks that hold the wild orchids in the spring, and the most unusual landscape in Ireland. The Poulnabrone Dolmen (the 5,800-year-old portal tomb, the capstone, the bones, and the best ancient monument on the Burren. Free). The Giant’s Causeway (County Antrim, Northern Ireland): the 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns, the volcanic, the mythological, the giant Finn McCool built the causeway to Scotland, and the geological explanation (the 60-million-year-old lava flow, the cooling, and the cracking) is the less beautiful but more accurate story. ~£13, and the essential strategy: the free walk from the Portballintrae (the 5 km, the coastal path, and the same causeway for free). The Connemara (County Galway): the wildest and most beautiful region of Ireland, the mountains, the lakes, and the Sky Road at the Clifden (the most beautiful drive in the west of Ireland, the view of the Atlantic, and the sense of the edge of Europe)