I traveled to Belfast for work a few times and took in Northern Ireland during those trips. Then last year, DH and I spent a week in southern Ireland (and a week in London, and a week in Scotland).
You don't really need a car in Dublin or Belfast - both very walkable cities with public transportation. So you could fly into either, spend a few days there, take a bus to the other city (buses run pretty regularly between Dublin and Belfast and are very reasonable), spend a few days there and
then rent the car. I, personally, am more partial to Belfast, but I think I am in the minority. From Belfast, you can also easily take a bus out to Derry/Londonderry (a very neat "walled" city not to be missed, imo). If you want greater insight into/understanding behind the conflict in Northern Ireland, the Hoho bus tour or the Black Taxi tours in Belfast is a good idea. They take you into the different neighborhoods, where you see the Peace Wall and the Wall Murals (along with a lot of other Belfast sights).
To see anything else of value, you really do need to rent a car. The beauty of Ireland is mostly along the coast.
Along the northern coastline there is:
- Giants Causeway
- Carrick-A-Rede bridge (may not be open if you are off-season), and
- a variety of castles.
In southern Ireland, you will want to drive
- the Ring of Kerry and
- the Dingle Penisula
The Ring of Kerry seems to be more "famous" - but we enjoyed the scenery along the Dingle Penisula more. Each drive takes a day. You should also get a good guide book (borrow from the library) to note where some of the old abbeys/churches/castles are on the way (ie Muckross Abbey, Staugue Fort, Ballinskellig Priory, Gallarus Oratory, Reasc Monestary, etc, etc.). These places should not be missed, but sometimes you have to take a little side road to get there.
Rock of Cashel (on the way from Dublin to Ring of Kerry) is also worth a visit.
On the western coast:
- Cliffs of Moher and
- The Burren can be done in a day together. At the Burren, you will find the Poulnabrone portal tomb, dating back to 4000+- BC. It's a neat place to see.
Car rental in Ireland can be pricey, as few credit cards will cover your liability, so you have to buy the CDW etc. And if you do have a card that covers it, you must bring a letter and most rental companies will charge you an "adminstrative fee" anyway. If you do rent - be sure to shop around and thoroughly understand exactly what is and is not covered for each price. I don't know if I can recommend a company on this site - but we had a good experience with a pretty well known Irish company. If you want the name, feel free to PM me.......
Driving in Ireland isn't for the faint of heart - but we had no trouble. Got onto a few "narrow roads" (try to avoid any route number with 4 digits.....pretty sure the more numbers in the route, the narrower the road....and the 4 digit roads were barely wide enough for 1 car.) - but all in all it wasn't that bad. We bought the Garmin Europe map chip for our GPS and had minimal problems. BUT - I also loaded all of our "destinations" (including our hotels/B&B) into our GPS before we left the states. That way if I couldn't find it initially in the GPS - I had time to figure it out.
If all this seems overwhelming - there are Ireland tours. Don't know anyone who has gone on one. We loved the freedom of coming and going as we pleased. We bought food and ate breakfast and lunch along the way and then enjoyed a good pub dinner each night. Just drive slowly and carefully. For the first day - the passenger should just remind the driver to "STAY LEFT" at least once every 15 minutes
We went in late October - off season is a good idea, as there are fewer tourists like yourself on the road
.
Lots of fun and the Irish people are wonderful.
P.S. Sorry this was so long - but as you can see, Ireland has so much to offer. We just scratched the surface.