Where in Ireland with young teens?

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We’d love to take DD13 and DS11 to Ireland for a week (flying and hiring a car). I’ve been a couple of times but don’t know it well. They’ve enjoyed outdoorsy and city visits in various places before so we are quite flexible with an itinerary. We all
enjoy a good castle and other heritage sites, especially if it’s family friendly. We love mountain walking ( but not a whole week of hiking!) Any ideas about good places for teens to visit ( I’m guessing a couple of days in Dublin to start?). It would be our main summer holiday next year so can be quite generous with accommodation costs etc.and are happy to drive about to get the most out of our time there. Any ideas greatly appreciated!

I would head for the west coast, a couple of days in Galway city. Theres lots of heritage sights, great restaurants, music on streets. Also great beach at Salthill with a diving platform where loads of kids, teens & adults hang out. It's great fun.
Then head out into Connemara where you will be spoilt for choice on hill walking, water activities, stunning beaches, beautiful villages. A day or overnight stay on an island is also a great idea...Inishboffin or Clare island have good accommodation options and are very special places to visit.
Enjoy!

Ooh, that sounds amazing! There was an article in The Times about driving the Atlantic coast starting in Galway. It looks beautiful.

Don’t spend two days in Dublin. One is more than enough. Maybe look into visiting The Burren in North Clare if you’re heading over that way. www.discoverireland.ie/the-burren.

The thing about the west is it’s been a bit buggered by the ‘Wild Atlantic Way’, much like the NC500 in Scotland. Hoards of tourists, infrastructure wholly inadequate to cope, once fairly quiet places full of Instagrammers. Underneath it all, still vestiges of loveliness and canny people.

Some parts of Wexford are really lovely too.

Its only 1.5 hours outside of Dublin.
Beautiful heritage park there with birds of prey on show. Some nice farms around to visit, lovely beaches and towns and some gorgeous hiking trails.

I would second Connemara. There is Kylemore Abbey to visit which is lovely and which used to be a boarding school for girls. There's a company which takes people kayaking and SUP'ing (possibly Real Adventures tho second hand info so not positive that's the name) and there's also Killary Adventure Centre plus many hiking trails.

And a sheep farm where you can feed lambs!

Westport is also a good destination with great off road cycle trails, and Croagh Patrick to climb.

I am just back from Co. Clare, specifically Ennis. Large town lots of shops, entertainment and excellent restaurants.

We did the Cliffs of Moher, Lahinch beach a surfers paradise, Caves Doolin and Aliwee - breathtaking scenery, birds of prey experience and Bunratty Castle.

All big hits with my eldest teen. Good roads (windy one up to Aliwee caves) all of the above close enough to each other.

Near Shannon airport, I am from Dublin and would say one day is enough - the west is best.

Galway is a great base, as said Connemara is beautiful, lots of walks and hills like Diamond Hill, the National park, Killary Harbour is beautiful, Delphi Adventure centre is there too, not sure if they do one off classes, but Rusheen Bay nearer the city might do windsurfing, kayaking. Wildlands just outside the city is a brilliant day out, ziplines and lots of other activities, think they do SUP activities now too. Pure Skill is another good activity place to try out different ball sports. A day trip down to Clare to see the cliffs of moher, ailwee cave(if its open) and the burren. The city is busy and usually a good vibe though like many places hasnt recovered from lockdown yet with a lot of closed shop units. If you have any book lovers Charlie Byrnes book shop is lovely, theres city bus or walking tours if thats your thing. You can get a ferry out to the Aran Islans and hire bikes to cycle around.
Depending where you are flying from check out flying into Knock Airport rather than Dublin, way easier to manage and you ll be in the West of Ireland immediately.

There are so many gorgeous places.
Kerry, Galway and Connemara are the obvious ones and have been mentioned already.
Donegal, Sligo and the Fermanagh Lakeland’s are also beautiful but quieter. If you are that direction you could do a Derry Girls visit to Derry.

There are lots of greenways and adventure centres all over the country.

Close to Dublin Newgrange is a great visit. Older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids and you get to go inside..
www.worldheritageireland.ie/bru-na-boinne/built-heritage/newgrange/

Be warned accommodation in Ireland is expensive, especially at the moment when some of the less expensive hotels are being used as long term housing.

Oh yes Derry is great, the Walls of Derry tours and the Giants Causeway and Carrick-a-rede rope bridge (though tbh I found the Causeway v underwhelming). Beautiful beaches along the North coast like Portstewart. Belfast is a fab city too with the W5 and Titanic exhibition. From Derry you could drive down into Dongal too, spectacular scenery.

If you're coming north and like walking I'd recommend the Cuilcagh boardwalk and then the Marble Arch caves. Closer to Belfast is the gobbins (a walkway that has been created along the side of cliffs).

You might find it cheaper flying into Belfast (only 1.5 hours from Dublin) or Derry. The north is quite a bit cheaper than the south and don't think it has the same issues with finding accommodation.

Go to Clare. (<--- that full stop needs to be said out loud. 😁)

Sadly though, I have to tell you though before you do anything check out the cost of hiring a car. It's got to a ridiculous amount. Same with accommodation.

I second Bunratty for teenagers. I went this summer. Try and book the banquet for a good fun evening!

Thank so much for these ideas. Haven’t been to Ireland for so long and feel really excited about planning our holiday there.

We have done a hol with a week in Connemara and then drove via limerick and down to near cork and had few days down there , Kinsale is gorgeous. Inchidoney beach .Want to go further west another trip easy to drive back to Dublin for ferry.

Also had trip to Belfast and up causeway coast , beautiful. We had couple of nights in Portrush which is bit lively , portstewart quieter. Lots to do on that coast.

Would you consider the ferry to either Dublin or Rosslare rather than hiring a car? Would be much more cost-effective and you can bring all your stuff with you. Aside from that, places I would consider are:
Lahinch Co Clare - great surf schools and casual dining. Small village that teens could safely roam around themselves.
Inch Beach Co Kerry - again a fabulous beach and surfing. Loads of other kids around for company. Close to Dingle for restaurants/trad music etc.
Tramore Co Waterford - traditional seaside resort with plenty kids/teens could occupy themselves with. Close to Waterford Greenway for cycling.
Cruise on the Shannon/lakes. Beautiful lakeside villages, swimming off pontoons etc. Boats are easy to drive and no experience needed.
Donegal/Connemara/West Cork are absolutely stunning but I find that you have to do a lot of driving from place to place and while it’s all very scenic, active young teens might get a bit bored.
The coastal suburbs of Dublin are fab, especially during the summer (lots of swimming spots and good food) but the city itself has become a bit grim post-pandemic. Quite threatening at night and accommodation is stupidly expensive.