2 days in Ireland from Dublin

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If I wanted to go somewhere in Ireland, travelling from Dublin by train or with a hire car but I have only two nights, where would be good to go? I can stay in two different places. Ideally rural/ small towns and don't want to drive for hours and hours- maybe three hours from Dublin or n total.
I don't know Ireland at all so am open to ideas if anyone can help please.

I will ALWAYS say Westport. Everyone always zooms over to Galway and down the coast but you can get the train from Dublin to Westport or hire a car v straight forward drive.
Are you going alone or with kids?

Alone or with one other adult. No kids.
Thank you lumpydumpybumpy I'll get my map out

Westport, it's a 3ish hour train journey. It's such a fabulous town. Great bars, some good places to eat. Lots of scenery and places to visit.

Yep Westport is fab alright. Train is easy and you can then take the local bus out to Achill Island (it is connected by a causeway, no boats!) and Mulranny, and in the other direction to Croagh Patrick mountain and Louisburgh. The scenery is absolutely stunning and Westport is a great little town with some great restaurants and pubs and a cracking nightlife if you're into that!

You could drive also and do a bit of the Wild Atlantic Way. If you haven't bought your air tickets yet and assuming you are coming from UK, you could fly into Dublin and out of Ireland West airport which is not far from Westport.

Second option is Wicklow and Wexford. I think you'd need a car to appreciate this best. The drive over the Wicklow Mountains is amazing. Stop at Glendalough for an amazing experience in the ancient monastic settlement. Then down to Wexford for the fabulous beaches all along the coast.

Third option is of course Galway. There's no getting away from it, it is a great lively buzzing city. Beach and walks five minutes from the centre. Train is easy, then take the local bus or a local tour to Connemara. You won't regret it.

You can now have a look at the map and look up all these places and see which appeals to you most. Enjoy yourself.

Kilkenny is nice - about 1hr 45 mins from Dublin by train.

Also the Wicklow mountains if you like hiking. You'd need a car to get to the mountains. There are several nice trails.

Wicklow for the views and beauty, especially if the weather is nice. Somewhere around Laragh, Roundwood or Glendalough. That would need to be by car (or St Kevin's bus)
Not even an hour from Dublin.
As a PP suggests, Kilkenny is also lovely.

If you want rural Malahide on the Dublin coast is beautiful, fabulous castle with an Avoca.
Its 40 minutes from Dublin on the Dart.

Thank you everyone. I'll look into it.