16-Night Itinerary

It sounds great and you will have a wonderful time!

Saturday, 09/06: Galway Also try and make time for a visit to Cong with its ruined abbey. Don’t miss the monk's fishing station on the river with the bell the monks rang to tell the cook they had caught a fish.

The 1952 film, The Quiet Man staring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara was filmed in Cong. The Quiet Man Museum is a replica of the cottage used in the movie and is popular with American visitors. (You can also join a walking tour of Cong visiting the movie locations.

Westport
Do think about visiting the National Museum Of Ireland, near Castlebar. This is a fascinating folk museum with lots of information about life in Ireland over the last 150 years. There are lots of short films made in the 1960s recording people's stories of life and traditions. Many are decidedly weird and almost spooky. We spent a fascinating day here and even went back to see more!

We were also fascinated by Ceide Fields (link in with Wild Nephin National Park and Ballycroy visitor centre on a round trip exploring the area from Westport ). This was a massive neolithic site - one of the biggest ever discovered- that was covered by bog and forgotten. Part of it has been excavated and the visitor centre does guided tours of the site. The nearby cliffs are also impressive.

Donegal - Don’t miss Slieve League cliffs - some of the most dramatic in Ireland (the road up them is not for the faint hearted.)

Also if you decide to do the Malin Head drive, do go and find Grianan of Aileach, son of thr best stone ring forts in Ireland

Athlone
Near Athlomne is the early Christian site of Clonmacnoise with its ruined chapels, round tours and carved crosses. It is a lovely site on the banks of the River Shannon and well worth visiting.

One of the best guide books to Ireland is DK Eyewitness Ireland. It is a wonderful source of ideas as it covers lots of places not mentioned in the other guide books. There are lots of pictures, excellent decriptions and the mapos are detailed enough to help with initial planning.

Thank you, wasleys.
These are wonderful suggestions! In your opinion should we book more nights in Clifden or Westport?

That is almost impossible to answer - especially if it means cutting time out from elsewhere.....

Sorry, I think I was vague in my question. What I meant was we have 5 nights to spend between the 2 locations. Should we spend 3 nights in Clifden & 2 nights in Westport or vice versa?

You can stop in Sligo on your way from Westport to Donegal, no need to make it a day trip. In Donegal, I recommend Killybegs as a base. Best fish and chips of my trip were from the chippie there.
In Westport, stay down at the Quay rather than in the village. Gorgeous views there.
I don't know if you can drive from Donegal to Athlone in 2.5 hours. That's what Google says, but Google is notoriously inaccurate, according to Forum folks.

Thank you, G3rrycee.
I will check out Killybegs in Donegal. Stopping in Sligo on the way was a thought of mine, too.
I realize from our last Ireland road trip 7 years ago, we need to add an extra 15mins or so to each Google map estimate. That's why we're planning on leaving super early from Bunratty to Galway docks on the day we're heading for Inishmore. The ferry leaves at 9:30am, so we're leaving at 7am. I would think 2.5 hrs should be enough time to get there, park & board the ferry. If not, we'll leave earlier!

Should we spend 3 nights in Clifden & 2 nights in Westport or vice versa?

Work out what things you want to do/see from both places and then decide how much time you will need...

Will do, wasleys! Much appreciated!