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Belfast to Dublin 7 nights in July: 2 possible routes

Posted by (California) on

I am looking at 2 options for my 7 nights on the Emerald Isle.
My girlfriend and I will be flying into Belfast and out of Dublin.
This is my first trip to Ireland, my girlfriends second time.

Option A
Days 1-2: fly into Belfast (from Glasgow) in morning, 2 nights in Belfast. Rent a car to leave Belfast.
Day 3: Drive to Giants Causeway, then on to Derry, overnight in Derry
Day 4: Drive to Donegal, overnight in Sligo
Day 5: Drive to Athlone, overnight in Athlone
Days 6-7: Drive to Dublin, drop off car (120 GBP drop off fee) 2 nights in Dublin
Day 8: flight out Dublin in morning

Option B
Days 1-2: fly into Belfast in morning and stay in city, next day, day trip to Giants Causeway with tour
Day 3: Train to Dublin, rent car out of Dublin, drive to Athlone, overnight in Athlone
Days 4-5: Drive to Galway, 2 nights Galway
Days 6-7: Drive to Dublin, 2 nights in Dublin
Day 8: flight out Dublin in morning

Thank you in advance for any ideas, comments or alternatives.

Posted by
2980 posts

Regarding your option B: have you considered just continuing your train journey on day 3 all the way thru to Galway, renting your car there, and returning to Dublin via Athlone?
Also, unless Athlone holds some sort of ancestral attraction you could skip it, use the car to explore Galway and Connemarra, then just catch the train back to Dublin. Would save a bit of driving, not to mention the hassle of dropping the car in Dublin itself.

Posted by
290 posts

For Option A, days 3 & 4 offer a nice contrast to the larger cities of Dublin and Belfast; I enjoyed Derry and Sligo a great deal. You may have a strong reason for driving to Athlone, but if you want to see Galway, you could drive there from Sligo on Day 5. It’s about 30 minutes farther away than Athlone and then about an hour farther to Dublin the next day. You may not want the extra driving, but it’s an option. Spending the evening in Galway would give you a good taste of what it has to offer.

Posted by
3 posts

Robert:
Thanks for the suggestions. The city of Athlone has no special family connection to me. To me, stopping at the Shannon river seemed interesting. It was a city that appeared on both trip paths by coincidence. The train to Galway instead of Dublin is a fantastic idea. I will definitely check out.

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