We are planning on trip to Ireland mid Sept. Looking to explore Cliffs of Moher, Burren and possibly the Aran Islands. Looking for recommendations on best place to stay to explore this area. I believe Rick Steve's recommends Galway but I have seen others recommend Doolin or other small towns. We are planning on renting a car so we may have more possibilities.
Thanks In Advance
I took a tour in which we stayed in Ballyvaughan for that area - nice little town, beautiful harbor, great views of the Burren.
Up the hill a bit from Doolin, we stayed in Lisdoonvarna, a very charming town with a great setting.
We enjoyed our stay in Lahinch. Several good pubs/restaurants and easy access up and down the coast. From there we took a cruise to see the Cliffs, explored the Burren, Poulnabrone Dolmen, and Kilfenora crosses.
There are a lot of attractive small towns in the Burren - look foir somewhere in the Liscannor/Doolin/Kilfenora/Lisdooinvara/Ballyvaughan/Kinvarra area. They make much more sense than staying in Galway. You can visit the Aran Islands from Doolin.
Thanks for all the suggestions. 2 additional questions on the Aran Islands. Which island to visit and is it a day trip or do we need to stay overnight?
OK, on our 2 trips, both times checked out of Galway the morning we headed to the Aran Islands. Each time we then stayed 1 night, and also had torrential rain, but still got time outside. You could potentially squeeze in a daytrip visit, but we were fortunate to do an overnight each time. You could skip the Aran Island visit, but it’s been an essential part of each trip for us.
1) June 2012, left our B&B in Salthill (suburb of Galway), and rode our bikes in a sudden rainstorm, west to the ferry docks at Rossaveal. The road was narrow, with lots of traffic splashing us. We didn’t go too far over to the road’s shoulder, because of the brick walls just off the edge. We took the next available ferry, bringing our rental bikes aboard. It couldn’t take cars; rental car tourists would have to park and board the boat on foot. We sailed south for Inishmore, known in Gaelic as Inis Mor, the biggest of the 3 islands, and the most visited. The prime sight is Dun Aengus, an ancient fortress at the edge of the cliff overlooking the sea. The cliffs erode, and part of the fortress has tumbled way, way down into the ocean. You can lie on your stomach on the flat rock and carefully stick your head over the edge, peeking down at the crashing waves. It requires a hike up a steep trail to reach the fortress ruins. A van tour will drive you there, plus to other sights, showing you the harsh conditions that locals have endured to live there for centuries, before tourism brought visitors. The day we arrived, with reservation for a night at a thatched cottage B&B (which no longer operates), it was reported that, even though it wasn’t raining or super windy on the island, the seas were so rough that ferries weren’t sailing back to the mainland. I’m glad we had a place to spend the night. We were able to book a ferry for the next morning, subject to calmer waters, and after a rainstorm first thing that morning cleared, the ferry headed east for the mainland. It stopped for an hour on Inisheer (aka Inis Oir), the tiniest of the islands. Some people grabbed a quick lunch. I unloaded my bike from the small ferry and pedaled out to see an old shipwreck that’s been washed ashore. The wreck appears in the opening credits of Father Ted, a TV comedy that was set on a fictional Irish island, and filmed in Irish locations. We finished docking on the mainland close to Doolin and Lisdoonvarna, not where we’d started. If we’d had a rental car, we’d have needed to sail back to Rossaveal on a return ferry. As we approached the shore, we got views of the Cliffs of Moher in the near distance.
2) For Sept 2019, we’d just picked up our rental car (no bicycles this trip), and drove partway towards Rossaveal. Nice to not have rain, but the brick walls by the edge of the narrow road were still there. We pulled over at the airport for the Aer Arran Islands airline. They fly very small but very capable planes to Inishmore. I think they’ve gone to all 3 islands in the past, but I think Inishmore was their only destination last time I checked. Flying is more expensive than a ferry, but there’s a major advantage. The second trip, the weather was nice during our arrival day, but it turned bad that night, and we spent our second day just sitting inside our B&B, watching the rain blow sideways, ripping the pretty flowers in their boxes to shreds. The storm cleared in time for our scheduled flight back to our car the second afternoon, and it was a fast, safe flight - 16 minutes. Ferry passengers were stuck, though. Even with clear skies, the seas were too rough for ferries to cross. Under the circumstances, I’d say fly, and see just the biggest, Inishmore. Spend the night if you can, or do just a daytrip, flying back to the mainland before nighttime. But if you fly back, you’d wind up west of Galway, and would still need to drive way around towards the Cliffs. Maybe get a ride to and from Galway and the little airport, then get a rental car afterwards.
I'd recommend an overnight on Inishmor (the big one). The personality of the place changes when the last ferry leaves and everything quiets down. We had a nice stay at ClaiBan but they wouldn't take a reservation unless we were coming from Rossaveal. They felt the risk of weather cancellation of Doolin ferries was too great for them, even if I offered to pay in advance. Inishear (the small one) is a good day trip. Haven't been to the middle one.
Also, you will find there are "lots" of burrens in the Burrens. Telling your GPS to take you to "the Burrens" will be an interesting exercise. Whichever one you stumble on will be interesting.
We happen to like Galway, and always stay at least one night. Doolin is great for pub music (as is Galway) but Galway has more to do. We always stay at Prague House.
We're repelled by tour buses, so the Cliffs are something to see by boat maybe.
OK, so I maxed out the available number of characters on my previous posting, and after seeing a reply to another thread on this Forum from David in Seattle, here’s the best suggestion for getting to and from Inishmore, if you don’t already have a rental car, or don’t want to be paying rental fees while you’re parked at the Connemara Airport that Aer Arran airlines uses:
David says there’s an Aer Arran shuttle to get from Galway to the airport for Inishmore. To fly back, Aer Arran has a van on Inishmore they use to drop passengers in town, or at their accommodations, no charge for that. Arrange for them to pick you up to get back to the airport. Fly back to the mainland. Take the shuttle bus back to Galway.
Then, when ready to head onward to the Cliffs, etc. that’s when to start your car rental. Unless, of course, you already had your car.
Thanks for all the tips still trying to figure it all out. I was leaning against staying in Galway was thinking of staying in Doolin or some other small town. We will only be in Ireland for 7 days so I was thinking of maybe a day trip to one
of the islands however the ferry sounds like it could be risky depending on weather. Too many things to see and only a short amount of time.
