I know this is going to be vague and I apologize for that. My wife and I are visiting Ireland for 7 days in August 2020. This will probably be the only time we ever get there. We don’t want to CRAM, we want to have the Ireland experience. All she care about is CASTLES and landscape. QUESTION; Where would be the best place to center ourselves for a good week long visit to run a “base of operations” out of? Your help is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely
Chris
Dingle, Dingle and did I say Dingle....or maybe Kenmore. SEE and experience the West Coast.
Slea Head View Point
Coumeenoole Beach
Killarney National Park
Gap of Dunloe
Kerry Cliffs at Portmagee
Sneem
Doolin
Kinsale
I predict that after a couple of castles she will want ta break.
Claudia makes a great recommendation. Another idea is to base somewhere west of Galway (or Clifden) to explore the Connemara region.
Aran Islands (or Inishbofin)
Doo Lough Valley
Kylemore Abbey
Killary Fjord/Leenane
Westport
Connemara National Park
Cong
Ashford Castle/Hawk walk
Croagh Patrick
Cliffs of Moher to the south and Sligo to the north are also reachable for day trips.
These ideas are exactly what I need. Thank you.
If castles are the main attraction, why not look up all the castles and see which ones are the most interesting. From there you can find gorgeous landscape just about anywhere!
On our recent trip we saw several: Bunratty, Cahir, Rock of Cashel, Ross, Trim, Kylemore, and maybe others? Some are good for a drive by, others you may want to go in. Some are just ruins. I would say to research them and see which are her must see's and plan accordingly.
I think we enjoyed Rock of Cashel (no crowds at all when we were there in July- probably just lucky) and then the Abby is a walk away from there, and we liked Cahir which also isn't far, and Trim. Those were my favorites, all are ruins.
You could stay in the Wicklow Mountains and reach those I mentioned on day trips, plus lots of other sites in the area, and gorgeous landscapes.
