Driving Connemara

I would make a stop in Roundstone. It was a nice little town to walk through and there was great seafood at O'Dowds.

You should drive to Clifden, then take the Sky Road north. It goes past Connemara National Park and Kylemore Abbey. If you continue on around toward Cong, you can turn back south toward Galway at Maum Cross (I believe that's the turn, but I'm not looking at a map at the moment). The Sky Road takes you through the Twelve Bens mountains. My son said, of this drive, "There must be a better word than 'wow' but I can't think of one!" Every turn is more beautiful than the last. When we did this drive, we spent the night in Clifden and were back in the Shannon area by late afternoon. (We also stopped and toured at Kylemore Abbey, which took some time.)

Thanks for your replies! I've read about the Sky Road, so I'll just have to pay attention to the distances to make sure we get back to Galway in good time.

I highly recommend, if you have time, driving west/northwest of Cong to the Doolough Pass near the town of Delphi. The Doolough Pass is gorgeous when the weather is nice, and a must-stop is the Famine Walk Memorial, which is a small stone cross on the right side of the road (R335) as you are heading north. The view looking south from the Famine Walk Memorial is fantastic in nice weather. There's ample parking at the Memorial, and it's easy to spend a good 30 minutes there enjoying the view looking south.

It doesn't take long to get to the Doolough Pass from Cong; we drove from Galway to the Pass, then back through Leenaun (where we stopped for a snack), then to Cong where we stopped for a little visit, then back to Galway. Our entire trip that day was probably no more than five or six hours.

To get to the Doolough Pass from Cong, you'd take R345 west to Maum, then R336 to Leenaun, then a quick jog on N59 to Clog, where you'll take R335 to the Doolough Pass, which as I remember is just north of Delphi.

You could then head back to Galway by going back through Maum and Maam Cross to the N59.

Doolough is one of the most evocative places in Ireland - well worth a stop if you can manage it. Google it to read the sad history of what happened there before you go - will help put the famine years into harsh perspective, and explain as nothing else can why the memory of those years is still seared into the soul of Ireland.

Doolough Pass definitely looks like something we can do, given our timetable, and the roads look pretty good. After some wild times in Devon last year, I always look at the roads on Google maps! Thank you, IrishTom and Robert!