Ireland Extended Stay with Fewer "One Nighters"

It’s fairly easy to do a loop of Ireland. Kilkenny, Kenmare, Galway and the Arab islands jump out as some great spots. But it’s also great to pick some smaller, slightly less touristy villages too. A day trip to Derry in the North is manageable if you stay in Donegal and well worth a visit.

Google and Rome2Rio.com can both help give you a sense of driving times between different locations. If you’re not used to driving there/the UK, plan on shorter drive times - it can be stressful driving on the other side of the road/car on sometimes narrow roadways.

We’ve had 2 trips up Ireland, 3+ weeks each, and both of them included Galway and a trip to the Aran Islands. Other than that Trip 1 was western Ireland (flying home from Shannon Airport, not Dublin), and Trip 2 was driving clockwise, ending and flying home from Dublin. That second trip was in September 2019, with pleasant weather, except for a fierce rainstorm one of the days on the biggest Aran island, Inishmore. Not certain if it’ll be chillier or a different nature scene in later October for you.

That 2019 trip was all 2 nights or more each place. We flew in to the Dublin airport, and immediately caught a 4+ hour bus from the airport to Galway. That provided a nap enroute, helping with jet lag. After a couple nights in Galway, we picked up our rental car for the rest of the trip. It sat at the tiny airport west of there while we made our journey to Inishmore by airplane. Flying worked better than taking the ferry we used on our first trip - planes fly when rough seas prevent ferries from sailing. After that, back on the mainland, we had several nights in Clifden, during their arts festival. See if anywhere is having a festival or other event in October - maybe that would influence where yo stay, and for how long. National parks should be open, but will likely be pretty empty by October.

We then had a few nights on Achill Island, connected to the mainland by a bridge, so reachable by car. Islands do give a different experience than being on the mainland, which of course is itself an island! We worked our way around, including a stay just outside Sligo, eventually into Northern Ireland. The Antrim Coast and the Giant’s Causeway are an essential sight for nature and scenery, and a B&B by Bushmills was perfect for 2 nights. Back on the Republic of Ireland, we based ourselves in Trim for 3 nights, before getting to Dublin for the remainder of our stay. Trim is a key place from where to explore the beautiful Boyne Valley, and mysterious Neolithic sights. Trim and Clifden were the main bases from where we made daytrips like spokes on a wheel. Most everywhere else, we stayed 2 or more nights, but didn’t venture far from where we were staying.

The first trip was actually by bicycle, and in June 2011, so except for stunning scenery like on the second trip, maybe that’s a bit apples-versus-oranges comparison. We did a lot of 1-night stands, but were moving slower, and mostly couldn’t hang around several nights. We did stay 3 nights at a B&B in Lisdoonvarna, an excellent base for seeing the Burren (nature and a different scenic beauty than most of the rest of Ireland) and the Cliffs of Moher. We also stayed 2 nights at Rita Meade’s in Miltown Malbay, where we took a cooking class, and also a short trip over to Spanish Point. The bike trip included several nights in Dingle, and went as far as Portmagee, and a magical trip to Skellig Michael, before turning towards Tralee and that flight home from Shannon.

Haven’t been to southeast Ireland yet.

Some smaller places that would work as bases are Kilkenny, Killorglin (on the Ring of Kerry), Lahinch (County Clare), Clifden (Connemara), Donegal and Portrush. We did a 28 day trip, stayed in these places and loved them all.

Something else to consider is the shorter daylight hours you will have in October, especially towards the end of the month, and the increased likelihood of rain. So you may want to add on the smaller towns that were suggested.

These are terrific suggestions, and thanks to all of you. Given that indeed, days are shorter in October, I wonder if, after departing Dublin, we should head first to the Wild Atlantic Way, traveling North to South, perhaps minimizing rain and giving us a bit longer light during the day. We especially like the suggestions of the smaller villages in which to stay. Any and all future responses are most welcome.

I can write out our itinerary for our month long stay we planned for 2020 but have not taken yet. If that would help. We planned on having a car and daytripping from home bases because like you, we do not like single night stays.

1 night when we land exhausted ( day trips listed in parentheses)
4 night Dublin
5 Kilkenny (Waterford, county Wexford, Rock of Cashel)
3 kinsale ( Charles Fort, Cork, Cobn)
3 Killarney (ring of Kerry, Ross Castle, Kenmare)
4 Dingle (Dingle Loop, Blasket island , rest)
3 Galway (Cliffs of Moher, the Burren)
1 Abbeyglen Castle ( this is my 75 yr old mother’s choice. She is a princess at heart )
1 Sligo (stop on way to Slieve League)
5 Portrush (Derry, Antrim Coast, Giant’s Causeway, Belfast)
2 Trim (See Trim and drive around last night to pack up and return car in the morning at the airport)
Fly home