We’ve had 2 trips to Ireland, and included overnight stays on Inishmore both times. First trip, started in Galway, and just traveled south of there. Last trip, except for Inishmore, we just went north of Galway, and did include Northern Ireland and the Giant’s Causeway before circling down to Dublin. Even with 3 weeks, we were still on a pretty fast pace much of the time.
Speaking of fast, if you’re considering visiting Inishmore, consider flying. On our first trip (June 2011) by bicycle, we used the ferry. That had the advantage of allowing us to take our bikes on the boat. But stormy seas cancelled the next day’s return ferry to Rossaveal, and we wound up taking a different, later ferry that could cover easier water to south of Doolin on the mainland, closer to the Cliffs of Moher. That worked for us, as we hadn’t left a rental car back in Rossaveal! Our second trip, in September of last year And with a rental car, we opted for the short airplane flight. Costs just a bit more than a ferry, but gets you there in 11 minutes, and flights appear to me more reliable than boats. That time, the ferries weren’t sailing back to the mainland all day because of fierce winds and waves, but the afternoon flight back was never cancelled. Maybe our experiences were unique (I bet not), but the planes fly even when the boats don’t go. And the airstrip has safe, free car parking, and is closer to Galway, less of a drive than reaching the ferry docks.
We started at a B&B outside Bushmills, and did a 5-mile cliff-top hike to reach the Giant’s Causeway in the morning last year, rather than driving right to it, or using the Causeway Rambler shuttle bus to get there. We took the bus to get back from the Causeway to where we’d parked our car at the trailhead, but having done the hike, we opted to skip the Carrick-a-Rede bridge. Back in our car, we found a roadside picnic table with a view of the bridge and its crowd, had lunch, and moved on. So we saw the bridge and its surrounding coastline, but didn’t actually walk it, but sounds like that may be more of a priority for you.
So our first trip (albeit by bike) was just southwestern Ireland. Second trip included Dublin and Galway, and places north of the Dublin-Galway line. We didn’t try to include south and north ends of Ireland in one trip, and we had 3 weeks each time.
Last year, we rented from Enterprise, picking up in Galway and dropping off at Dublin airport. Don’t recall, but either there was no extra charge to drop off at a different city, or it was maybe no more than €20.
