Ireland outline for Summer trip 2018 with a few specific questions

Donegal to Galway might be a long drive, especially with a stop in Cong. When we stopped a few years ago, I wanted to spend more time walking around the estate there. You can cover the village in long lunch. There are also a few Quiet Man stops along the way to Galway city you may want to look at. I double my driving time whenever I look it up, there is also more traffic in Galway city than you would expect, especially if the festival is that week. We drove from Belmullet, Mayo to Cong, onto Salthill Galway, we stopped a few other places but it did take awhile.

With the horserace that weekend, you may want to start there and reverse your trip, still ending in Dublin. You could drop the car in Belfast, take the train to Dublin. Traffic, amount of people in pubs, it will change the Galway dynamics...unless you want to go to the race. Some of the people can get a little messy.

I would ditch the car before hitting Dublin, the city is hard to drive in and having a car is pointless. I would actually ditch the car at the airport and then take public transportation or a taxi into the city. Can't speak for Belfast but it may be the same.

You may find it difficult or impossible to hire a car in Belfast and drop it in Dublin given that it's a different jurisdiction and the car will need to be repatriated. Might be more practical to fly to Dublin and drive to Belfast from there.

As someone who pulled in to Galway on the last day of the horse races.... DO NOT do it. Yes, we found a hotel ok but got NO sleep as people were partying hard. If there is a way to see Galway at another time, I would recommend changing your plans.. unless you plan on partaking in the festivities that is.

Agree with others.....is there a specific reason you want to go to Galway?? If it was me, I would avoid that city at that time and look for a small village nearby.

I agree with the previous poster that it makes more sense for car rental purposes to fly in and out of Dublin. And definitely pick up and/or return the car to the airport. Dublin is a very walkable city and the hop on/hop off bus is also quite useful. There is no need to subject yourself to the hassle of city driving and parking! If your husband is a Quiet Man fan he should enjoy Cong very much--we did! The cottage is fun to see and the display of local newspaper clippings about the filming is quite interesting. Pat Cohan's Bar where some of the filming took place is now a nice little restaurant if you are looking for a good spot to have lunch.

If you have time to stop by the Quiet Man Bridge on your way from Cong to Galway, any Quiet Man fan should enjoy that. It’s a less direct route; you have to go through Maam Cross, but the scenery is beautiful along the way.

I’d return the rental car at the airport; getting in and out of the car rental places at the airport is very easy. The buses from the airport to Dublin are convenient, and it’s much more enjoyable to walk or take a bus in Dublin than trying to drive.

Ok it's me again, and thank you so much for all the ideas and recommendations, especially regarding Cong. We want to see Galway because of its urban-ness, shopping and culture. Let me ask you this, if we stayed at a hotel outside of Galway (say, at Glencoe), would that resolve the issue of the wildness in Galway? I mean, is it like going to Mardi Gras in New Orleans? Then we could come in and see the city at our leisure (early) and leave before night fall. And it seems to be far enough away that we would not be kept up all night.

Also it is suprisingly the same price to rent a car in Belfast and drop it at Dublin, so I think we will try to do that. Why add a 2 hour road trip when we have a full week of driving and the price is the same.

Am I correct that the George Best airport is preferred over the International in Belfast?

Thank you!