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Itinerary Check and Suggestions

Posted by on

Hello all! I have a short trip to Ireland in April/May. We are coming from the states, just my boyfriend and me. We arrive around 11 am in Dublin April 27th and leave out of Dublin on May 3rd at noon. So we will really only have only 5.5 days. We have an automatic car booked already. After much research, we have decided to go west. Specifically counties Galway, Mayo, and Clare.

We are wanting to see beautiful scenery, castles, wildlife, and small towns. We enjoy outdoor activities, walking/hiking, sightseeing, and visiting restaurants/pubs.

After some narrowing down and picking one area to focus on, I am thinking of using Westport and Galway as our bases. So our rough Itinerary would look like this:

Day 1 - Fly in at 11 am. Stay awake and enjoy Dublin. Head to bed early.

Day 2 - Wake up early and pick up car from airport. Head to Westport. Any good stops along the way? Nearby things to do once we get there? Stay night Westport.

Day 3 - Explore Achill island. Stay night in Westport again.

Day 4 - Explore Connemara. Stay the night in Galway.

Day 5 - Stay the night in Galway again. Any suggestions on what to do here? Maybe just explore the city and anything we missed in the Connemara area.

Day 6 - Head to Doolin for Cliffs of Moher walk. Explore the area and head back to Dublin at some point and stay the night in Dublin. Any suggestions for a different stop on the way back to Dublin from Doolin?

Day 7 - Fly home at noon. Arrive at the airport by 9 am.

Thoughts? Do you think this plan makes sense and is doable? Any suggestions on things to do or how I can change this to make it better?

Thanks!

Posted by
491 posts

If there is any chance you could fly out of Shannon instead of returning to Dublin from Doolin, that would be a great advantage given your limited time.
If nightly trad music has re-started in Doolin (I believe it stopped during Covid), then spending an evening in Doolin would be a real treat. I liked Doolin a lot for the music, being a very small town, and hiking/walking the Cliffs walk -- not just the more crowded visitor center. I tentatively would suggest spending a night in Doolin rather than a second night in Galway; however that would leave you with 3 one-nighters in a row, which is not ideal.

Posted by
1585 posts

Your plan sounds good to me. As for where to stay your last night, you could consider Malahide. It is literally a 15 minute drive to the airport (on regular suburban roads, no less). It's on the water and has great seafood restaurants. It also has Malahide Castle, which is really a manor house/stately home, and "quaint and charming" stores. Just a suggestion if you didn't want to stay at an airport hotel or in Dublin City Center on your last night.

Posted by
6713 posts

There are frequent buses (coaches) between Dublin Airport and Galway, taking about three hours. With so little time in Dublin, and jet-lagged at that, you might consider just bussing to Galway on your arrival day, enjoying the scenery and/or a nap, spending the night there, and picking up the car from there.

On day 5 you could take a ferry to Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. I haven't been there, but I'm looking forward to going this spring.

Dublin has a lot to offer, but your main interests lie westward, so why not save time and avoid it instead of using it mostly to sleep? There are several hotels at or near DUB airport, or you could try the nearby town of Trim if you feel lucky about early morning traffic.

Posted by
509 posts

This stopover between Doolin and Dublin might not be for everyone: That said, we enjoyed an hour or two at Irish National Stud, a govt-owned thoroughbred horse-breeding facility. (My wife is a horse-lover, but I enjoyed the stop..) They also have fancy gardens and an interesting museum (and snack bar).

https://irishnationalstud.ie/

You'll enjoy every minute in Ireland. Bon voyage!

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