N.I./Donegal/Connemara Itinerary Review... or Southwest Lovers talk me out of it :)

I admire your independent spirit! Sounds fantastic.

You will love Ashford Castle and the Falconry Class, it was one of my favorite memories in Ireland!!

Think it's great you want to see the north. We loved it. If you love the remote empty spaces .....you'll love it so much (we do). You won't be wrong picking the north over the southwest at all. Definitely do Errigal.....it's gorgeous. There is a cool abandoned church near its base too. We also loved Malin the village and heading north a bit to Malin Head. Fantastic.

That being said we still prefer the southwest. We like having more variety closer and can easily avoid the heavy tourist spots and towns and still have the feeling of remoteness we also love. The north has it all just a bit more inconvenient moving from one spot to the next or finding something you might need. The southwest if you pick the right spots has it all within a close area. That being said if you want that feel of wild remote Ireland away from any tour buses and large tourist hoards your itinerary works pretty darn well - though you will run into those at the beginning and end...Giants Causeway (VERY touristy) and Galway (very pretty but a congested super tourist filled CITY).

The only knitpick is the driving times listed I think are very optimistic. For example you list a day of Galway to Moher ......then on to Dublin as 4.25 hours. Galway to the Cliffs is 2+ .....then Moher to Dublin is 4.5-5 itself on a good day. So driving time that day is closer to 7 hours. Ad in sightseeing at the Cliffs, scouting the Burren and leaving time to eat you have a LONG day. Another example ....Donegal to Clifden is more like 4.5+ hours if things go well. If you are a really experienced left side driver on some "unusual" roads you might make better time but I'd expand your expectations for car time.

Love that you don't overplan too many stops each day.......linger in a couple spots and want to visit an awesome but fairly neglected area of Ireland. Don't talk yourselves out of a unique great plan. Just be aware of the driving times when managing daily expectations. Leave as much time as possible for interacting with the spectacularly great people .... they are most times what makes the fantastic moments that define a trip.

Have a great trip !!!!! The southwest will still be there !!!!

ewewookknit always has great tips!

About her comments on driving times -- one thing I point out to people coming over is that the maps timeing is wrong. Pretty much everyone knows they are wrong. Beyond THAT there is even more wrong!! That is this - you will want to stop there - and there - and there - and oh!! over THERE!! even beyond the map timing being wrong!! So especially in the West, add "stop and look" time -- alot!!

Susan
Expat living in Waterville, Skellig Coast

Much as we love the southwest, Connemara has long been our favorite part of Ireland. If visiting the north is a must for you then including Donegal and the Galway area would seem to be the natural fit to avoid running yourselves ragged.
Renting your car in Belfast and dropping it in Dublin will incur a steep one-way drop charge - it's an international rental. Might still be worth it to you for the convenience involved, but you might want to compare total costs of flying into and out of Dublin so as to collect the car there. Could save some euros by doing it that way.
Agree that the estimated drive times are always overly optimistic - by about 30% in our experience - and that's just for the time behind the wheel. Cranking in stops along the way will delay you further.
Time and interest permitting, take a look at the Ulster-American Folk Park near Armagh. Fascinating place, especially if your heritage traces to Ulster.

Thank you so much for posting your itinerary. My mom and I are headed to Ireland for the first time the last week of March. We have debated going south to the west or north to the west. I think we have decided north...mainly because our heritage comes from Donegal, Mayo, and Tyrone. It’s been hard to say that we won’t see the amazing places to the south. I just have to keep telling myself all the amazing things to the north. There is plenty to do and I know it will be fabulous!

Thanks to all for the great advice and feedback!

I haven’t done the north yet and I will be returning this summer for the southwest. I spent two weeks doing Mayo, Galway and Clare. I thought the Connemara region was the most beautiful landscape of the three counties I went to. I think your itinerary is great, you can’t go wrong with north or southwest. You will want to return!

Love this thread. I haven't been on this site for some time, but my family is planning a N.Ireland vacation and it's time to plan!
We plan to play one or two rounds of golf, but this trip will less focused on the white ball. I like most everything about your trip. My only suggestion is to try to save a little time to explore the Cliffs and visit the town of Doolin. Thanks to Rick Steves, we discovered this small town and seem to stop in each time to Ireland for the Craic.
We are flying in and out of Dublin. Flights were so much cheaper than Belfast. If you haven't booked, yet check into this.
Not being big into cities, we may just stop in Belfast on our drive to Portrush. Are we missing anything?

Thanks to all that contribute.
Dan