Please help me choose a "base camp" to explore County Galway

We've taken 2 trips, one south of Galway and one to the north, both essentially starting in Galway. And it was 2 of us, not 6. Are you driving?

Trip one, after having time in Galway City and then a night on Inishnore, we had a few nights at a small B&B in Lisdoonvarna, just up the hill from Doolin. It was a great base from which to venture to the Burren, and have access to Doolin and the Cliffs of Moher. We were on bicycles, though, so time and energy were focused on efficiency for where we went, and how fast.

Our trip last year, after a couple of days in Galway, we had a rental car, and based in Clifden for time in that town, a Hawk Walk experience (opt for the Extended Walk, which includes time with their Eagle Owl, too), and driving in Connemara and beyond.

My immediate recommendation would be a spot north of Galway for some of your time, and another spot south of Galway. If your option is picking just one of two you mention, go with north of Galway, the Oughterard pony stay, and drive south a day for the Burren, maybe swinging through Doolin on the way back up to Oughterard. Lisdoonvarna might be worth a stop, on the way back!

Thank you for your reply, Cyn.

YES we will have a car.

I think you meant choose two places North AND South of Galway if possible, correct?

The reason I am hesitant to do this is: one of those cottages requires a 3-night minimum. Also, we are trying to limit the amount of packing/unpacking/moving we are doing with 4 kids :)

We don't mind driving around having to get to all the different sights we want to, and exploring.

Thanks! VioLynn

I appreciate not packing/unpacking too much, and feeling like you’re constantly on the move, plus haven’t done it with 4 kids in tow. So others might have a totally different suggestion, but if it’s possible, having a base south of Galway and another one north of Galway would be my pick, geographically for time and driving distances. With sights and activities you mentioned, a south base for south of Galway and a north base for the parts to the north would lessen your overall commute and route finding time. Traffic wasn’t always fast, and it can take some time to get around, so going to/from Ennis the days when you were going up in Connemara would be challenging.

For a group as large as yours, and if you're willing to stay in one place for more than a couple of days, you'd probably save money by booking a rental house or cottage for the 6 of you. We used these guys on our last trip: https://www.shamrockcottages.co.uk/. Although they usually require a one week booking, the prices are so cheap that you'll save money if you stayed only 3 or 4 days. They have several very nice places north and west of Galway out as far as Clifden. Fact is, we stayed in one of their 3 BR cottages along Sky Road when we were there - way too big for just the two of us but the deal was too good to pass up. The area near Clifden is beautiful, and is quite handy for explorations around Connemara, including the island of Inishbofin ... one of Ireland's better kept secrets.

Thanks for that recommendation, Robert--I am looking into now.

Would you recommend Inishbofin over Inishmore? And if so, can you please tell me why? I am about to book and overnight on one of those islands for our crew and would love feedback.

That's a tough one. Inishbofin is nice because it's one of those off-the-beaten track things so you'll have it pretty much to yourself. It's also a much shorter ferry ride to get there from Cleggan - not far from Clifden. There's a very pretty loop walk/hike that circles part of the small island and which passes by a remote beach that's ready made to order for a picnic, and it continues around past an old bog where you'll see some of the locals out harvesting the peat they still use for fuel. One of our pleasant memories was stopping to say hello to one local gent who took time out from his work to explain the whole process to us.
On the other hand, Inishmore has Dun Aengus which is worth a visit, and touring the island on a sunny day in one of the pony traps you'll see waiting for you at the pier is another uniquely Irish experience. We only did it as a day trip but I can imagine how nice it must be when the tourists depart on the last ferry of the day.
It's a close call but for a first time visitor I think I'd recommend Inishmore.

Both of our trips included a night or 2 on Inishmore. First trip access was by ferry, taking our bikes onboard. Second trip, last September, used the quick flight on a small plane, airport west of Galway. There was a nasty storm that cancelled the next morning’s ferries and kept us inside our Inishmore B&B most of that day, waiting for our late afternoon flight back to the mainland. The plane costs a bit more, but was easy, quick, and straightforward, and unless you were transporting bikes, I’d say go with the plane to go to/from Inishmore, no question.

A month ago we stayed in a lovely city north of Galway called Westport. They had wonderful traditional music in several pubs, a neat city walk with a guide, and great restaurants. It is less than an hour from the Galway area. From Westport, we took a day and went to beautiful Achill Island, and another day to go to Connemara National Park. We stayed at the Augusta Lodge, very nice and quite reasonable, and just two minutes from town by car or ten minutes walk. This town was one of our favorites, and after seeing the crowded Galway city, we were glad to be out of the busy urban setting. Have fun!

I agree with Steve. I loved Westport. I had not liked Galway at all and Westport was lovely. I liked my trip to the Innishmore, but would stay somewhere other than Galway if I go again. There were too many students, too much litter and it just didn't seem very clean. Of course, part of it was our terrible hotel. It was hot and the window would only open an inch and the fan they provided wasn't very strong.