We will be traveling to Ireland for our first time in September x10 days & will be driving. Arriving Dublin for 2 nights. Then to a B&B outside of Kinsale for 2 days. Tralee (Ballyseede castle) for 1 night. On to Dingle (Pax House) for 2 nights. We want to head to the Galway region for 2 days but not sure of a central location of the sights. Any suggestions or "must see" places during our 10 day trip?
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Missoula, Montana
511 posts
Galway city is a great central location from which to explore Ireland's most beautiful region: Connemara. I've bicycled through it on numerous occasions and have never tired of it. Galway is a lively university town sporting a few pedestrian-only streets with shops, pubs, restaurants and many B&Bs, some within walking distance to downtown and many on the way out to and in the Salthill neighborhood.
The N59 loop, heading west out of Galway City, takes you around the beautiful Twelve Bens mountain range, out to Clifden at the far end and into the village of Leenane bordering County Mayo at the tip of Killary Harbor at the eastern end. Clifden has several pubs featuring traditional music and a few B&Bs and hotels. I consider Leenane - couched between three mountain ranges - as the loveliest spot on the island. No trad music there, but it has two pubs and a very nice restaurant formally called "The Field" after the movie of the same name shot there some years ago. I believe the new name is the "Strawberry or Blueberry" something or other. No matter, the food is superb; dinner reservations are a good idea.
The 10-mile north-south stretch through the starkly peaceful Inagh Valley in Connemara is also well worth the diversion. No matter where you go, the scenery there is dramatic in a sort of small-scale Ireland way.