We're so torn. We have 6 days on the ground in Ireland (including the day we land, at 11am). We're renting a car. We just can't decide if we want to do just Northern Ireland (plus 1 day in the Dublin area) or Galway + Northern Ireland. Is the second option too much driving for 6 days? We neither want to miss out nor try to jam too much in. Please advise, especially if you've done 2 geographic locations on one short trip to Ireland before. Thanks!
Posted by
New York, NY
1580 posts
Do You plan on staying only in Northern Ireland because Southern Ireland is very picturesque from Waterford to Ring of Kerry.
Posted by
66 posts
Killarney and the Doolin area are also brilliant..so much to see
the Ring of Kerry drive is breathtaking and so is the Dingle
Posted by
Colorado Springs
2822 posts
From Portrush it's over 5 hours of driving to get to Galway - not the best use of your available time.
You really only have 5 days on the ground - less than that if you're counting your departure day as one of them, so you need to find one particular area and concentrate on that to keep from running yourselves ragged.
If NI is the priority then concentrate on that - there's plenty there to keep you occupied. If you want to explore a bit further afield into the Republic you might consider Donegal - one of the prettiest counties in Ireland and one that never seems to get its due. The cliffs at Slieve League are more dramatic (and much less crowded) that those at Moher, and the region itself would be good for a short meander. Not too far from Portrush by car either.
Another possibility is the area around Newgrange, the Boyne Valley and the Hill of Tara just north of Dublin. Lots of Irish history in a very compact area.
My suggestion is to go with your initial instinct which is already telling you the obvious - that throttling back on your expectations of how much you can see and do in a very limited amount of time is the way to go.