We will be going on a 9 day trip early June and are focusing on the west side of Ireland. Is it too much to do both Aran Islands AND Skellig Michael? Do you have any recommendations about one over the other if we have to choose? We'll be traveling with my 2 college-age daughters, and we're an adequately active family.
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Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6869 posts
Yes, you can do it. We did both on a slightly-longer trip (IIRC we had about 11 or 12 days, but we spent 2 nights on Inis Mor, you won't have time for all that). These two spots were (by far) the highlights of our trip. So, yes, you can do both – but doing so just means you will be trading off other things that you'll need to skip or just do a drive-by, so you will have to make some difficult choices (that's what travel planning always is: choosing between options, making trade-offs, prioritizing what's most important to you). So yes, but depends on your priorities.
We essentially skipped Dublin (we did fly in and out of DUB but only spent one evening there). We also blew through western and southwestern Ireland at a fairly fast pace, so I have no doubt we blew right by many other worthwhile things that we would have enjoyed. But we nailed the things we had most prioritized, including: Skellig Michael, Inis Mor (2 nights and three days), a few nights in Dingle with a day-long side trip to Great Blasket Island (wonderful!), a lot of driving on impossibly narrow roads, and short visits (probably too short for most folks) to a half dozen other places. Only one evening in Dublin, nothing north of Galway, just quick stops in other places. It was awesome.
If you are active and up for an adventure, this would be epic.
Some photos to whet your appetite: The Climb Up Skellig Michael, and Inishmore's Uneven Ground.
Note: Skellig Michael landing tours do sell out. And they only go when conditions allow. June is coming up fast. Book your landing trip ASAP, and try to be in the area for at least 2 days, with your Skellig trip booked for the first day (so you can try again the next day if the first day's trip is cancelled because it's too rough).