Skellig Michael AND Aran Islands?

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).

It’s definitely worth considering visiting both on a trip, which happened on our first trip to Ireland. On two subsequent trips, we visited Inishmore on one, and the Skellig on our most recent. They do offer different experiences, depending on your interests.

Aran Islands: these are actually occupied, with residents, restaurants, lodging, shopping (wool sweaters), and sights. We visited Inishmore and Inisheer on that first trip, in June 2011, using ferries. We got rain. Ferries don’t sail when storms make the waves rough, and that affected where and when we could sail. On our second trip (September 2018), we got lots of wind, with sideways rain. Ferries couldn’t sail, but we took the small plane (Aer Arran airline) to and from Inishmore. We got back to mainland Ireland by plane after our 2 day/1 night stay, while ferry-takers had to stay a second night. Go with the plane - it’s the way to visit Inishmore. Don’t miss hiking up to Dun Aengus, and our small van tour driver on the island also led us in a hike to The Wormhole. You can rent bicycles, but be aware that Inishmore is hilly.

Skellig Michael is a unique place to visit. No residents, unless you count the puffins. You’ll need to book your boat months in advance (wasn’t that way in 2011, but it was in 2023), and you get 90 minutes to climb hundreds of stone stairs to the ancient monks’ beehive-shaped stone huts on top, then back down to your boat. You might see dolphins on your boat trip to Skellig Michael and past the birds-only Little Skellig. You will see seabirds, LOTS of them. It’s again, a unique experience, and worth the effort. Depending on which boat you hire, stay in Cahersaveen, Portmagee, or Caherdaniel. We lucked out both times, with calm-enough seas to make the landing on Skellig Michael, and the determination that that would happen was only made that morning. Even if daily landings get called-off on a morning, it’s still possible that day to do a boat “tour,” sailing past the Skellig islands, but it’s not the same as being on Skellig Michael.

Thank you so much!!