Im planning a trip to the west coast of Ireland for April. I have 14 to 17 days. Everything I really want to experience (cliffs, birds, hiking, pubs, music, ...) is a day trip from Galway. Should I stay in Galway the entire time or should I venture farther south and fly out of cork.? I only hesitate since its my first solo trip and there are more logistics involved the more I move around. I have been to Dublin and other places on the east coast.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6788 posts
The west coast south of Galway is best done by car IMHO (by far). Distances between places of touristic interest may look small on a map, but it's going to burn a non-trivial amount of time going out and back all the way to Galway every day. If you are committed to doing it by public transportation, you can do it, but you will need to allow more time.
A lot depends on the specific locations you're headed for. You can find birds, cliffs, pubs and music in many places, but the destinations that usually draw people for that (Dingle, Cliffs of Moher, etc.) would either make for a long day trip (COM) or just aren't really practical as one (Dingle). I'd spend a few days based in Galway as your base, then head out to Inishmor (Arran Islands) for a couple days (you'll find no better cliffs anywhere, they're just not as famous), then once back on the mainland, head south and work your way down towards Dingle. It'll take a little time but beats trying to do it all as a day trip.
Rather than flying out from Cork, fly out of Shannon.
For birds...it depends how seriously you are into birds. There are birds all over the place, but if you can manage the boat trip out to Skellig Michael (logistically challenging and requires both advance planning and some luck), you would be in bird heaven (both on Skellig Michael itself, and also on Little Skellig, which your boat will probably stop at for a look from the boat, on the way out or back...it's a serious, world-class bird experience!).
Posted by
Washington, DC USA
345 posts
I traveled solo no car in July (when it is warmer and more crowded) two summers ago. Rather than doing all the day trips from Galway, after 3 nights in Galway including a Connemara day trip, I then took the bus from Galway to Doolin (about 2 hours) and stayed in Doolin a couple nights. In Doolin, I very much enjoyed the trad music pubs in the evening, the Cliffs of Moher cliff walk trail one day and an Aran island visit another day, with as much time as I wanted in each.