I fly into Dublin on August 1st and will spend 2 weeks in Ireland (and Northern Ireland) before flying on to Edinburgh, Scotland.
My departing flight is from Belfast. I will be traveling solo, and I don't plan to rent a car,
My original plan was:
Dublin 3 nights
train or bus to Galway for 4 nights (do a day trip to Cliffs of Moher)
bus to Donegal - 2 nights
bus to Derry - 1 or 2 nights possibly do a day trip to Giants Causeway
end in Belfast, arriving August 11th or 12th.
Fly out from Belfast August 16th. (flight already booked)
As I was looking for accommodation in Galway, I discovered most places booked up or overpriced. Turns out the weekend of August 4th is the Galway Races, one of the biggest events of the year! Unless I want to put up with higher prices and big crowds, it looks like I'll have to modify my itinerary, and am not sure now how to do it. One option would be to skip Galway altogether and substitute somewhere else.(suggestions?) Another would be to go to Donegal first, then Galway, though that would mean back tracking to Derry, (6 hours by bus from Galway). I could do the loop in reverse and end in Galway, but then I need a way to get back to Belfast for my flight out on the 16th.
Another question, from Derry is it possible by coach or a tour to stop at the Giant's Causeway then continue on to Belfast? I suppose I could rent a car for that leg of the trip, though I'm a bit nervous about driving on the left.