Ireland-9days

If you like to hike, I would plan on spending some time up in the Connemara. We stayed near Westport and hike up Croagh Patrick. It was a great hike. With 9 days, As for trip planning....what do you think you want to see? Do you have "visions" of touring all the way around Ireland (we did it in 17 days...9 days you might need to cut some areas.) Or did you just want to spend time in Western Ireland?

We are going to leave out Northern Ireland. We figure we will come back. We were told to make sure we go to Dublin. Our last day we need to stay near Shannon. Connemara sounds nice. Thanks for the suggestion. How would you divide your trip w/ 9 days.

The best place to stay near the Shannon airport is the Bunratty Castle area. There are lots of B&Bs on the Bunratty Road behind the castle and folk park. It's a short drive to the airport in the morning.

You do not have to see Dublin. If hiking is what you enjoy the most, I would advise skipping it. It was my least favorite place in Ireland, though it does have a few interesting sites. I prefer small towns and beautiful scenery. So it's all what you enjoy the most.

With only 9 days, I would try to stick to one area. You could start in Connemara and head down to Dingle. If you do that, you won't have time to head over to Dublin.

I loved Connemara. We headed up to Clifden after landing in Shannon. We went via Cong (my husband loves The Quiet Man, which was filmed there). It is a very beautiful drive. Connemara National Park is a nice place to hike. From there you could head south, possibly stopping in Galway, The Burren, and somewhere on the coast like Lahinch or Doolin. You could take a day to visit one of the Aran Islands and you can easily stop at the Cliffs of Moher in transit. From there you can head down to Dingle. Be sure to take the Kilmer-Tarbet ferry; it will save a lot of driving. This would make a fabulous trip and would not involve an excessive amount of driving.

I was going to make the same suggestion as Carroll, only backwards (Dingle first, then Tartbert Ferry, etc) You can do it either way, but with the time you have I think it would be an awesome trip. Dingle- if you bike, it was a lot of fun biking the peninsula. We didn't make it out to the Blasket Islands, but I've heard it is an awesome trip and great fun hiking around the Islands. I've been to both Dublin and Galway...Dublin has more "sights" but Galway has more charm ( in my opinion.) You can catch a ferry to the Aran Islands near Galway and spend a great day out there. (you can rent bikes and bike around the area, or take a tour) I've heard that there is lots of good hiking up in the Connemara-we only had time to do Croagh Patrick. I would start reading up on those three areas before determining how much time I wanted in each area. Wish I were going with you!! BTW- Clifdon is a wonderful town, but you may consider staying one night in Westport. We had our best night of pub hopping there, and it is the best place to be if you want to do the Croagh Patrick hike. You don't need more than one night there (get there in the afternoon, explore town and spend the evening in pubs, get up the next morning and go up Croagh Patrick, head out to your next destination. That is how we did it...good times good times!)

Thanks so very much Connie! I think we will follow your plan. We are so excited to go! Is 4 days in Dingle too much and we were thinking of staying in slea head on a farm right by the ocean. It's 20 mins. from Dingle. Did you get a GPS? Where are you going this year?

I don't think four nights is too long in Dingle. We stayed three nights our first trip and five our second. Definitely consider taking the ferry to Great Blasket Island. It's my all time favorite place to hike. It's stunningly beautiful, and you can explore the island to your heart's content. Most people stick close to the area where the houses are, but if you are willing to climb up hill for a ways, you'll be all alone. It's just wonderful. Be sure to read some of the islander's books before you go. I didn't read them until after we went there, and I was dying to go back. Fortunately, I got the chance a few years later.

We stayed in Dingle, which was nice because you could walk to pubs and restaurants. But that farm house on Slea Head sounds pretty cool.

Sara- when we went we had 2 full days in Dingle. The first day we arrived mid morning and spend the rest of the day biking the peninsula. The next day we did the archeology tour (in the Rick Steves book), a harbor boat tour to see Fungie the dolphin, and we went out to Minards Castle and walked around the area. We also spent some time looking around Dingle. With one more day, we would have gone out to the Blasket Islands. 3-4 nights would be great for the area. Have you decided how many days you need for the other areas? We didn't have as much time in the Connemara as I would have liked so I am not as familiar with what hiking there is up there. However, that is also a very beautiful area in Ireland. If you go out to the Aran Islands, try to go in the morning and spend some time. We were kinda rushed. We did one of the van tours, but if we had had more time, I would have liked to have rented bikes or something and explored on our own.

Thanks Connie and Carroll-you are a wealth of information! We land in Shannon at 7:00 in the morning before we go to Dingle should we go to the Cliffs of Moher and anywhere else along the way?

No, I would wait and do the Cliff of Moher as you travel north from Dingle towards Galway. It is more on the way then.

I agree with Connie. If you're like me, you will be pretty exhausted your first day, so don't try to plan to much for the first day. Just get to Dingle, and then see how much energy you have.

My two friends Connie and Carroll, We are thinking of staying in Dingle five days and then just move to
Doolin four four days and see Aran Islands, Cliffs of Moher, Burren and possibly Connemera and we will have to come back one day and see the rest. Did you stay at a B&B there? Thanks for your help! Also, did you go to the Killarney Natl Park when you were in Dingle? I wasn't aware of this site and it is soo cool! We went to Switzerland a few years ago if you ever need help!

Sara,

Since hiking is high on your priority list, you might want to take a look at the Lonely PLanet Walking in Ireland Guide.

Sara, I like your latest plan. It is always nice to stay in one place for a few days so you don't have to move all your stuff. In Dingle, we stayed at the Greenmount House. It's very, very nice. We picked it on our first trip because we were with my younger son and needed a triple. The second time we picked it because we liked it so much. There are cheaper places though. What we liked about it is that it is beautifully decorated and equiped, it has beautiful views, and it has great breakfasts. It's on a hill a short walk from town, so it's very quiet.

We did not stay in or visit Doolin. We stayed in Ballyvaughn in the Burren area. I forget the name of the place, but I can look it up if you are interested. We stayed at the Man of Aran Cottage on Inishmore and absolutely loved it.

Sorry, Sara, I forgot about your question about Killarney NP. Yes, we went there one day when were were staying at Dingle. Unfortunately, we didn't have great weather -- it was sort of overcast, so I don't think it was as good as it could have been. You could tell it was very beautiful, but with gray skies, I don't know that it was worth the drive. If you get a nice day with blue skies, I think you would like it.

I looked into 2 lodges the doolin activity lodge in doolin and rusheen lodge in ballyvaughn-clare Has anyone stayed there?? In Donquin we were thinking of the slea head farm has anyone stayed there? Thanks for the help!

Hi Sara,

My husband and I spent like 3 or 4 days in Dingle last October, for us that was too much time. It was getting to be the off-season over there, but we still found plenty to do. The place we stayed was the Milestone B&B and I swear they had the BEST SODA bread in all of Ireland. We drove around the Dingle Penisula in a couple of hours and that was even getting out and walking around. Murphy's pub in the heart of Dingle was a blast. It was a bank holiday weekend when we were there, so they had a live band. Some older Irish folks ended up drinking my husband and I under the table, but we had the best time with them!

We wish we would have actually spent one less night in Dingle and spent more time in Killarney National Park. It was so incredibly beautiful there, and the park is just amazing!

Like someone mentioned before Dublin has more sites, but I wasn't too impressed. I think I built too much excitement about it, and was kind of let down. Still plenty to do there.

Have fun, I still have all the information from all the things we did, so if you need some more info don't hestitate to email me! jillsummers@hotmail.com

Enjoy your trip!

Sara- Here is a recommendation off the graffiti wall:

Best: Doolin, Ireland. Doolin Activity Lodge
Why: The location is close to the Burren, Cliffs of Moher, and Aran Islands. It's only about 25 miles from Galway, and about 28 miles from Shannon Airport. Also the best location for Irish Traditional music, without travelling any farther.

I found it under "guidebook feedback" "Ireland" "best and worst sights, experiences, destinations

I agree with Jill that the Milestone House in Dingle is a great place to stay. The best breakfast of any B&B I have stayed in - anywhere in the world!

Thanks everyone! I wish I realized what a big help this helpline is a few years ago!