Shannon

Mike: My wife and are are planning a three week trip to Scotland and Ireland in May. My wife has a college professor colleague from Ireland. He has talked us out of going to Galway and into spending 3 nights in Doolin instead. Doolin is a departure point for one of the ferry routes to the Aran Islands. It is also a major site for enjoying traditional Irish music. Doolin is about an hour from Shannon airport, it appears. Just a suggestion. Bill
Syracuse, NY

The Dingle area is beautiful.

How could you be better off flying home?? :) In the immediate Shannon area you have Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. Within an hour to the west you have Lahinch, with its world famous golf course, the Cliffs of Moher and Doolin. Just beyond that is the Burren. Galway is a couple of hours away, with the Connemara region just beyond that. To the south, Dingle is a bit over three hours away, Killarney is about two, Adare and Tralee are closer. Even the Rock of Cashel is less than two hours away. There are lots of options for great things to see and do for a few days.

In three days you can easily explore a section of Ireland. The southwest part which is accessible from Shannon is an ideal place to start and Shannon is a fairly small airport. You should explore this opportunity.

You are definitely NOT better off "flying on home". Whatever reason it is that you have 2-3 days in the Shannon area, consider that a blessing and not a curse. But don't stay in Shannon (there's hardly a Shannon there), rent a car and get out into the surrounding area. The west of Ireland is spectacular. From Shannon you can go north (in a round-about way) to Ennis, Lahinch, Doolin, and Cliffs of Moher, or south to Ring of Kerry or Dingle peninsula, or east to Lough Derg, and/or many other wonderful sights. In fact, you can just drive around with no destination in mind, get lost, and enjoy the scenery. If spending 2-3 days in the Shannon area were my greatest concern, I'd consider myself one lucky fellow. Enjoy!

All the above is absolutely true. And even if you have only a few hours in the area - e.g. arriving afternoon, flying home next morning - hire a car and pop to Adare and Limerick.

One caution about spending time in Ireland, she will set her hooks into you and you may find the call to return hard to resist. Bill from Syracuse reminded me of the only traffic light in the US with green at the top, instead of red: Tipperary Hill in Syracuse. If you don't know the story (of course there is an Irish connection), check out this link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipperary_Hill Ironically, without a major professional sports team in town, everyone roots for the Syracuse University Orangemen. Pretty ironic for a city with a fair-sized Irish American population.