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Post Info TOPIC: North West Ireland Trip
murphy


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North West Ireland Trip
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Hi!

My wife and I have booked a trip to Ireland Aug 5-21.  We visited the south half of the island 3 years ago, and want to see the Galway area and north.  We arrive Shannon Aug 6 at 11:00 AM, will rent a car, and also depart Shannon Aug 21 at 11:30 AM.  Since we are flying in from Portland Oregon, I felt that the Shannon-Galway drive would be enough for the first jet-lagged day.  I am waiting on a confirmation for a B&B in Galway for Aug 6, 7, and 8th.  We plan to spend the balance of day 1 and all of day 2 in or near Galway.  We plan to do a day trip to Aaran Islands (Inishmore) on Day 3.  Day 4 we will head to Westport via Clifdon, and have booked 2 nights, Aug 9 & 10 at Abbey Court B&B, a 10 minute stroll, located north of downtown Westport.  From there on we are looking for advice!  We plan to do minimum 2 night stays going North.  We want to visit Knock Shrine, Slieve League, Beellek Pottery Factory and Croagh Patrick.  We  like to do churches, round towers, ring forts, abbeys, and castles.  Our thoughts are to do a coastal route going north, thru Ballina, Sligo, Donegal, and possibly as far north as Derry.  We plan to visit Northern Ireland/Scotland in a couple of years, so wondered if we should wait to visit Derry then, or do so during this trip?  Since it is quite a long trek south from Derry to Shannon, do you think we should do 1 night stands on this leg?  An interior route including Enniskillen, Boyle, Roscommon, Athlone(Clonmacoise), Ennis, and Shannon is planned.  We like to take in 2-3 major tourist attractions per day.  I will book the last night B&B near Bunratty.  I had also thought about doing a 1 week self catering cottage centrally located up north, but wondered if our itinerary is spread out too far to make that work?  If so, where would you suggest for a self catering central location to see all that we want to see between Westport and Derry?  Since I have read that NW Ireland is NOT as over-run with tourists as other areas, do you think we can wing-it for B&B's from Westport on North and  South back to Bunratty?  I am concerned about the weekend of Aug 15 accomodations.  Or do you think we should firm up our itinerary and book all of our B&B's for the 2 weeks, since it is August and high season?  Thanks for a great web-sight.    Dan

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Michele Erdvig


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Dan,

How nice that you have over two weeks in Ireland. Few people get that amount of time for their trip. I agree that driving from Shannon to Galway on your first day is plenty. Be sure to take the main roads and do not detour to the coast of Clare, which will be too much.

You can visit Croagh Patrick while in Westport. It is nearby. Knock can be visited on your drive north from Westport. It is slightly out of the way, but not bad. There is also a very good museum in Castlebar The Museum of Country Life. There is a round tower near the museum at Turlough. If you do that on your drive from Westport to Sligo you will not be taking the coastal route.

For the Donegal portion of your trip either Donegal town or Killybegs will work. I think I would save Derry for your next trip when you will be in Northern Ireland.

Perhaps for the rest of your trip you can post each day so I know what you are attempting to do and where you want to stay. That will also help you identify good overnight stops.

Good plan to spend your last night near Bunratty. Go to my Lodgings page for recommended places to stay.

Since the areas you want to cover are quite spread out I don't think self-catering would work all that well for the second portion of your trip. Although looking at the map Sligo is about halfway between it all. However, it would mean long day trips if you chose that as a base.

I think you should definitely firm up your itinerary and make reservations. Although international tourism is down in Ireland this year, the Irish themselves are not traveling abroad as much. Instead they are staying home and vacationing in Ireland. There will be competetion for the best places to stay even in the less visited sections of Ireland.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Michele



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