May Itinerary: Comments and Suggestions Appreciated!

Thursday Next · Member

May Itinerary: Comments and Suggestions Appreciated!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Thursday,

Welcome to my forum. How nice that part of your trip is paid for. What time of year are you going? That will determine the length of days.

While you are doing business in Galway your mother can take some day tours. Perhaps Connemara and the Cliffs of Moher. Your hotel or the tourist office in Galway can set her up with them. Or if she prefers, there is a hop-on hop-off bus tour of Galway and cruises.

When departing Galway for Rossnowlagh you say "meander up the coast". That's an awful lot of coast between the two. Did you have an idea of your route?

Have you thought of stealing a day from Dunfanaghy and adding it to the Antrim coast? Overnighting in Portrush, you will have hardly tasted the Antrim coast yet. The rest of the drive goes all along the coast down to Belfast. Making many stops along the way could take most of the day to arrive in Belfast.

Did you know that drive time from Belfast to Dublin is about 2 hours? Would it be possible to use part of that day seeing Newgrange and then proceed to Dublin for your next-to-last night?

Those are two suggestions that might make the trip better.

I have some suggestions for B&Bs on my Lodgings page and more in my book. Print this list for discounts: http://www.cultureheritageireland.com/

Let me know if we can help in any other way.

Michele

Thursday Next · Member

Hi Michele,

Thank you for your response! The dates in Ireland are May 18-31

Good question about the meandering up the coast--we may need to rethink where we overnight. I was looking at driving up N-59 to catch Clifden and Dan O'Hara's Organic Homestead, Croagh Patrick, and the Coffin Ship (my mom also wants to stop in Cong). It looks like we'd then take the N-5 towards Rossnowlagh. Is that too much for one day? I'm treating Rossnowlagh as a sleepover place on the way to Dunfanaghy, but we may need to stay someplace closer.

And getting to Dublin is a bit vexed for me--we're coming full circle from that meandering, which I had planned to start very early in the morning from Galway. That means dropping the car very early at the Dublin airport. Looked at that way, an overnight in Trim seems more attractive!

But really, the main reason we are heading north and not south is I said "Giants Causeway!" and my mom looked it up and said "Absolutely!," so it's breaking my heart to spend only a night in Portrush/Antrim (particularly since we must get a trip to Bushmills in, too).

Would this schedule work better?
Saturday: early car rental, meander up the West Coast (Croagh Patrick, etc.), stay overnight in ?Rossnowlagh?
Sunday-Monday drive up to and stay 2 nights in Dunfanaghy as base in Donegal
Tuesday Portrush
Wednesday: Portrush
Thursday: Belfast
Friday: Trim

It's all so horribly compressed, and my native tendency is to sit in pubs/cafés and soak up ambience, so I'm not the kind of person who typically tries to script every minute and pack in every possible site. I like to just BE--but somewhere else. At the same time, though, for budget reasons and just a sense of direction, I need a basic itinerary. My mom has foisted all planning on my shoulders, because she'll be happy regardless. Arrrgh! Balance, balance, balance.

I humbly await your advice. :)

Michele Erdvig · Host

Thursday,

In May you will have pretty long days so that is a plus. Usually Connemara takes a good portion of the day to drive. Also, consider that you are stopping to see things. That takes time too. It's not like you are just driving past them.

You might want to consider going north to Cong first. Then a slight zig zag would take you to Clifden. Sky Drive is dramatic. I'm sure you will want at least a photo stop at Kylemore Abbey:

Kylemore Abbey Picture (above).

You will want to skip a lot of Co. Mayo from Westport toward Bellmullet. You might find that Sligo would make a better overnight.

Michele

Michele Erdvig · Host

My post got cut off. Let's continue with your itinerary.

Although I usually recommend staying a couple of nights in one location, on the Antrim coast it does not make sense because of backtracking. You might be better off with a night in Portrush and another farther along the coast. Some places to consider:

Cushendall
Glenarm

If you have the time I highly recommend Torr Road:

Torr Road (above)

Did you also want to see Trim Castle? Newgrange is actually closer to Drogheda.

So I think your itinerary will work if you do the two separate days on the Antrim coast.

Michele

Thursday Next · Member

Thank you for all of this help, Michele. You're right, Drogheda is closer. I'd chosen Trim because it was cheaper (budget vigilance that I hope will pay off), but it turns out the Boyne Valley Best Western in Drogheda has a nice senior rate for my mom. Glad I checked, thanks to your prompting, though I really do prefer the mom & pop operations.

So. You're suggesting a drive TO Portrush from Dunfanaghy to overnight, then enjoying the Giant's Causeway and Bushmills for the day, and then driving on to Glenarm or Cushendall--presumably to spend the day in Belfast, overnight there, and move on to Drogheda? And I'm guessing the Torr Road leads to Torr Head?

The new-and-Michele-improved schedule would thus be:
Saturday: early car rental, meander up the West Coast (Croagh Patrick, etc.), stay overnight in Sligo
Sunday-Monday drive up to and stay 2 nights in Dunfanaghy as base in Donegal
Tuesday Portrush
Wednesday: Glenarm/Cushendall
Thursday: Belfast
Friday: Drogheda

Thanks for throwing in tips on what to see and do, too--your Kylemore Abbey photo is magnificent. I'm very where-to-stay obsessed right now. It seems like one can't help but find beauty in Ireland, but of course some places are more beautiful than others.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Thursday,

The D Hotel in Drogheda is also running some good specials. You might check on that.

You could drive from Dunfanaghy to Portrush and see some of the beautiful beaches along the way, Mussenden Estate and Dunluce Castle. The next day you could do Giant's Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, the coast road and Torr Road (& Torr Head) ending the day with an overnight stay in Cushendall or Glenarm. You would then drive to Belfast for your day's sightseeing and spend the night there. Then south for Newgrange and an overnight in Drogheda.

Click on those hyperlinks for Cushendall & Glenarm in my previous message for some places to stay.

Michele

Thursday Next · Member

You rock! Thanks! I'm now going to run everything by my mom. :)

Michele Erdvig · Host

Thursday,

Always happy to help. I hope the advice here helps to make your trip a better one. We would enjoy hearing how it goes upon your return.

Michele