Labattlovr

We will be in Ireland in Sept. I have my trip all planned except for a couple of days at the end (last night in Ennis). I'm thinking that if at the beginning of our trip when we're at the Cliffs of Moher if we don't get to do the combo tour of the island/cliffs that we may want to go back. If we don't want to go back or if the weather is cooperated with us I was thinking we may want to go up to Connemara and wander around that area. Checking the AA Routeplanner it gives me a time of approx. 4:30 hours. Do you think that's accurate? Is Clifden a good town to stay in?

janisj

I'd give a good 5.5 hours . . . w/o stops. Five hours if you are very lucky

amer_can

Clifden is a lovely little town..and 5 and 1/2 sounds about right..

Padraig

Are you thinking of driving from Kinsale to Clifden to stay for one night, and then doubling back to Ennis for the next night? That doesn't give you much opportunity to wander around Connemara.

Labattlovr

Padraig - we'll have 2 days to wander so a little time. Do you think it would be worth the 5.5 hours?

Padraig

I'm a great enthusiast for Connemara - Herself and I are actually heading off tomorrow for one of our frequent renewal-of-the-soul visits.

Our personal choice is not to base at the far end of the region. It adds travelling time both going and coming. This time we are planning to stay on the west side of Galway City and to do rambling from there.

This is an old thread, but Connemara is immutable: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ra-weekend.cfm

Labattlovr

Nice trip report Padraig! It sounds like an interesting area.
I don't know about staying in a city. We like smaller towns. Would Oughterard be a good place to stay? Thanks for your advice! I hope you have a nice trip!

Padraig

I think Oughterard is a good gateway location. It's a small town, a little bit touristy (but less so than Clifden). I'm not up-to-date on restaurant options, but for a night or two you should find sufficient variety. Some nice pubs.

Cowboy1968

Your actual time to drive will also depend on whether you can avoid the rush hours in Cork city and Galway city.
If you can leave Kinsale around 7am it should be okay. Otherwise the ring roads will be very crowded.
If you can't or won't start that early: The somewhat odd routing that Google maps gives you via the small (Blarney) Road that by-passes Cork city centre is a good one IF you have GPS in your rental car to find it.
Once you got out of Cork city, N20 towards Limerick is a fairly decent road to drive the max speed of 100kph as some stretches have 3 lanes and most have widened 2 lanes to facilitate overtaking of slow moving vehicle.
Adare to Limerick to Gort is on not congested 4 lane motorways so the Google maps time is fairly correct.
Galway city would be your 2nd and final bottleneck. If you started in Kinsale at 7am, you should easily be able to avoid the afternoon rush hour.
Typical snack or snack breaks along the route could be Adare (5km detour) or Bunratty (no detour) or Gort (also no detour).

Padraig

Leaving accommodation at 7 am while on holidays. How very Teutonic!

It reminds me of the couple we met staying in a house at Slea Head last year. They enthused about ther day at the Dingle Food Fair. I asked if they had found parking difficult, and the reply was "We were the first people in the car-park; we are Germans."

Cowboy1968

LOL.. I did not say that I would like to get up that early.
But from my experience, Americans often seem to be very early risers.. even on holidays.. ya know.. maximizing travel time and such..

Labattlovr

Thanks for the info Cowboy! You're right about us being early risers! I'm always happy when I sleep in until 7:30! We could probably leave that early.
We probably won't get a gps. My husband doesn't believe in them . We have a Collins map and hopefully will find our way!

Cowboy1968

Thinking about it again it might be best if you double-checked best departure time with your hosts in Kinsale. The hotelier or B&B landlord should have a more precise knowledge when Cork city street gets crowded in the morning commute.

It will be no problem to drive on the main roads without GPS.
Again, ask your hosts about the best route. But I'd guess it will be better to go straight N from Kinsale towards the Western Ring Rd of Cork rather than take R600 along the airport as the roundabout at the Southern Ring Rd tends to become a parking lot in the rush hour with major backlogs from the airport.

Padraig

We are home again after our short break in Connemara. We made a point of stopping in Oughterard to see how things are there. They have changed a bit over the years. The tourist offering used to be a model of hotels and restaurants, with pubs for drinking, socialising, and music, and where B&Bs were largely supplementary accommodation. Now it's dominantly B&Bs, and most of the dining options are pub food (some of it a bit pricey, but you find that in Clifden as well).

We stayed out of the pubs (it was the afternoon, and I was driving) and took our afternoon beverages at a newly-opened café/restaurant named "The Connemara Greenway". The quality of the coffee and the enthusiasm of Johnnie, the proprietor, combine to persuade me that it is a good addition to the town, and merits a visit.

And what I said before about Oughterard being a good gateway location still stands.

Labattlovr

Thanks for all the info Padraig & Cowboy! I have added a trip to Connemara to my plans!

latedaytraveler

PADRAIG,

That was an excellent report on Connemara - brought back many memories of traveling there with my cousin some years back. We stayed at the Abbeyglen "Castle" which was lovely.

LABATTLOVR,

If you do get to Cliften, take a ride out on the SKY ROAD overlooking the ocean - great views. As you look down, you will see the remains of an old castle, quite intact, in a large meadow facing the sea with no other dwellings around it. Really beautiful.

Labattlovr

sounds nice LDT!