elly_185

Hello Irish folks,

After much debate and constant going back and forth of how to spend our 5 days in Ireland, we came up with 2 choices of itinerary...please let us know which makes more sense.

Choice #1

Day 1..arrive in Dublin, pick up our rental car and head straight to Cabra Castle where we already made reservations to stay for one night.

Day 2...Depart in the morning to Cliffs of Moher, either stay in Doolin for the night (we're both musicians I figured it makes sense since it's a musical town?) or head to Galway and sleep there.

Day 3..Hang out in Galway and later leave back to Dublin

Day 4 & 5..Dublin!


Choice #2

Day 1..Cabra Castle

Day 2. Cliffs of Moher, sleep in Doolin

Day 3. Drive to Dromoland Castle followed by Kilkenny, sleep in Kilkenny

Day 4..Back to Dublin and stay there till we leave.

What do you think??

Thanks Guys!

Elina

tailsock

5 days is not much time. you will be losing nearly half a day each time you relocate and could experience jetlag on the first day or so. How about staying in Dublin and simply taking day trips to other parts of Ireland if you want to see that much? you will basically only have 24 hours in one place and that's Dublin

elly_185

Actually, we're going to be already accustomed to change cause we're flying from London. I just wanted to see the west a little..my friend told me that from Dublin to Cliffs of Moher is around 2.5 hours if you take the M6 straight, is that accurate? From Doolin to galway is about and hour.5..so I figured it's not too bad on the driving right?

Tony2phones

If you are flying in from London why not fly into the west rather than Dublin? probably too late now. Why Cabra Castle? that's heading North from Dublin into Cavan, nice place but a heck of a detour?
Given that starting point I might be tempted to head for Sligo and work down to Galway via Westport and the Connemara before heading back over the M6 to Dublin.

Doolin has music like Kinsale has food and Dingle has a Dolphin gives them creditability and a few pages in the guide books.

Galway to Dublin is 2 1/2 hours, Cabra Castle to Doolin could be closer to 4 hours for a non native.

What are the dates of your visit, it could be you could find some native music or a festival if that's your area of interest.

elly_185

Thanks Tony,

We're flying into Dublin (already booked) on July 4th. So you think Cliffs of Moher too much? I know Cabra Castle is out of the way, but it was the most affordable I found for a "Castle hotel" for us. Than what about heading to Galway from Cabra Castle and the next day to Kilkenny and back to Dublin? I'll check out Kinsale. Thank you!

Tony2phones

No don't check out Kinsale that's way too far and was me having a snipe at Tourism Ireland who bull up a select few locations way beyond their worth.

The Cliffs of Moher actually fall into the same category of tourist trap. Worth seeing but best seen from the sea looking up, which is a genuine reason to visit Doolin which boasts a grand total of 4 bars which have paid, imported for tourists musicians and get packed beyond comfort levels high season. My general comment being well worth a look but not a place I personally would spend an evening. Clare and Galway offer a huge selection of music bars without being packed like sardines and locals springing up musically.

Spiddal is the place to be on the 5th with the Trad Picnic going on just 10 miles west from Galway and a whole lot better spot to be than Doolin http://tradpicnic.com/

It's a pity you are dashing back to Dublin as the Willie Clancy Summer Schools in Miltown Malbay start up on the 6th http://www.willieclancyfestival.com/ The villages around will be overflowing with musicians. Any chance you can fly out of Shannon?