mjwheel

I'm heading to Galway in late September with two other people. We'll be in the area from Saturday afternoon to Tuesday and we'll have a car.

My question is regarding how many nights we should stay in Galway.

GALWAY
We'd like to spend some time getting to know the city. (Don't want to cram too many activities into our short visit here.) The plan is to relax at a few pubs, walk around, maybe take in a tour or two.

DOOLIN/CLIFFS OF MOHER
We'd also like to drive down to Doolin. Sounds kind of touristy but so many people have told me about it, I kind of want to see for myself.

Sounds like there are a few towns along the way that are worth seeing -- Kinvara, Ballyvaughnan, Lisdoonvarna.

Cliffs of Moher are a definite stop and perhaps Lahinch, time permitting.

ITINERARY
Currently, the plan is:

Sat: Arrive in Galway 1pm, hang out, tour?, stay overnight

Sun: Breakfast, check out Salthill, head south with stops in a few towns, hit Cliffs around 3 or 4, Doolin around 6, overnight in Doolin

Monday: To be determined. Dingle would be nice if we had time. Have a 2pm flight out of Shannon on Tuesday though. Would hate to spend half the day Monday driving. Half the day Tuesday driving back.

QUESTIONS
Should we stay both Sat and Sun in Galway and do the Doolin overnight on Monday?

Will the pubs in Doolin be lively on a Monday night?

If I stick with my current plan (1 night Galway, 1 night Doolin), can you recommend another place, convenient to Shannon airport, that we should check out/spend our Monday night?

fyi- the above 3 days is the last leg of a longer ireland itinerary. the 3 days is not our whole trip. also, the 3 of us are in our 30s, enjoy trad music, beer and chatting with locals.

Thanks in advance for your help.