Jayro

I’ll get this out of the way first. From reading many other threads on this site, I’ve gathered that stating some basic info about yourself obviously helps those who are trying to answer your posted questions. So here it goes… My husband and I are in our mid-30s and this will be our second trip to Ireland. We rented a car last time and drove from Dublin through the Slieve Bloom Mountains, and all the way to Co.Clare(Doolin) in one long day. For the remainder of our trip, we based our destinations on the most promising weather reports, which took us south-southwest (Kilkenny, Cork, Kinsale). For our up-coming trip, we’d like to actually plan a few things and not be so free-form...“plan-as-you-go” about everything.

I emphasized the driving aspect because I have a driving question. I hope someone can help. Has anyone ever driven from the Connemara Region up into Co. Donegal?

I found some websites that help plan routes and drive times. However, I’m wondering what a good rule of thumb would be in adding “real life minutes” to their estimated drive times.

Also, which is the best driving route, inland or coastal? How long should we realistically allow if we were to choose the more scenic coastal route traveling from the Connemara region up into Co. Donegal? I imagine that we would want to stop for a meal, but we wouldn’t want to make excessive stops along the way. We definitely want to avoid driving at night. We drove all the way from Dublin to Doolin on our last trip. Racing to narrowly escape nightfall was not much fun.

p.s. I have only posted one time before and the advice I received was so helpful. Thanks once again for all of your thoughtful answers.

- Jayro

Itallian_Chauffer

Rough rule of thumb for a tourist (not a native) driver is between 30 and 35 Miles per hour as an average.

www.aaroadwatch.ie
or
www.viamichelin.com

are BOTH pretty good about routes and distances, but their drive TIMES assume that you have grown up driving on THOSE roads, in THOSE cars.

Divide the route miles by 30-35 and you won't be too far off. Prolonged stops (to sitesee or have a meal) AREN'T included, of course.

Bob

12perfectdays

8 out of 10 times (particularly in the west) 30mph average was very realistic and the few times we were early...all the better.

aaroadwatch was great and there was no way I (the navigator) would have been able to figure it all out without it as they tell you what to take at each roundabout and what it will be signposted as!

Dawn

jefe

We did Clifden to Donegal in 2004. www.aaroadwatch.ie says about 3.5 hours, which might be a bit optimistic. However, we took time near Sligo to do some exploring at the Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery.

My notes and EXIF timestamps from photos taken that day indicate that it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 hours and change before we hit Donegal.

The route we followed was not the coastal route - doing that through county Mayo alone would probably take you the better part of a day or more just to reach Sligo from Westport. Our route from Clifden to Donegal was N59/N5/N17/N4/N15. Some semi-coastal, but none of it a dull drive by any means.

Holldoll

We drove from Clifden to Killybegs in a day. Left Clifden around 9, took the N59 to Leenane, then the scenic route from Leenane to Louisburgh (through Doo Lough lake area) which added lots of time. Then back to the main roads (can't recall the numbers). We definitely toddled along--no rush. Stopped somewhere for lunch and were in Killybegs late afternoon. And believe me, we were driving quite slowly. It was a very nice day actually. Taking that route from Leenane to Louisburgh, the area of the great famine walk, was a highlight not to be missed if you have the time.