Galway, Connemara question
 

Near the end of our 2 weeks in Ireland (first trip), we'll have 3 nights for Galway and the Connemara before heading back to Shannon for departure.

Any thoughts/advise on whether we should base in one spot or overnight in 3 different towns throughout the area? We tend to avoid one-nighters as they're not very relaxing for us but we also want to make the most of those 3 days.

Also, can anyone tell me how much daylight we'll likely have during the first week of September? One guidebook said 6 hours and we're hoping that isn't correct!

thanks!

average daylight in sept is 11 hours. Galway City and County has many brilliant hotels - look at town Oranmore (Quality Hotel).

Personally, I like to spend my last night near the airport, and Bunrattty has tons of B&Bs for just that purpose! Otherwise, I'd stay in Galway for the other two nights. But of course, you could spend a night in Doolin if you're into music, and it's a weekend~but there isn't much else there to see...

Here's a link to a site that shows sunrise and sunset in all of UK:
onlineweather.com/v4/uk/sun/index.html
Also, I'd spend two nights in Clifden and use it as a base in Connemara. I agree--depending on your departure flight time, probably last night near Shannon (I'm going to stay in Ennis this next trip). Just so you don't have that 3 plus hour drive when you're leaving. I don't know your age, price range, etc., but I love Abbeyglen Castle in Clifden and am going back this fall. Convenient location, nice rooms and terrific food. Website is Abbeyglen.ie.

I agree with Holldoll. Base yourself IN Connemara. Clifden is a great base for exploring the entire region and there are dozens of B&Bs, Guest Houses and hotels in the area. If you feel like spluging, stay in Ballynahinch castle. Beleive it or not, there are several excellent restaurants around Clifden. High Moors was one of our favorites, but we were not there last year, so I hope it is still as good. There is another great restaurant/hotel also. I'll find the name and get back to you.

We have holidayed in Connemara for four years now and always go in September. Its a perfect time to go - no crowds, yet the weather is not too bad. You'll find there will be a mix of sunny and rainy days (none too awful to prevent you touring). 6 hours of daylight??? That's odd. Don't forget, Ireland has a very long twilight. We were usually out by 9 and back to the lodging by 6pm and there was plenty of light.

The drive to Shannon from Clifden is probably about 2-2.5 hours, but watch out for roadworks. Personally, I don't like to be rushed on the day of a flight, so Ennis is a good choice.

If you can possibly spend MORE than three days in the area, do so. You will not regret it :)

regards Ger

Tennischick:

I wrote this on an ealier thread regarding places to stay in Connemara:

If you decide to go to Clifden, then I have two recommendations for accommodations. Both are in the expensive category.

The first is Ballynahinch Castle. I have stayed in the grounds of the house three times (a converted fort where the Queen Grainne O'Maoile garrisoned her troops). Some of the photos I sent you are of the wonderful gardens.
http://www.ballynahinch-castle.com/

The saecond is Lough Inagh Lodge just outside a village called Recess. We dined there one evening last September and the food was excellent:
http://www.loughinaghlodgehotel.ie

Obviously, there are plenty of cheaper places, but these two are very special.

There are wonderful driving tours in the area, both inland and along the coast. If you decide to go, I can send you some instructions.

regards Ger

P.S. I would not spend any more than a couple of hours in Galway, there is too mcuh to see in Connemara. It is breathtaking!

Thank you for this information!

I wasn't clear in my orginal post. We have 3 nights in that area before heading to Ennis for our last night. I too like to be in close proximity to the airport.

On the daylight hours, I am so relieved!! I had hoped the tour book was wrong. Thank you for the info and the website.

And your replies confirm my hunch to stay in the Connemara region instead of Galway. I will explore all your suggestions and find a place. I've been drawn to that area through the guide books & internet so you all really confirmed my hunch.

Thanks so much! And if you have more ideas, please post! You all are so helpful, especially to those of us planning a first trip to Ireland!

Tennischick:

I adore this region. I am certain you will love it. If you send me a note to my id ([email protected]) I'll send you a link to my photos. Let me know if you want an outline of some driving tours. Driving is a great pleasure in Connemara in September, as there is little traffic. You can drive for 2 or 3 hours, only meeting the odd car.

Driving though Connemara, is akin to being stranded on a strange, beautiful yet desolate planet. This is the most sparsely populated area in Western Europe and the colours and texture of the landscape are completely unique. When the sun shines and the air is warm, and the clouds gather, in changing shades of white, cream, pink and gray, in an endless sky of cerulean blue, sometimes, the beauty of it is too much to bear. :)

Regards Ger

September '02: I was playing golf at Carne Golf links, Belmullet, County Mayo and the temperature was 72F (22C) degrees. I wished I had brought some shorts. September is my favorite month to visit Ireland: it doesn't rain very much and temperatures are pretty mild.

Your guidebook is wrong about the hours of daylight in September: before the equinox (21 Sep) you can expect about 11-hours of daylight.

I have a pix of an Cheibh GuestHouse on my http://groups.msn.com/gate5 It's just west of Spiddal where the road curves toward the Ross a'Veal to Aran Islands ferry.

Dear Tennischick, Oh, stay those three nights in Connemara. I was there for 2 wks. Oct.2003 and could have stayed a month. The scenery & people are wonderful. That's true for most of Ireland but I found Connemara so special. We stayed: Mal Dua Guest House Very comfortable with good meals, about a mile before Clifden. Station House Hotel right in Clifden. Comfortable, about like a nice Holiday Inn. Erriseask House Hotel close to Ballyconneely is a little rustic but comfortable with great food and views over fields. A small B&B I peeked in, in Clifden is Bali Lodge(balilodge-clifden.com) Owned by one the Joyce's. The real treat of the trip was Ballynahinch Castle Hotel. Just wonderful walks, cozy fire, comfortable beds and great food. You can find all of these places except for Balilodge on the Irelandhotels.com or go to Karen Browns' web site and review some of them. I haven't gone too wrong with her. I have to say, I've never gone wrong with this web site. Have a grand trip!! Joan C.

Thank you all! The more I read of your Connemara experiences, the more convinced I am that we should spend all 3 nights there. I'm very drawn to Clifden area as our base.

Joan C - I have Karen Brown's guidebook too and I thank you for confirmiing her choices as well as your recommendations and observations.

NedsIreland: I have received great advice from your previous posts on this forum and it's been a great help in planning this trip. I look forward to your pictures. Thank you!

Ger: I will email you shortly for your link. And I would love your advise on driving tours in the region. Thank you for both offers! You make Connemara sound so wonderful!

HollDoll: you've offered some wonderful advice on this forum too and I've used a lot of it for this trip! Thank you for all your posts!

Now I can't wait to get to the Connemara! It sounds so special. If you have more information to share, please do. Again, thank you!!

A favorite Connemara drive of mine is from Clifden to Leenane, passing Kylemore Abbey on the way. I LOVE Leenane and the area around Killary Harbor is gorgeous. Then, be sure to drive from Leenane to Louisburgh via the Doolough Valley. It's an area you won't forget.

If you wish to have a special treat I would recommend that you go for dinner to Ashford Castle in Cong.By all means stay in the hotel itself if the cost does not put you off.Recently Ashford decided to accept that non-residents could have dinner there if space was available.Expect to pay $75 plus wine but it is a special place.Wander around the grounds for a while first-they are beautiful.See details in www.ashford.ie

I concur on the Cong trip and Ashford Castle (site of The Quiet Man)...take the drive to Leenane as suggested and if you can go further, Westport is an awesome place. There's a castle there too with a nice park. There's a lovely B&B near the train station...Maire and Declan are the owners. I stayed there and it was lovely. Now if I can only remember the name of the place???

Great pubs if you like Irish music, including Matt Molloy's of the Chieftans.

Tennischick:

I got your e-mail and will send you the link to the photos now and the driving tours tomorrow.

MaryZ: They are MY two favorite drives also. Last Spetember, we stayed in a cottage 5 mins drive from Leenane. It was so blissfully quiet. Each morning, we'd do the 30 minute walk to the village for the papers and after dinner each night, we took a 45 minute walk up the booreen. We slept 10 hours every night!

Ger

Ger, we've stayed in Leenane, too. It really is one of my favorite places on earth.

From all your posts of your Connemara experiences, I'm beginning to realize that 3 days is not near enough!

Tomorrow I hope to begin looking into all our suggestions on places to stay and dine. They all sound so tempting.

Question: do we need dinner reservations at these places? Ardfert suggested Ashford Castle for dinner which sounds wonderful and I expect reservations are needed there. Should we plan to reserve for dinner eslewhere or just stumble on to places?

Also, we hope to experience the pubs in the region and welcome your suggestions.

And while we're not huge shoppers, I love unique shops and would love to hear your suggestions.

You all have me so excited about this part of the trip! And Ger, looking forward to your routes! Thanks everyone!

Tennischick:

I have sent you a few driving tours. These are the main ones. There are lots of tiny roads you can explore, and I would encourage you to do so. Don't worry, you can't get lost in Connemara; the worst that will happen is you end up in someone's farm yard.

I have entered the itineraries into ViaMichelin.com and then copied and past to the Word file, so you can follow the routes. Please ignore the driving times they quote. To do each one justice, you should allocate a whole day, using any extra time you do the extra activities around Clifden.. Don?t rush it, get out of the car often and just enjoy the air and talk to the Connemara ponies and the donkeys (BTW, they are incredibly friendly and clever; as soon as you stop the car and approach the gate, they will rush to the gate for "treats". I always bring a bag of carrots on my drives!). The main roads are very good and even the minor roads are in excellent repair.

I have also included recommendations for restaurants (I have eaten at them all over the past three years and can recommend them) and accommodations (we always stay for 1-2 weeks and therefore rent houses). You can find incredibly good food here, as it is all so fresh. Eat fish until you grow gills and scales - you will never have fresher.

There is one restaurant that I have not mentioned, as I can't remember the name, but will find it out it you are interested. It is a small house, not far from Clifden, and has about four tables. The food is simple, cheap and really good. There is usually a choice of two of each starters, main course and desert. The wine list has about 3 reds and 3 whites. It?s a husband and wife team, she does the cooking, he does the serving. Eccentric :) absolutely, even more so because they are a middle-aged FRENCH couple. They hiked around Connemara in the 60s, when they were in their early twenties, and decided that this was where they wanted to retire to. They returned to France, married, had jobs, brought up a family and then sold up everything to buy this house and open a small restaurant in Connemara, to fulfill a lifelong dream. He spends his days fishing, and if you are lucky he is successful and there is fish on the menu that night. The locals adore them , because they think they are completely off the edge to move from France, where one is guaranteed sunshine on a regular basis, to a barren, desolate rock where seven consecutive days of sunshine constitutes a miracle (2003 excepted).

Regards Ger

Ger- the eccentric restaurant run by the French couple sounds delightful and just the type of place we love to stumble upon. So if you can find the name, we're very interested.

Of the drives you provided, we will definitely do #1 as Kylmore Abbey is high on our list and Leenane sounds lovely. It's going to hard to narrow down the others since we only have 3 days. And thanks for the tip about the carrots!

Tennischick:

Yes, I agree that Drive One is important and the first you should do. The Kylemore gardens are excellent, and allow 90 minutes. Leenane is a hamlet, that will take you less than 20 minutes to explore, unless you decide to do walks along the Fjord. Really, there is nothing to see in the village. There is a "craft center", but I don't think it is worth a visit.

Drive Three A: From Clifden to Glinsk, via Roundstone should be your next priority. You can cut it short at Roundstone, but you must see this area.

You should also see the grounds of Ballynahinch Castle.

regards Ger