My mom and I are going to Ireland for the first time in October flying in an out of Dublin. We will be there for only 8 days and 8 nights. Our must do's are; Belfast (I have a friend living in Belfast), Armagh (family there) and Galway. We are renting a car, but I have no idea if my itinerary is feasabile in such a short time frame.

1.Arive in Dublin 8:00am, drive to Belfast.
Stay 2 nights in Belfast, one of the days drive to Aramagh to visit family.
2.Belfast to Londonderry, stay one night.
3.Londonderry to Westport, stay two nights.
4.Westport to Galway, stay one night
5.Galway to Dublin airport to drop off car, take a bus into Dublin, stay two nights.

I would appreciate any suggestions on what we should see and what we can skip with this route as well.

Thank you!

Hi Scarlet37,

The only long day of travel you have is Derry - Westport (start off early as it will be dark by 5pm in October).

Unfortunatly you are backtracking by going to Belfast directly from Dublin as you pass Co Armagh on your way (are your relatives in Armagh City or Co Armagh?). However the road from the airport to Belfast is good and should take about 1.5hours to south Belfast(where are you staying in Belfast?)

Do you have a special reason for visiting Derry? If not I would either visit the North Antrim coast or go straight to Westport via Enniskillen and the Fermanagh Lakes. Derry is a place you either love or hate (I am of the latter opinion) and with such a short time there are IMO nicer places to visit in Ireland.

One last comment, most people today refer to Londonderry as Derry (protestants and catholics manly because L'derry is such a mouthful!) The exception is the city and Co itself where the distinction is still often made. I say this as some people can be touchy about the name.

I am going yo Connemara in October and it is a nice time to visit there so do include it when in Westport and Galway.

Hope this helps

Helen

When my wife and I were in Northern Ireland a few years ago, we visited Belfast, Derry and Antrim Coast.

In Belfast we liked the Ulster Museum and Botanic Gardens.

One day we went on a trip to Antrim Coast, and we liked that very much. We walked on Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, linking two cliffs, ocean waves smashing against the rocks below us, the bridge swaying with us on a fairly windy day.

That was a beautiful place, wild nature all around, and the sound of the ocean waves breaking somewhere down below us, at the bottom of the so high cliffs.

Then it was Giant's Causeway, a beautiful feat of nature, octagonal columns raising up gradually from the water, up on the coast. Stunning views from the high hills over the unending ocean, far, far in the distance.

Before we returned we stopped at Bushmills Distillery. We took a tour and volunteered for whiskey tasting. We had 8 sorts of regular whiskey to taste, capped up in the end with a double shot of a 12 years old Bushmills.

But only the volunteers got to have that. The rest of the crowd got only one (little, tiny, bitsy, bitty, smallie, droplet) shot.

In Derry we walked on the city walls, walked through the old town, all interesting, then saw a few murals, the Bloody Sunday monument and the Tower Museum, presenting the local history. I thought that that was a good museum.

If I had to choose between Londonderry and Antrim Coast, I would choose Antrim Coast.

Thank you so much for your responses.
Any thoughts on Hotels for the Antrim Coast, Belfast or Westport?

I'm a little worried about the driving distance between the Antrim Coast and Westport, do you know how long it will take me? I would like to see Derry for the history, it was suggested by some friends of mine to stay there.

Thank you so much for your help!

You could always stay in Donegal vs. Westport. BTW Galways is nice but quite a distance from the rest of the sites your seeing. Were it me I would concentrate on Belfast, Antrim Coast, Donegal and maybe Enniskillen. If you would like to see some very good music in a great setting try going to Killyleagh (worth a trip from Belfast an easily my favorite town in Ireland that we visited) Music is Saturday afternoons. Killyleagh is a picturesque little town with a castle that sits watching over it. (Think Donegal before anyone found it!

Hi Scarlet,

The drive from Derry to Westport will be about 5 hours from the Co Antrim coast it will be much longer.

Where does your friend live in Belfast and what is your budget?