mojo61309

Hello, wise travelers!
Looking for some help with a travel itinerary for a multi-generational family trip to Ireland in May.

Basics-- We are a group of 10 traveling from May 6th to 13th. A couple kids, age 11, some middle aged folks, and two grandparents, age 80. We have a few goals. Some of us are attending Bruce Springsteen concert on the 7th in Dublin, so we have to stay local for that. We have family in Carlow we want to see a bit, and we have a rental in Westport and are eager to do some exploring in that area. We have existing rentals but could tweak it based on suggestions. Our existing reservations include stays from the 6th to 8th in Dublin, then the 8th to 12th in Westport, heading back to Dublin for one night ahead of our travel back to the US.

The challenge now is that the grandparents are staying in Carlow for the weekend, and we are trying to figure out if we shorten our Westport itinerary for one day and spend an overnight south of Dublin to retrieve the grands, spend an extra day with family (we do have the weekend with them in/around Dublin and they plan on touring us around a bit), and hit the road to Westport a day later. We'd hoped the Carlow family would be available upon our return from the west on the 12th, but they aren't.

Does this make sense? If so, is there an area that gets us closer to Carlow but maybe a bit West toward Westport that would be a nice, easy, stay for one overnight. Looking for easy travel to Carlow, maybe a nice village, that doesn't take us too far from our Westport journey the following day? I looked at Kilkenny, but that then puts us further from Westport. Would be open to that if it's the best option.

For additional background-- most of the people on this trip have been to Ireland previously and have done the main tourist sites. Those of us who are new (me, my kids), are totally into hunkering down somewhere and exploring local, less traveled spots. In Westport, we planned drives/exploring around Achill and Connemara, walking around the villages of Westport and Murisk, and just seeing what we can find. We are also hoping to stop in Galway on the way to or from Dublin and somewhere in the middle (Athlone?) on either trip as well. This extra day in between Dublin and Westport is tricky and we don't want to lose too much west time.

Thanks in advance! I'm stumped on this!

coral22

We just were in Ireland last May and visited relatives, such a wonderful experience! It was a great time to go.
My first question would be what is your transportation mode? That is quite a large group. It is a challenge, driving on the left side and very small roads and probably 2 cars, that would slow things down.

Is your entire trip, one week? Do you land in Dublin from the US? If, yes, adjusting your body clock will slow you down.
Is Westport a must do?
Your really don't have much time and very specific dates to work around, I think you will only have time for one other location and Westport is on the other coast. It seems like this is your framework:

May 6-Dublin
May7-Dublin(concert)
May8-uncertain
May9-Westport-3 hour drive-check in 3 pm
May10-Westport-full day
May11-Westport-full day
May12-Dublin-could stop in Galway on the way
May13-flight

We found it took a lot longer than projected to get everywhere and if you have points of interest to stop at, you could spend a lot of your trip in the car. You will also, have meals, bathroom breaks, gas station stops, etc. that is a lot to coordinate.

mojo61309

Thanks! Your framework is correct, and we were planning to drive to Westport on the "unknown" day and use that as the base for the rest of the trip-- a day in Westport/Murisk, a day in Achill, a day in/near Connemara. And Galway somewhere along the way.

We are planning on three cars, which, yes, will be a pain for a bunch of driving. So we were hoping not to get cars until the Monday when we leave Dublin. But this allows the various age groups to split off as necessary by interest. Not ideal, but better than a bunch of tours that we are all committed to.

We still CAN do the original plan-- if we focus our Dublin time on visiting with the Carlow family-- so a day for them to join us in Dublin touring about (likely our first day while we are trying to stay awake and adjust to the time), and the second day get a ride/transport to Carlow to spend with them ahead of the concert.

or

We can take the unknown day and stay in Kilkenny which gives us an extra day between Dublin and the west with family but shortens the rest of our trip.

or

We can also take the unknown day and stop in Athlone, Galway, do the Cliffs of Moher, or something else.

Thanks for helping me sort this!

janisj

OK -- Do you leave home on the 5th and arrive at DUB on the 6th? If so you have a grand total of 6.5 days free on the ground. Since Carlow is a must and Dublin is a must, trying to include several days all the way across the country on the NW coast really doesn't make sense. BTW the drive from Carlow to Westport takes more than 4 hours -- and likely with three cars tag teaming could take significantly longer. Westport > Galway > DUB is also a 4 hour drive plus stops. If it was me - and with a group that size/multiple cars - and with the Dublin/Carlow musts - and with flights in/out of DUB -- I'd simplify, simplify, simplify. Find places you'd be happy exploring in the south and southeast. Cashel, Waterford, Kilkenny, Wicklow etc.

IMO/IME Westport simply doesn't fit with the other musts.

drrummer

I can't really decipher this:
So, what you're saying is that the grandparents will be in Carlow while the rest of you are in Dublin. You then hope to go via Carlow to collect the grandparents, en route to Westport ?

mojo61309

Yes! (Delayed-- never got notification of the reply!)

Meantime-- we have shifted a bit to plan to stay in Galway on the "unknown" day (Monday), which means we could pick up the grands in Carlow, and head either directly to Galway for a day/night, or drive to the Cliffs of Moher for a couple hours, Galway for overnight, and do the Connemara part of our Westport days on the way to Westport.

Saves backtracking.

So this would then be:
Saturday-- Dublin (arriving in the a.m.) and may spend the early part of the day in Malahide with family/then Dublin city
Sunday-- Dublin (concert in evening)--- may try to spend early day/afternoon in Carlow
Monday-- Galway via Carlow and Cliffs (or skip Cliffs)
Tuesday-- Westport via Connemara
Wednesday-- town walking tour, Murisk, chill
Thursday-- Achill
Friday-- back to Dublin via Athlone or Mullingar (depending on visiting extended family)
Saturday-- back to states

Does this work?

janisj

"Yes! (Delayed-- never got notification of the reply!)"

AFAIK one doesn't get notification unless subscribed to that thread

"Dublin (concert in evening)--- may try to spend early day/afternoon in Carlow"

Carlow - If you are staying in central Dublin it is close to a 2 hour drive to Carlow - so 4 hours car time round trip plus visiting time in Carlow - before a concert??

"Monday-- Galway via Carlow and Cliffs (or skip Cliffs)"

Central Dublin > Carlow > the Cliffs > Galway is a 6+ hour drive plus stops. Without the Cliffs of Moher it is still a 4+ hour drive.

mojo61309

Thank you again! Last (I think!) follow up question as we are less than two weeks out.

1. We have dropped the Cliffs-- thank you all for your reality check.
2. Our relatives in Carlow are meeting us in Athlone on Monday to make our travels easier!

Given these two factors, I'm seeking advice on whether to make a one-night stop in Galway on Monday or go right to Westport. Would you drive from Dublin to Galway (stop in Athlone)? We would stay in town in Galway, probably get there late afternoon, and head out late morning the next day. We would then head toward Westport with a stop in Leenane for a boat tour. We're not backtracking, and folks have expressed interest in Galway. But it's a short stop.

Or do we go to Westport, settle in, and then do the Leenane tour leaving from Westport the next day.

Arghh. Thank you so much!