ireland 8 days
 

My husband and I will be in Ireland for 8days, 9nights, in Sept and I was wondering if this itinerary was durable: Dublin Thurs night and all day Friday, on Saturday rent car by the airport and drive to Newgrange, then on to Galaway,spending Sataurday night in Galaway. Sunday drive the 200miles around Connemara and Mayo Loop Trip, spending Sunday night back in Galaway. Monday drive to County Clare and see the Burren, Cliffs of Moher and possibly stay in Lahinch, which is suppose to be a golfing/surfing area and spend the night there, possibly 2 nights so my husband can golf on Tuesday. Then on Wed drive to Rock of Cashel and see that area and maybe an abbey or 2. We have to be back in Dublin on Friday for an early flight out Saturday morning so want to stay near the airport. Wondering if we should spend a night up in the Connemara and Mayo Loop area instead of rushing back to Galaway that Sunday and we have one more day/night after the Rock of Cashel (Thursday) before we have to be back in Dublin Friday so any recomendation of maybe staying longer in one of the above areas? We don't want to spend hours driving, would rather see less area and meet more locals.....any help would be appreciated;.

If you are over during Cifden Arts week then Spend a couple of nights there for Connemara and south Mayo (I am).

Watch this space
http://clifdenartsweek.ie/
overview.
http://www.discoverireland.com/us/ir.../?fid=FI_14919

For your final night, I would recommend staying at a B&B in Malahide. You'll be close to the airport (about a 15 minute drive, but be sure to have directions in hand) and you can spend your last evening in Ireland walking through the grounds of Malahide Castle or along the seacoast. There are lots of B&B and restaurant choices. We've done this on each of our two visits to Ireland and enjoyed it very much.

Are you flying to and from the states? If so give yourself 2-3 hours to get to your early am flight from Dublin. There is a Hilton there at the airport with decent rates and transport to the airport if you decided to return your car on Friday. The B&B at Malahide would be nice also. I think 200 miles is a lot for one day if you plan on stopping and seeing things on the Mayo loop. Galway is a good base but Clifton is beautiful. Make sure your husband gets a golf reservation for Lahinch. Doolin and Lahinch are my two fav west coast places. Very nice. Check out the Lahinch surf shop.

I think the Cilifden art week is before we get there, I'll have to check it out. I think we will stay in Clifton, I was leaning towards a night some where other than Galaway anyway. I will let bob know to get a golf reservation. He's also an old surfer so we'll diffidently check out the surf shop! I am getting so excited since reading your 3 posts. Thanks so much for the info. I read about malahide so that sounds great too. We will want to return our car on Friday so do they have taxis from there to the airport? We are flying to Amsterdam next to do a bike/barge trip with 8 other friends. All meeting in Amsterdam. How early should we be at the airport? Hoping to do just carry on. Any other info would be appreciated. Thanks!

Westport is also a lovely town in Mayo and recently voted the most liveable in Ireland it has some nice pubs and restaurants and lovely Westport House you can visit. The Westport Hotel and The Saga restaurant are very nice. Make sure to also visit Kylemore Abbey in the Connemara. You have had lots of good suggestions but if you leave really early from the airport. The Clarion is a good Hotel at the airport, reasonably priced and a 5 min walk from your airport terminal.

I'd also suggest Belfast. It really is an awesome city. While your up there, you should also check out the giant's causeway. great stuff. If you do go to Belfast, I suggest you check out the Falls Road and the Shankill. For more info on the Shankill, I would go to this site: http://www.shankillwelcomesyou.co.uk