I'm finalizing the details of our one week Ireland trip, and would love some feedback. I'm worried that we might be doing too much driving, which neither of us finds relaxing. We would fly into Shannon, rent the car, head to Galway night one, then Clifden for maybe three nights(so we could see the Connemara area, then drive back down to ? and end up in Killarney for a night or two to see the Southwest tourist spots - Ring of Kerry, Dingle area. Where shall we stop after we leave Clifden...a nice little town with pubs and walking around things to do...suggestions? Remember we will be heading back south, and departing on Sunday morning from Cork...love to hear what some have done. Thank you again!!!!

Ennis is a great base for a night (or week+) north of the Shannon http://www.visitennis.com/
For the area around Clifden some points on this map and included link might be of interest http://goo.gl/maps/L5ihu

T2p - would you prefer Ennis to Limerick for one night?

Tony can answer for Tony, but I can confidently say that a large majority of the people who know both Ennis and Limerick would prefer Ennis.

The general cut is Ennis or Kilkee (level but on the coast), Limerick or Adare.
Ennis is a compact non tourist focused working town with a full infrastructure of bars, restaurants compact choice of accommodation.
Kilkee or basically anywhere under and Including Ennistymon if you aim to see south west Clare and Loop Head then cross the Shannon Ferry rather than Tunnel.
Bunratty if its your last night before an early flight or doing the "Banquet". 9pm bedtime because there is nothing there,
Limerick city break lots of options but doesn't have the same welcoming,"Irish" feel for me.
Adare, chocolate box, biscuit tin cute Cotswold UK Thatch cottage village, catering mainly to US tourists using Adare Manor, nothing wrong with that but hyped prices. We use the Woodlands when staying there.

Ennis, Clifden and Killarney for different reasons come high on my favourite places list, but its not my holiday.

Thank you Tony! You can't believe how helpful you have been in helping me plan for this trip!!! Kudos to you! This is my friend's first time to Europe and she is the driver...ha ha. So, we should have lots of laughs. As I said before, we want to meet Irish people, listen to Irish music, see the natural scenery and eat the food...I'm especially interested in the bakery items...so, anything else you can think of, it is truly appreciated.

You could do a lot worse than try Walsh's whilst in Clifden http://walshsbakery.com/ Then If you opt for Ennis you are really spoiled for choice. O'Connor's have a chain of 5 shops between Limerick and Galway. But Carries Cakes on Salthouse should be on your list.http://www.carriescakesbakery.com/