markpy

I'll be travelling to UK in June/July and would appreciate any recommendations. I have 14 nights for visit to UK, flying into Dublin and returning home from London. Likely 2-3 nights Dublin, 3 nights Edinburgh, 3 nights London; will fly into Edinburgh from Shannon (or Cork airport is another possibility). So my question is which 2 cities to stay in Ireland (besides Dublin) for a total of 5 nights to get the most from the Ireland trip? Love hiking, sightseeing, anything outdoors. Prefer cities in which I can walk to restaurant for dinner.
Thanks

Macross

Cork and Galway or go north to Belfast. Westport is lovely with great dining.

PalenQ

Galway is near the Connemara - great area for a day of walking. Trains go there from Dublin and Galway is a neat university city with all you'll want - lots of neat pubs of course, some with traditional Irish folk music. Also not far from Shannon Airport.

Rent a car and drive to Galway and explore the rugged West Coast including not far from Galway besides the Connemara - the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren - research those cool coastal areas. Drive to Shannon to fly out.

markpy

Thanks for those suggestions. So if I stay in Galway for 3 nights and use it as a base, I'd still like 1 additional destination for 3 nights as a base to do daytrips to Southern coast and maybe Cork. Or stay in Cork and do daytrips from there, but I think getting in and out of Cork will be a hassle with the car. Any suggestions for a smaller size town, close enough to visit Cork as a daytrip?

Macross

I have been looking at Midleton as a base. I love Jameson so want to tour there. Train will go into Cork and Cobh so you don't have to drive there. I want to go to Balleymaloe cafe and cooking school plus Ballycotton is a beautiful coastal spot nearby. Just low stress days but very historical and scenic. Seafood will be great.
Some of my relatives left from Cobn but never explored the catherdral last visit and want to do that.

SeeDee

Not quite sure about the mathematics here; are you now thinking 3 nights each in Dublin, Galway and a third destination?
A couple of nights in Dublin is a good start in any case, without the encumbrance of a car.
Cork city is a great place to overnight in and it's an easy motorway drive from Dublin; stay in a central hotel with a car park like the Clayton or the River Lee and explore the city on foot.
While Cork city is the administrative centre of the county of Cork, it's main attractions lie in the amazing scenery of West Cork, which lie just a litlle too far away for exploring on day trips. Close to the city itself you have Blarney Castle, Kinsale and Cobh with its permanent Titanic exhibition - doable in a single day.
So perhaps after two nights in the city, you might consider moving on and seeing some of the great outdoors that the southwestern corner of Ireland has to offer - maybe basing yourself for two nights in either Kenmare or Killarney.
With a plane to catch in Shannon, you have either a single night left (try Ennis and explore Country Clare's attractions) or two nights - stay in Galway and explore either Connemara by car or fly/ferry over for a day on the Aran Islands.

markpy

Thanks so much for your recommendations on this.