My husband and I are traveling to Ireland at the end of August for our 20th anniversary. We only have 8 days and a limited budget. Here is our itinerary (based on lots of Fodors Forum Reviews). We would welcome any comments, suggestions you may have to offer.
Day 1 - Arrive Shannon, bus to Limerick (stay one night at Clarion); rent car
Day 2 & 3 - Drive to Dingle for two nights. Take Ferry from Tralee to Doolin
Day 4 - Spend night in Doolin
Day 4 & 5 - Drive to Galway, spend 2 nights in Galway
Day 6 - Drive to Athlone, spend 1 night
Day 7 - Drive to Dublin, return car, spend night
Day 8 - Fly to London for 2 nights at Norfolk Towers

Our major goal is to generally check out the area; local attractions and visit a few pubs. My mother's family is from Galway, my father's family from Sligo (but won't visit on this trip).

Thank you in advance for any assistance, suggestions you may have for our first time visit.

Hi Pattyflo, Please tell me about the ferry from Tralee to Doolin.
I can't find anything on my map.

In the Rick Steves' Ireland 2007 - there is a paragraph about "Route Trips for Drivers". It says <edited for brevity): The Killimer-Tarbert Ferry connection allows those heading north to avoid the 80-mile detour around the Shannon River. The ferry route is more scenic and direct to the Cliffs of Mohr (hourly Eu15/carload).

I googled it - and I was mistaken. I guess you just take the ferry across the Shannon River. I thought it went all the way around. Too bad - it would have been a beautiful view. Thanks for catching it and bringing it to my attention.

Have you a good reason for overnighting in Athlone?

Just to break up the trip between Galway and Dublin.

Padraig, would you suggest that we just drive all the way and stay in Dublin 2 nights?

Galway to Dublin is an easy drive -- 3 hours between the cities, and add on a bit for getting out of Galway and into whatever part of Dublin you will be staying in. With average luck, four hours is plenty of time for the trip. I don't think Athlone is particularly interesting (although nearby Clonmacnoise is worth a couple of hours, and you can fit that in easily without making an overnight stop).

Whether you use the extra night in Galway or Dublin depends on your interests. I don't think it would be a good idea to add an extra destination.

Thank you - I appreciate the input.

Padraig - do you have any other suggestions regarding our itinerary? We didn't want to do the "green blur tour" so I was focusing on the west coast to try to make things a little more simple. Your input would be much appreciated. Patty.

I think your itinerary isn't too bad, but if I am to make helpful suggestions I would need to know a little more about what interests you. So far, I am working on the assumption that you want to experience west of Ireland scenery and the stuff that goes with it -- which is a very limited basis on which to tender advice.

I'm not very fond of Limerick. There are a few good things there, notably the Hunt Museum, and the castle is moderately interesting. But the city just doesn't do anything for me. So that might be up for discussion.

Galway has something of a buzz, a good restaurant and pub scene, but is short of high-impact things that you might talk about for months after you get home. For me, the big thing about Galway is that it is the gateway to Connemara, a place that refreshes my spirit (I was there for a few days recently on what amounts to an annual pilgrimage). I have dug up a piece I posted a while back to try to explain why I consider it such an imperative: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ra-weekend.cfm

Say more about what you would like, and I'll venture some opinions.

If it was my trip - I'd skip Dublin/the east coast altogether. I'd fly to London from Shannon or possibly Galway. That would give you essentially 2 additional days for the west w/o having to drive across the country.

Pattyflo - When we were in Galway a month ago, I got talking to a gent who knew the area very well and was suggesting to us we take a ferry from Lahinch. Unfortunately I cannot remember to where!! Maybe you could find out??
Here is the link to my recent Trip Report - you may find something useful:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...experience.cfm

Hi Padraig - I hope that I have not delayed too much in responding to you. It is our first trip to Ireland, and it is where both sets of my grandparents grew up (Mom's family is from Galway and Dad's is from Sligo) and I remember them fondly, so it will nice to step on the soil where they are from.

Anyway, my husband and I are social... so the pubs have a great interest to us! We like to walk around and check out new things. We hope to see at least one castle, a church, and we enjoy cool little towns.

The main thing is that we don't want it to be a "green blur" driving from one "must see" to the next. We are also on a tight budget. We are not fancy, so clean B&Bs, inexpensive pubs are all we need. I am OK with spending one night in one town, and one night in the next... but it would be nice to spend two nights (i.e. Dingle and Galway) in an area so that we can get a better feel of the people/town.

I hope that helps. I truly appreciate your thoughts. I will read up on your post about Connemara.

TOD - Thank you for the link to your trip report. I am looking forward to reading it!

Padraig - I read your trip report for Connemara... That sounds so wonderful! I need to figure out how to pencil in at least one night there. The one hotel you suggested - the Eldon's looks very nice and the rates are very reasonable.

If you are on a budget - I'd definitely think about staying west/southwest and skipping Dublin. It is a very expensive city and you can easily fly out of the west coast w/o traveling all the way to Dublin.

Janisj - thank you for your suggestion. My husband booked the arrival and departure as a surprise for our 20th anniversary. I am planning the "in-between". Although I would prefer to stay west/southwest I can not undo what he has planned. Maybe we should leave Galway early in the morning and only spend one night in Dublin - leaving us an extra day on the west-side. This way we would arrive in Dublin for lunch and then have the whole afternoon/evening to check out a few sites. The next day we have a 1:00 p.m. flight from Dublin to London where we will spend 2 nights.