Need help with logistics
 

Dear Fodorites,
You always have such good advice. Can you help me with logistics?
My daughter graduates from college in early May and to celebrate she and I are doing a mother-daughter weeklong trip driving around Ireland with vouchers for bed and breakfasts along the way. We arrive at Shannon early on the 15th and plan to drive to Galway—maybe stopping to see the Burren on the way. We’d like to go to Connemara on Wednesday where my daughter wants to do some horseback riding; I will maybe visit Clifden. We’d like to go south and west from there—does it make more sense to go back to Galway and leave from there the next day? We’d like to visit Dingle peninsula— maybe see the Cliffs of Moher on the way. How long is the drive from Galway to Dingle Town? Should we aim for Tralee instead? Should we take the ferry from Killimer to Tarbert? We would also like to visit Cork City and maybe Kinsale—is this too ambitious a plan? We have to be back at Shannon for a 1:15 p.m. flight on the 21st and we also don’t want to spend the better part of every day in the car.
We welcome any advice or suggestions.
Thank you so much!

Hi... and welcome to the forum (perhaps you've been here, reading for a while?) - - anyhow...

I anticipate that there may be any number of Fodorites, knowledgeable about Ireland, who might not stop and take a look at what you're asking.

I recommend re-posting and mentioning that it's a <b>driving trip in <u>Ireland</u></b> for which you are seeking advice on logistics.

:)

Best wishes,

Rex

First reactions.

If you are not already committed to it, you are better off not using B&amp;B vouchers. Cash is a better option.

You have six days, and don't want to drive too much: I suggest two or three centres.

You may have to cope with jetlag when you arrive, so it might be better to keep the driving short and simple. One possibility is to head through Galway and out to Oughterard (about 75 miles, following main roads) and use that as a base for Connemara. The next two days you could do two Connemara circuits, one south; one north. Horseriding possibility at Roundstone, but I don't know a great deal about it.

Then transfer to Dingle (not Tralee), taking in the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher on the way, and using the Killimor-Tarbert ferry. It's about 160 miles, and with stops and some slow roads, count that as the programme for most of the day.

Decision time: do you want to take it slowly and get right into the Dingle experience, or do you want to want to make the effort to get to Cork and thence back to Shannon?

Over to you, and to other responders, and let the programme develop.

Thank you, Padraig!
we'll have to give this more thought...

Your 1st two nights are in the Galway area (Oughterard is an excellent option). With that, if you stay just the two nights, you have four nights left, one of them probably near the airport (Ennis perhaps).

Padraig is right, the drive from Galway to Dingle is a full day. I don't find Tralee particularly interesting. Continue on to Dingle, though I always stay on the north side in Castlegregory. I have a favorite place there. You would probably want to spend two nights there since all of the 1st day was spent getting there.

A trip down to Cork and Kinsale seems like quite a stretch. It would involve lots of driving and I think the time could be much better spent enjoying the area you are already in. Personally, I would probably spend all three nights in the Dingle area. As Padraig said, you may want another night for Connemara.

Bill