West of Ireland with friends - Cork to Galway?

newbie18892

Planning a trip out west with friends for next month. There will be 4 or 5 of us. Planning to drive down from Dublin and start in Cork and work our way up to Galway. We have about two weeks free but of course it depends on price/availability how long we actually go. Also, of course COVID might mean some places aren't open. We don't mind glamping or staying in AirBnb's or hostels/b&b's.

Has anyone done similar and has some recommendations?

otnomart

The South West and West are great.

Did it many years ago, staying in B&Bs and in two/three trips (not in one go).
Did overnights in Kinsale, Killorglin, Doolin (as a base for Burren and boat trip to Inisheer) and Galway (as a base for Connemara and boat trip to Inishmore).

Other places I liked and would be great for overnights were Cobh and Ennis.

Heard really great things of Bantry but sadly never made it our there.

Enjoy !

Muahahaha

Dont miss the Beara peninsula in west Cork, Dingle peninsula too. Ring of Kerry will also be a lot quieter without all the tour buses so worth doing as is the Black Valley. If youre into hiking Mount Brandon is a good one or else some of the Dingle way.

SmithySeller

Brilliant stuff, Im doing the same, so I'll piggy back off Newbie if you dont mind and take the same advice.. Thats me in the rear view Mirror (-:

otnomart

Muahahaha wrote: »

Ring of Kerry will also be a lot quieter without all the tour buses so worth doing as is the Black Valley.

+ 1 for both !

fran38

Once you do Killarney/Ring of Kerry, drive from Tralee, Ballybunion onto Tarbert. You can get a ferry acrossfrom Tarbert to Clare where you can drive the coast road from Kilkee, Lahinch, Spanish Point up to the Cliffs of Moher. Then its onto Doolin, Ballyvaughn. Then its into Galway./ Connemara. Some lovely beaches on that stretch.

Speedsie

fran38 wrote: »

Once you do Killarney/Ring of Kerry, drive from Tralee, Ballybunion onto Tarbert. You can get a ferry acrossfrom Tarbert to Clare where you can drive the coast road from Kilkee, Lahinch, Spanish Point up to the Cliffs of Moher. Then its onto Doolin, Ballyvaughn. Then its into Galway./ Connemara. Some lovely beaches on that stretch.

Was going to recommend the Tarbert ferry myself. Really adds something to the trip.

newbie18892

Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys. It's so helpful. We've been writing out a rough plan of it but finding the spacing out of our time in each place a bit tricky. Don't want to be staying too long in one place and missing out later in another. How would you divide 10 days along that route?

newbie18892

fran38 wrote: »

Once you do Killarney/Ring of Kerry, drive from Tralee, Ballybunion onto Tarbert. You can get a ferry acrossfrom Tarbert to Clare where you can drive the coast road from Kilkee, Lahinch, Spanish Point up to the Cliffs of Moher. Then its onto Doolin, Ballyvaughn. Then its into Galway./ Connemara. Some lovely beaches on that stretch.

This sounds whopper thanks.

saabsaab

Did it years ago all the way from Cork to Donegal. Had a week or so and stopped where it suited as we went up the coast. Must do it again was great fun, best of all was Donegal very welcoming there!

Muahahaha

newbie18892 wrote: »

Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys. It's so helpful. We've been writing out a rough plan of it but finding the spacing out of our time in each place a bit tricky. Don't want to be staying too long in one place and missing out later in another. How would you divide 10 days along that route?

Last time I did that route we began with a Saturday night out on the town in Cork city, then one in Kinsale next Castletownbere on the end of the Beara Peninsula. One in Kenmare then two in Dingle then two nights in Lahinch and finally one in Galway before heading back to Dublin.

With the exception of the first Saturday night in a hotel in Cork city we did it all on the fly booking each nights stay in the afternoon that day and arriving a few hours later. That way if we wanted to stay longer in a place like Dingle we had that flexibility. Its a good way to do it provided youre not fussy about where you stay, youll always find something using apps like Booking.com, Trip Advisor, etc.