BootsnAll Travel Community

I'm finally ready to plan my days in Ireland. I'm in London from April 30th until about May 4th, then I plan to head to Ireland. I don't have much time to spend, but I'm trying to squeeze in a lot:

I will probably fly into Dublin from London using Ryan Air unless there is a better method I'm not aware of. Possibly one night in Dublin, visit the Guiness brewery of course, and head off to either Galway or Doolin. I understand they're both great, and Doolin especially for their live traditional music (right?) which is something I'm really excited about.

The "must sees" for me are the Cliffs of Moher, and I understand that the Aran Islands are a must as well. Then of course a night of music in Doolin, and anything else anyone recommends.
I'd like to do it all in 4 days, with the 5th being a travel day. Doolin is just south of Galway, right? And both the Cliffs and Aran are in the same general area I think?

Does this sound feasible in 4 days? How should I get out of Ireland (Amsterdam is next), I have a feeling I'll have to get back to Dublin? What is the best "base camp" for seeing the Cliffs and Aran Islands? Anything I need to be aware of, or any other must sees that I'll be sorry I missed? (I know someone will say Cork, but it looks like it's too far outta the way).

I am trying to use Couchsurfing.com for almost all of Europe, so far so good! It will be much more fun to meet someone who lives in the area, rather than just other tourists at hostels. But I have zero hosts for Ireland at this point. If any of you or anyone you know is interested in having a couchsurfer, I'd be happy to tell you about myself and my plans. It's tricky for Ireland, as smaller cities like Doolin don't have a huge couchsurfing population

(And if you don't know what Couchsurfing is check it out! I hosted a German fellow last month and we had such great time here in LA).

I look forward to hearing your advice, and thanks again.

Yea couchsurfing isn't really known about in Ireland yet. I would but I'm travelling at the moment. Only thing I can suggest is putting something on boards.ie - the message board a lot of Irish people use.

You're trying to pack an awful lot into a few days but...you can walk to the Cliffs from Doolin. At least you could when I was there 20 years ago or so. Start in the village and head south across the fields. There areferries from Doolin to the islands so that would be a good base for what you want to do.

Ok cool, I wasn't sure if ferries left from Doolin as well or if it was only from larger cities like Galway. Would it be wiser of me to skip Galway all together because I'm crunched for time? The main reason I planned on Galway was because I figured that would be the best base camp for seeing the Cliffs and the Islands but it sounds like I'm wrong

Galway is a great place (see thread below this one) and worth a visit if you have time. Maybe you could go from Dublin to Galway to Doolin, spend a day or so in each. With such a short time, the main advantage to Doolin is its proximity to the cliffs and islands. I think the main ferry port to the Arans is Rossaveal, west of Galway. But if you're going to be in Doolin anyway and there are boats from there might as well save yourself the additional travel.

Update: Ireland has been taken off my list, then back on again, rinse and repeat a few times. I feel like I'm rushing through it and I could do 5 or 6 days in Krakow or Budapest a lot easier. I'm still trying to make Ireland happen, but I have a few questions. (I have a lot, bear with me please)

Coming from London, the only airport I think that flies into Galway was Luton, which would be a pain to get to (it's 30 miles north of London). Is there a better way to fly into Galway or near by? Would it be easier to fly from a major airport in London into Dublin, and just taking a bus to Galway? How about getting out of Ireland to Amsterdam?

For the Aran Islands, is it worth while to stay over night on them or will a day trip work? I also heard the locals on the islands aren't too fond of the tourists, true?

Cliffs of Moher, I read they put a fence / small wall around it, which is a real downer for me. Is it possible to still get right to edge? Is there a difference between hiking from Doolin and taking a tour bus from Galway, or would they both end up in the same spot? I've heard a few people say Moher is over rated or they were disappointed, they recommended Donegal - curious to hear your opinions here.

Hurling, I'd love to go see a game, looks a lot like lacrosse. Would I be able to see a game around May 4th-10th in Galway or Dublin? How much should I expect to pay?

Travel, sounds like I can get a bus or a train from Dublin to Galway pretty easy, right? Are there any options to get from Galway to Doolin? Traveling from Galway to Rossaveal (for the islands) should be easy right?

Sorry about the bombardment of questions I'm on the fence about Ireland, and this will surely help in my decisions. Thanks again guys and gals.

1. Galway via Luton - it's the only flight from London. The journey isn't too bad, if you consider the time it'd take to get to another airport, fly to Dublin, and fly/drive across to Galway in the end. Bus journey is about 3.5 hours across via bus. 2h50m by train.

1. Ireland to Amsterdam: Aer Lingus go from Cork & Belfast to Amsterdam (though each is a hike from where you're planning to be), and Ryanair goes from Dublin to Eindhoven (a trek from Amsterdam, but a manageable one, depending on your timeframe) At the moment, I can't see anything from Shannon (close to where you're planning to be) that goes to Amsterdam

2. You can see Aran without staying the night if you're pressed. You can even see it in a few hours, just take a bus tour rather than going around on a bike etc. If you want to stay overnight, stay at Mainistir House - excellent dinners (bring your own wine). Locals are fine, just respect the place. Aran has it's own "Cliffs of Moher" without any fencing protection called Dun Aengus. That might interest you, however, they are not as expansive as the Cliffs of Moher. This is a small island, you know!

3. Yes there is fencing. Mainly because of the number of tourists who fall OFF the cliffs. People don't seem to understand that height + wind + posing right at the edge = recipe for disaster!! People do of course go beyond it, but it's not advisable. At Dun Aengus, a friend of mine nearly walked right off it. You have to be careful, end of.

4. I've never hiked to the Cliffs from Doolin. The trip from Galway is a day tour with commentary, going to the Burren area as well - http://www.lallytours.com/tourbur.html

5. About Aran and getting there/getting to Doolin via Aran:
but you can "island hop" and go from Inis Mor (the main island of the Aran Islands) and go to Doolin from there, hiking toward the Cliffs.
Galway City - Rossaveal is a bus that the ferry companies organise based on their timetables (so you always get there in time for the ferry). Look, for example at Aran Island Ferries: http://www.aranislandferries.com
However, you'd have to get a different company over to Doolin: http://www.doolinferries.com/
If you have the means, you can fly to Aran, but you still would have to get out to the airport in Connemara (though Aer Arann have scenic flights which sounds amazing!) http://www.aerarannislands.ie/flightinfo.html

6. About Buses/Train/Plane to Galway
Bus Eireann www.buseireann.ie or CityLink www.citylink.ie are your main ways of busing it to Galway from Dublin. They go very frequently. I tend to prefer CityLink.
Iarnród Éireann is Irish Rail which also go frequently: www.irishrail.ie
You can fly as well if you have the means: Aer Arann www.aerarann.ie

Buses to Doolin, there are regional buses that go to the town, I think it's 423 or something. Check Bus Eireann's site. Otherwise, there's this little site to help, too: http://www.doolin-tourism.com/


In general, I think there's a lot to see in Ireland, and sometimes it takes time to get it all in. If you can't make it, you can't make it, there's always next time

oh, and i'm not sure about the hurling. there might be a local game in Galway or something but i couldn't be sure. http://www.gaa.ie/page/hurling.html or check local listings/ask locals when you get there.

just to add that the fixtures for GAA (Hurling)
http://www.gaa.ie/page/this_weeks_fixtures.html
scroll down the page for this week's Allianz National Hurling League matches. Its updated for each week's fixtures

hiya- shannon is only an hour and a half from galway by bus so would be a handy option if you want to fly straight into the west. Ryanair fly from stansted.

Thank you for the great info Quarter, Kiki and Sherry.
How do you guys feel about skipping Dublin? I was most excited to see the Guinness brewery, which I hear is a totally overrated tourist trap anyways.

I think if I flew directly into Galway via Luton, or Shannon I could save myself the extra time getting into and outta Dublin. This would also allow me to actually spend the night on Aran, which would be fun.

If I skip Doolin all together - will I be missing out on something special? Or can I find some quality traditional music in Galway? Part of the reason I wanted to do Doolin was because it was so close to the cliffs, I figured I could just kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Not sure I'm interesting in doing a tour bus trip, I like to do things my own speed ya know?

It's Bank Day... what the hell is that? I know hostels are going to be booked, and everything will be crowded. I'm trying to couchsurf, but so far having gotten any bites from the Irish! Which is too bad, but I'll keep trying. Luckily Couchsurfing has a decent network of people on Galway.

Checked out the Hurling site, and I have two problems. Are the team names the same as the city? As in, would Galways team be named Galway? And unfortunetly it's hard to tell in May if I can catch a match or not. Looks like the 11th will have Ulster Senior Hurling Championship, but I don't think I'll still be on in the country then. We'll see!

i've done the guinness tour with friends and its not worth missing Aran for. honestly, as long as you find yourself a great pint of guinness somewhere, you'll have fulfulled your wish to have guinness in ireland. i wouldn't go out of my way to have one in the brewery.
you seem pretty set on going to doolin, and if you bypass dublin you would be less pressured so i'd consider going anyway, its a great little place.
put it this way, you could fly into shannon, head to Doolin, then go on upto Galway and take the ferry out to Aran (Galway to Inisheer route or Galway to Inishmaan). perfectly possible. or else fly into galway, head to the Aran Islands, then onto Doolin.
A bank day is a bank holiday - usually a very busy time in ireland. everyone has the day off as most businesses close (i.e., the bank is closed - get it?). I assume you are talking about the May bank holiday weekend.....very very busy weekend but the craic is mighty
Oops, i forgot that the fixtures make no sense to anyone non-irish speaking- all the team names are in irish. Ok, so i looked again and it seems that the Allianz National Hurling league fixtures end in April, with a gap until the Hurling Championship start on 11th May. Unless there is a local match on in Galway (Gallimh in Irish) I think you might be out of luck there. here's a link to the national tv station's sports section, which is in english but i think it might be the same conclusion http://www.rte.ie/sport/index.html
yeah, unfortunately couch surfing is not all that common in ireland, and it mostly happens by accident
i'd offer you mine but alas, i'm in dublin and actually won't be here for that weekend - going to kerry )
does any of this help?

Yes Kiki, huge help! I THINK I'll fly into Galway because I'll be up near Luton in London couch surfing with a guy... So it just makes sense, closet airport that takes me directly there.

And I can fly out of Shannon onto Amsterdam right?

Hurling, it does indeed look like I'll miss it, which is a shame, it looks great.

At this point, if I don't get a Couchsurfing host I think hostels will be booked up if it's THAT busy. Will all the tour bus / airport shuttles and bus services still be running? As in, will the stuff I need to use to get where I want to go be shut down or anything?

I'd totally agree with passing up the Guiness Brewery Tour, especially if taking the tour meant cutting time in Doolin or Galway. . Here's a radical idea, since you're already seeing a lot of cities on your trip...consider passing up Dublin and flying straight into Shannon, then making either Doolin or Galway a great "base" for exploring both towns respectively, as well as the cliffs, the islands, and some of the awesome west coast of Ireland. A 4-5 day stint with that in mind would be o.k. Trying to cram a day in Dublin into it might be a rush.

Then, again, I'm one of those people who just isn't "in" to the "how many parts of europe can I cram into 'x' time". I'd rather soak up more of fewer places.

In fact, in that context, I'd suggest that if you're in London looking at Ireland, you may want to re-think heading back over to "the continent" and instead spend your time taking in England, Scotland, Ireland, etc. instead of boucning around europe.

Couchsurfing.com is a great resource for local connections, as long as you've got a complete profile. You may want to check out it's Ireland groups to see what's on during your time there.

i've had a check on Ryanair and Aer Lingus and none fly Shannon to AMS, BUT Aer Arann does fly Galway to Amsterdam on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. Their site is http://www.aerarann.com

As regards flying out of shannon, you could fly to London and connect from there, or maybe even fly shannon to somewhere else in europe like paris or brussels and get the train to Amsterdam - that'd be a different way of doing it.

I would recommend trying Sleepzone in Galway, I've stayed there myself and it was great. Cheap too and bang in the city centre. You can catch the details on hostelworld.com

The local bus services (i.e., the non touristy ones) will probably run as normal, except for Monday which is the bank holiday and normally runs to a Sunday timetable.

The tourist things will absolutely be running as normal, maybe even some extra services. I wouldn't be put off that its a busy weekend, I would just bear in mind that it may require a little more fore-planning than normal.

Getting to and from the airport in galway, i'm not sure of. You can contact the Galway tourist office, as they may have some services running http://www.irelandwest.ie - you can use this website to check out travel/opening times of all the places you want to visit as well

let me know what you decide on

Hey thanks again for all the info, I finally found a host for couchsurfing who lives in Galway, so I think I'll fly Luton into Galway ($100... not bad?) on May 5th and then fly out Galway to Amsterdam ($200) on May 9th... Those prices seem ok I guess, I think I'm shopping too late to get the really good deals.

Still knee deep in figuring out my plans, I'm just excited I finally got a host!

well, the prices are a little expensive, but its because its a long weekend in ireland....airlines are out to make a few bucks
congrats on the getting a host! i've been thinking about signing up to be a host here in dublin