Trip Planning

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str1der
str1der

Hello,

I'm going to be in Ireland in early Sept... am planning a few days touring around the parts of Ireland I haven't seen before (my mother is Irish).

I was thinking about this as an itinerary, staying in hostels along the way:

Day1: Arrive in Dublin, stay in Dublin hostel ...

Day2: Drive to Giant's Causeway. Not sure where to stay, I've heard Bushmills mentionied on here or should I go to Londonderry?

Day 3: Spent most of the day at the Causeway, then drive to Donegal

Day 4: Go to Galway

Day 5: Not sure about this one. Was thinking either Lisdoonvarna or Ennis? I've been to Lisdoonvarna briefly before so I know there's not much there but it's pretty busy this time of year with the festivals?

Day 6: Meet up with family in Kerry

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battybilly
battybilly

Unless you have a particularly special reason to go to Derry, I wouldn't bother. It's OK - but just a small city with not much in the way of masses of interesting things.
Spend the extra day in Donegal. In my opinion, Ireland's prettiest county.
Ennis is nice - as is Galway and close-by Connemara.
Half a day is long enough at Giant's Causeway - fascinating stones though, just fascinating.

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ger_power
ger_power

Hi
Think you might be trying to fit too much in for 6 days....a lot of driving and no time to see each place......don't know if you been to Dublin donegal or Galway before but by your plan you seem to arriving and leaving within a day

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str1der
str1der

lol I have limited time available! The Day 5 I could spend an extra day in Galway I guess. I've been to Dublin before and am getting over late afternoon to Ireland, so it's really just a convience stop before heading north

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grahamphelan
grahamphelan

I think your plan for Ireland is fine just once you get up early to drive from one place to another. Especially Dongeal to Galway which is 3hrs of a drive and Donegal to the Giant's Causeway is 2hrs 30mins depending on how fast you drive.
I don't think you should stay in Derry unless you want to see the city as Belfast is much nearer to the Giant's Causeway. What you could do is drive from the Giant's Causeway to Letterkenny in Dongeal and stop off in Derry on your way. You could spend the night in a hostel in Letterkenny.
It depends really I've heard Lisdoonvarna is a very nice pretty village but I don't think it's big enough to have a hostel. But you would be better to stay in Lisdoonvarna if you want to relax. In saying that Ennis has allot more to do and is on the route from Galway to Kerry.
Anyway I hope you have a nice time here! :)

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ponaire
ponaire

I agree that it makes sense to do maybe a half day (or even couple of hours stop) in Derry to at least walk the city walls on the way between the Giant's Causeway and Donegal. There is also the Tower Museum at the walls if you want a bit more history. Derry is a small city so it is easy to at least get a feel for the place in a short space of time.

A popular choice of hostel near the Causeway is Whitepark Bay Hostel in Ballintoy.

Donegal is my favourite county and I would definitely recommend including time there.

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