A Week in Ireland

In honour of St. Patrick's Day, we are giving our suggestions for a week long vacation in Ireland, should anyone happen to be visiting Ireland this summer. Bear in mind, these suggestions are from someone who hasn't lived in Ireland in 15 years and someone else who has never lived there at all. We suggest flying into Dublin and flying out of Shannon.

Day 1 - Fly into Dublin, arriving early morning. Check into a hotel near the Temple Bar area. Explore Dublin on foot. Go for an afternoon pint.

Day 2 - Continue exploration of Dublin - Christchurch Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Guinness Storehouse, Trinity College, Dublin Spire, St. Stephen's Green, Grafton Street (spouses of shoppers beware here), O'Connell Street Bridge (guess who suggested this one), Museum of Modern Art. Go for an afternoon pint.

Day 3 - Take a train or bus to Galway in the morning. Stay in a hotel close to Quay Street. The House Hotel is nice (we stayed there accidentally once). Wander around Galway, including Quay Street, the Cathedral, University College Galway, the Claddagh, Salthill Promenade. Go on a pub crawl in the evening (try and find someone celebrating their 40th birthday and join them)

Day 4 - Rent a car and drive to Connemara, passing through Oughterard, Maam Cross, and Clifden. Alternatively, take a ferry to Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands, rent bikes and bike to Dun Aengus. Alternatively, recover from pub crawl. Back to Galway for the night.

Day 5 - Drive to Dingle in County Kerry, passing through the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. Go for a late afternoon pint in Dingle.

Day 6 - Rent bikes and bike the Slea Head Loop - beautiful scenery and beaches along the way. Reward yourself with an afternoon pint back in Dingle. You won't need to go to the same pub as the day before. There are many many choices.

Day 7 - Drive to Ennis. Explore Ennis on foot. Have a final afternoon pint.

Day 8 - Fly home.

Quay Street in Galway

 Tigh Neachtains  - best pub in Galway