Western Ireland -- where to stay?

[v]

I am agonizing over this.

We're going to Ireland in September.  Starting in Dublin, stopping in Cork for 2 days to cover that area, and then 5 nights in the west before flying out of Shannon.

I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out where to stay for those last 5 nights.  

A few notes:

- We would like to stay in no more than 2 hotels over those 5 nights, unless you can convince me that would be a grave error.
- I'm fine with staying in small towns, but we'd like there to be stuff to do in those towns.  We don't like the idea of B&Bs -- we like bigger places.
- Our flight from Shannon is at 12:30, so even if we stay an hour or two away from the airport we have plenty of time to get to the airport in the morning without having to be awake at a super ridiculous hour.

We'd like to do some combination of Dingle Peninsula, Killarney National Park, Cliffs of Moher, The Burren, Aran Islands (if weather permits).  Or along those lines.  Up to suggestions/revisions there.

Originally I booked 2 nights in Killarney and 3 in Galway.  But then I read that Kenmare is more charming and overall a better place to stay than Killarney, and that Galway is kind of meh, so I've changed to 3 nights in Kenmare and then 2 in Ennis.  I've looked into Dingle and Doolin and all of that, but it seems that reviews of those towns are that while they can be super convenient for some attractions, they aren't great places to stay.

Does 3 nights in Kenmare and then 2 nights in Ennis sound good to you?  If not, how would you switch that up?

Thanks for any suggestions.  This trip has been harder to plan than I expected!

[Deleted]

I have no advice, but I'm jealous. For some reason I'm craving an England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland trip!

[just]

I haven't stayed in any of them in a long time, but Kenmare is very charming if a little out-of-the-way. I cannot imagine that and Ennis would be a better choice than Galway, depending on where are you stay in Galway. From my memory Ennis is not the prettiest of cities, and I have very fond memories of Galway.

[EmilieMadison]

I love Dingle and the surrounding areas, but staying there is hard because it's literally the westernmost point in Ireland and it takes forever to get to other day-trip locations.

I think Adare is the ideal "central" location in Western Ireland- it's no more than 2 hours to most of the places you've listed. I would also add the Rock of Cashel to your list.

If you stay in Adare, check to see if Adare Manor has any townhomes available at a discount (they are modern and lovely!) or stay in the large manor house itself. Gorgeous.

[LoveTrains]

I had a bunch of friends that studied abroad in Galway in college and loved it.

[drloretta]

We're staying in Killarney our whole time there. Ennis would work. Adare is lovely and totally doable. We would love to do a week in Dingle but it's not very convenient to other things. Galway water made me queasy, so it's not my favorite place

[EmilieMadison]

In case anyone is interested in an Ireland getaway on the cheap, we did this exact trip through Groupon last year, and my sister did it 3 years ago. It was AMAZING. We extended our stay by 4 days and stayed in Dublin (ditched the car, and found a VRBO at additional cost to the package) but the actual package price only increased by about $85/pp for the flights.

GROUPON GETAWAY

[Susie]

I think 3 nights in Kenmare might be a lot - it's a really tiny town. Charming, but I think I'd run out of places I want to eat, etc. by night #2-3. I haven't been to Ennis, so no comment there. Doolin and Dingle are both great though. Doolin is TINY; the only thing to do there is drive to a nearby attraction (like the Cliffs of Moher) and go to pubs in the evening. Nothing much to do during the day. But the pubs are great, so I went back on my 2nd trip. Dingle's a little bigger with more going on, although as someone pointed out it's pretty far west.

[UnderProtest]

I loved the Europe Hotel in Killarney. It was close to the town and the Gap of Dunloe, but had a great view of Lough Leane.

[rubytue]

We stopped in Kenmare while doing the ring. It didn't seem like there was enough for 2 nights. Plus, if you want to do anything in Killareny, you'd have to go over/through the mountain pass both ways. It was beautiful, but once was enough for me what with the busses and the one-way underpasses.

But I also LOVED Galway. So there is that. Sounds like we may have different goals.

[wildfloweragain]

Killarney and Bunratty.

[sporky]

I loved both Kenmare and Galway, though we didn't overnight in either one. However I would definitely consider staying in both on a later trip. I'll add another vote for Dingle too - great town and the ring around the Dingle peninsula is amazing!

[froggy76]

I spent a semester in Galway and can't imagine anyone describing it as "meh". I loved it. Salthill/Galway Bay is my happy place.

[winemaker06]

A lot of people have said the same things. But, we loved Dingle. My husband didn't want to leave. and Galway was a neat city with lots to do.

We also flew into Dublin and out of Shannon but stayed a lot more places. This will probably not affect you based on your plans, but we stayed in Shannon before an early flight and there is Nothing to do or see there. Basically the airport and a shopping mall were options for dinner. So yes, stay elsewhere and drive to the airport the day you're flying.

[lolo]

I stayed in Kenmare for two nights and loved the location. You can do ring of Kerry and Killarney national park from there. Then after the third night, you could move locations.

[erbear]

I loved Galway. It was my favorite city in Ireland.

We stayed in Doolin (we were there for a wedding). there is not much there and I don't think I would stay there. Kilarney was an ok town to stay in, but it's proximity to Dingle and hiking was what I liked about it.

Not sure if this is helpful

[v]

I should probably say -- one of the people who told me that Galway is meh is a coworker (who is from Ireland) who said it is overrun with college students and great for getting drunk, but other places around there that are just about as convenient to things without being as urban and rowdy.

How about this?:

- 2 nights Killarney

- 1 night Dingle (which I'm not sold on -- any alternatives to break up that leg of the trip? Would Adare work? Or should we just do Dingle Peninsula as a day trip from Killarney?)

- 2 nights Galway (if you guys insist) or Ennis

If Dingle is the answer for the middle part, can you recommend somewhere to stay? Castlewood House and Heatons are fully booked. Would prefer to stay somewhere with more than a handful of rooms -- I like my anonymity

[ECB]

I'm jealous. We did western Ireland 10 years ago this October. Loved all of it.

We did 2 nights in kinsale, 2 in dingle, a night in doolin, 2 in Galway then our last night in ennis.

[rubytue]

Jul 13, 2015 8:51:21 GMT -5 spearmintleaf said:

I loved Galway. There was a shop that makes only pot pies. One of my favorite memories from my trip was eating warm fresh pot pies in that tiny restaurant while it rained. So cozy.

So yummy!

Attachments:

[drloretta]

Jul 13, 2015 6:21:35 GMT -5 v said:

I should probably say -- one of the people who told me that Galway is meh is a coworker (who is from Ireland) who said it is overrun with college students and great for getting drunk, but other places around there that are just about as convenient to things without being as urban and rowdy.

How about this?:

- 2 nights Killarney

- 1 night Dingle (which I'm not sold on -- any alternatives to break up that leg of the trip? Would Adare work? Or should we just do Dingle Peninsula as a day trip from Killarney?)

- 2 nights Galway (if you guys insist) or Ennis

If Dingle is the answer for the middle part, can you recommend somewhere to stay? Castlewood House and Heatons are fully booked. Would prefer to stay somewhere with more than a handful of rooms -- I like my anonymity

Galway was definitely a college/drinking town when I was there

We did Dingle as a daytrip from Killarney, but I wouldn't mind spending the night there. There are pubs and restaurants. Ditto Adare, I don't think you could go wrong either way

No recs on Dingle places to stay, as we only daytripped

I would do Galway over Ennis

[scout8]

I haven't been to Adare or Ennis, but I liked both Galway and Dingle. Killarney was very meh for me.

[onetruething]

My mother is from Glenbeigh. Its a tiny little town with so much charm. Its a big summer vacation spot for the Irish. The local hotel is called the Towers.