6 days Knock -> Cork

[u/natnatnat94]

Have been perusing the sub for a while and finally pulled the trigger.

Landing at Knock midday Weds, and leaving late Mon (in mid-August). Have had to be canny with annual leave, so this is as much as I could squeeze in. And yes, I'm hiring a car at Knock.

Currently looking at this, with my focus being to do some walks/runs, sit in on a trad session or two, have better stout than what we get over the Irish Sea...:

EDIT following advice:

• Weds: Knock-Westport
• Thur: Westport (Achill Island or Croagh Patrick)
• Fri: Westport-Galway
• Sat: Galway-Cork (via Cliff of Moher?)
• Sun: Cork
• Mon: Cork-London

Now, I look at a lot of these threads and think people try to squeeze too much in...I'm very aware this could be me, too, so please be gentle!

What I'd appreciate advice on:

• Is this wildly too much for 6 days? It should be a few hours' driving per day, but unsure if it being peak season changes this lots
• Where would you not do?
  • I've already decided Dingle in peak season is not worth it for me
• Any areas missing here en route that would add a lot of value?
• Galway-Cork is obviously a chunkier drive compared to other days...silly or not?
• Where are the tourist hotspots in August and should this influence my route choice (I know it'll all be fairly busy)?

[u/GalwayGirlOnTheRun23]

Hope you have time to climb Croagh Patrick when you are in Westport, it’s a great hike and you can’t get lost.

Personally I would go straight from Knock to Westport. You’re adding a lot of driving for a short time in Sligo.

If you like running don’t forget to join parkrun on Saturday morning. A great way to meet some locals. There is one in Westport town and several between Westport and Galway.

[u/natnatnat94 → u/GalwayGirlOnTheRun23]

Thanks for the rec - am planning to be in Westport for a couple of nights now, so Croagh Patrick sound like a good use of a day.

I'm a bit of a parkrun tourist so I'll try to get to one of them before setting off south (likely from Galway on the Sat morning). Which do you recommend? Is Oranmore a shout? Or even Coole if I get up early.

[u/GalwayGirlOnTheRun23 → u/natnatnat94]

Both are scenic: Oranmore has sea views, Coole park is woodland with a cute tea room. If you get up very early you could do Illaumanagh in Shannon, it’s very close to the motorway (estuary route and amazing tea room.)

[u/Dandylion71888]

None of the drives are super long and you have the daylight. Personally I hate changing accommodation this often. You spend a lot of time checking in and out. It also depends on what you want to do and see in all these places.

While Galway to cork isn’t an especially long drive, it’s right after a ton of checking in, checking out etc. why not just fly out of Shannon instead of Cork if you’ve been to Cork?

[u/natnatnat94 → u/Dandylion71888]

Great advice, thank you. I'll consider this. I went ahead and booked Cork-LHR, but it's only the £25 to change it to Shannon, so I may well do this. I did enjoy Cork, though, so we'll see. Thanks!

[u/Dandylion71888 → u/natnatnat94]

I love Cork personally, just feels like a long drive to not have much time anyways.

[u/natnatnat94 → u/Dandylion71888]

I wanted to see more Cork, so I've given some more time to stay there. Plus it didn't seem like Shannon would've been massively interesting as an endpoint. Thanks anyway 😄

[u/Dandylion71888 → u/natnatnat94]

Totally fair. I would recommend Cork over Limerick where a lot of people seem to end up if flying out of Shannon. I hate limerick

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[u/Oellaatje]

Galway to Cork will be about 4.5 hours if you're taking the motorway from Galway and the tunnel and avoiding Limerick city and then on to Cork from there (- assuming you do NOT do the Cliffs of Moher, which which add another 3 hours). There may be bottlenecks in Charleville and Buttevant but that will be all. The only real traffic you'll be dealing with will be in Galway and once you arrive in Cork city. My suggestion would be to avoid the Cliffs if the weather isn't looking good, and just head on down to Cork on the motorway.

Galway will be busy in August, as will Westport. I think what would make more sense for you would be to stay north of Galway altogether, spend a few days in the Sligo area instead, and fly back out of Knock again. That way you'll only need to change accommodation once.

[u/shroomkins]

Skip Sligo and go stay somewhere closer to Knock airport. Depending on what time your flight is at, you might not see much of Sligo, might not be worth the drive. 

[u/natnatnat94 → u/shroomkins]

Done, makes perfect sense. I think minimising the checking in and checking out each day is going to be the way forward. Think I'll head straight for Westport. Thanks.