County Galway
Galway City
Aran Islands
Connemara
Connemara
Connemara is one of Ireland's National Parks. Covering over 2000 hectares of scenic countryside, Connemara combines all that is Irish. Here you will find rugged beauty, rough mountains, sloping hills, and still streams rippling through the land, a land that has been relatively unchanged since famine times.
You will see many old cottages left to ruin as families had to leave the land to survive. Due to strict planning laws there has been very little building and construction in some parts of Connemara. The skyline is dominated by the Twelve Bens mountain range, known locally as the Twelve Pins.
There are many beautiful places to see and you can stop and savor the scenery along your journey. Traveling from Galway you may take the Coast Road through the village of Spiddal. This beautiful village is full of craft shops and poets and artists who find great inspiration from their natural surroundings. Spiddal is always extremely busy during the summer months. You will also find great pub food and a relaxed, friendly atmosphere throughout the village.
Traveling along the coast you pass through one of Ireland's Gaeltacht, or Irish-speaking areas, around Kilciarán and Carna, so be sure to brush up on your few words of Gaeilge (Irish) before stopping at an síopa (the shop).
This route will also take you to Clifden. Clifden is the largest town in the area with plenty of entertainment, good food, craic, and nightlife to be found.
Another excellent stop is Kylemore Abbey, situated just outside Letterfrack on the way to Leenane. Built in 1868 the neo-gothic style is breathtaking in its location by the lakeside under the Twelve Bens. Kylemore Abbey is now run by Benedictine Nuns as a boarding school for girls. The order has been extremely industrious and provides magnificent visitor facilities including a large restaurant and coffee shop, extensive craft shop, and a beautiful 6-acre walled Victorian garden. Kylemore Abbey and Tea Rooms are open all year.
Travel towards Leenane and you will find the deepest fjord in Ireland at Killary Harbor. Surrounded by rugged mountains, this is an ideal spot for all types of water sports. The small village of Leenane was made famous by the film The Field starring Richard Harris, which depicts the life of the people of this remote area and the hardship they endured to eek out a living in this wild place.