Connemara
Russet boglands studded with black lakes, the Twelve Bens as a backdrop and black-faced sheep as the welcoming committee: Connemara is the Ireland you came looking for.
Suggested stay — 2 nights
West of Galway, Connemara unrolls the Irish landscape in its rawest cut: bogland to the horizon, dark lakes, granite walls and the small Twelve Bens massif snagging the clouds. The N59 loops around it, but everything happens in the detours: the Sky Road above Clifden (a 16 km loop with plunging views over the islands), the Inagh Valley road between the mountains, the village of Roundstone and its tiny harbour facing the Bens.
Two landmarks punctuate the loop: Kylemore Abbey, a neo-Gothic castle set on its lake — spectacular from the road, more skippable inside — and Connemara National Park at Letterfrack, whose Diamond Hill ascent (2-3 hours return, on a built trail) delivers the region's finest panorama for a reasonable effort. To the north, Killary fjord, Ireland's only fjord, closes the region with 16 km of black water lined with mussel ropes.
Don't miss
- The Sky Road at Clifden, late in the day when the light rakes across the islands
- The Diamond Hill climb in Connemara National Park (panorama over the Twelve Bens and the ocean)
- Kylemore Abbey and its walled Victorian garden — at least for the photo from the lakeshore
- Roundstone and the R341 coast road towards Ballyconneely, white beaches included
Our tips on the ground
- Base yourself in Clifden: it is the only real town, with live-music pubs and B&Bs in numbers — the rest of Connemara turns in early.
- The R341 via Roundstone is prettier and slower than the direct N59: take one out, the other back.
- Sheep have not read the highway code: on unfenced sections, count on a real 40 km/h average and tap the horn gently rather than swerving around them.
Our flagship guide — €29
Guide available“Ireland on Your Own”, the complete edition, is out
10 chapters: day-by-day itineraries, driving and transport, a costed budget and checklists — the same method as our Namibia guide.
The guide is currently written in French — an English edition is in the works.
Before you go
Readers' questions about Connemara
Is Kylemore Abbey worth visiting inside?
The ticket (around €16) covers a few restored rooms, the miniature church and the walled Victorian garden, superb in summer. If time or budget is tight, the view from the lakeshore — free, 200 m from the car park — remains the image you will keep: the abbey is more photogenic than its interior.
Can Connemara be done in a day from Galway?
It is the classic loop excursion via the N59 and Kylemore, and it frustrates: you drive through without stopping at the hours when the light is flat. Two nights in Clifden change everything — the Sky Road at sunset, Diamond Hill in the morning, and the bogs in the mist before the tour coaches.