After having visited Belfast and the Causeway Coastal Route we moved on to Western Ireland. To be exactly to Galway, Ed Sheeran’s ‘Galway Girl’ always in our minds, though it was never played on the radio or somewhere else the whole trip. Well, anyway.
From Galway, we made trips to the famous Cliffs of Moher and the Burren but also to Connemara.
Galway
Galway is a little students’ town with around 80.000 residents. The atmosphere is amazing: pubs, live music, beautiful alleys and friendly people everywhere. The Guinness here was particularly good.
Beautiful summer days seem to be rare here. If you’re lucky like us to experience one of those days, just sit down next to the other people at the Corrib bank and do as the Romans do!
Cliffs of Moher
Ireland’s most famous cliffs are probably also the most visited attraction of the country. During the day you have to pay a parking fee. Visiting the trails is for free. We came after 9 p.m. to see the sunset.
At this time everything was free and all busses on their way back. The huge parking lot gives you an impression of how busy this place is during the day.
Though it’s a really touristy place, you should definitely go and see it. The cliffs are really mighty and the whole scenery is just perfect.
The way there alone was incredible. It leads through the beautiful moon landscape of Burren.
Connemara National Park
It was a not so beautiful, grey day. It was fate we couldn’t see this beautiful landscape of Connemara with the sunshine light it deserves. Of course, we shouldn’t complain too much because it was beautiful nevertheless.
The landscape is the epitome of idyll. Small lakes and moon landscapes everywhere and mountains as far as the eye can see. But this also means: If you really have to pee, this actually beautiful trip can become an unpleasant challenge for women as there are tourists everywhere on the road and just going outside wasn’t an option for me. This happened to me once back in Iceland and I don’t remember it as a nice situation either.
Back to the nice things: You definitely have to drive the Sky Road at Clifden. The view up there over the landscape is fantastic. Just be careful of the really strong winds up there.
Kylemore Abbey is probably Connemara’s best-known site. Unfortunately, the monastery was under renovation. I was devastated. The whole trip was a disaster. I hate Ireland…
Just kidding, we headed back to Galway and had a Guinness or two. And forgot about it really quick.