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Connemara Day Tour
Connemara & Kylemore Abbey Tour
This tour includes the most interesting aspects of Connemara to
enable you to get the best possible view and knowledge of the
changes which have occurred over the centuries. This is an ideal
opportunity for you to forget about the left hand side of the
road for a day. Sit back and relax on our luxury highline yellow
and white Mercedes coaches. O'Neachtain's professional tour
guide will give you many stops to explore and photograph in each
area. Come and be entertained: Irish music, history, geography,
culture, stories and folklore.
Our tour leaves Galway City along the very scenic Connemara
coast road (see map) with breath taking views of Galway Bay, the
limestone Burren and the Hills of Clare.
Approaching the charming village of Spiddal, we stop at Standúns
sweater and souvenir shop for refreshments. Next it's on to the
deserted famine village where ample time is given to explore and
photograph the village. Rossaveal is the departure point for the
ferryboats to the Aran Islands. O'Neachtain's Connemara tour has
pick-up arrangements with the 9am ferry from the Aran Islands
each morning.
Now
we journey on to Costello and Screeb. We are now in the Irish
speaking area where Gaelic or Irish is the spoken language. At Maam
Cross, the Connemara "crossroads", there is a replica of the cottage
used in the 1950's John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara film "The Quiet
Man" filmed locally. From Maam Cross our tour heads out towards the
world famous Kylemore Abbey on a journey of unsurpassed beauty
driving through the green Inagh Valley that divides the two sets of
mountains - the Maam Turks and the Twelve Bens. The Ben Ban is the
highest mountain in Connemara. Here you can photograph the
mountains, and the lakes and pools shining like little pieces of
broken mirror.
Next we see the magnificent Kylemore Abbey which is an 18th century
castle that is now in the good hands of the Benedictine Nuns, who
run an excellent boarding school. This is where we have our next
long break with ample time for lunch and a visit to the abbey and
its beautiful gothic church.
Moving on to Letterfrack where you have one of Ireland's finest
national parks. Our next visit is at Ocean's Alive Aquarium and
Maritime Museum. A fascinating and informative exhibition of
Connemara marine heritage. This is an additional stop in the low
season where you will have a chance to see some of the hidden
underwater treasures of our waters and learn a little about the sea
as a commercial resource. Enjoy the fresh sea air, the peace,
tranquillity and closeness of nature. Connemara shores offer a wide
variety of habitats that include vast stretches of clean white sand
and pink toned coral beaches as well as wave-lashed rocky areas.
Each has its own unique Flora and Fauna.
Clifden, the capital of Connemara, was founded by John D'arcy in
1812. Clifden is an ideal holiday centre. Aviation history was made
at Derrygimlagh bog near Clifden when Alcock and Browne crashed
landed after their historic transatlantic flight in 1919. The
Connemara pony breeders association come together every August to
hold the world famous Connemara pony show. As we leave Clifden we
see the Clifden Glen holiday homes.
Tickets can be purchased from Galway and Salthill
Tourist Office or on the Coach. Group and Family rates available on
request. Free pickup from your accommodation by arrangement. Take
both tours and avail of special discount (winter months only).
Departures
7 days a week all year round.
Salthill Tourist Office: 09:45
Galway Tourist Office: 10:00
(O'Neachtain Bus Stop, Kinlay House) Return 5:15pm
Stops
Spiddal, Inverin, Deserted Famine Village, Rossaveal, Traditional
Thatched Cottages, Screeb, Quiet Man Cottage
Maamturk Mountains, Twelve Bens Mountains, Kylemore Abbey, National
Park Letterfrack, Clifden
Dan O'Hara Pre famine Farm, Connemara Ponies, Turf Cutting Bogs,
Connemara Marble, Quietman Bridge, Oughterard
Moycullen........... and many more places of interest
