Other Trails on the Wild Atlantic Way

A FRESH-AIR PLAYGROUND

Skim huge bays from from wilderness to wilderness

REGION: ERRIS TO GALWAY BAY

From the crystal waters of distant Erris to the “savage beauty” of much-loved Connemara, the Wild Atlantic Way skims south around some impressive bays.

The largest of these – Clew Bay – is said to have 365 islets and islands, one for every day of the year. Connemara means “inlets of the sea” in Irish, and here water and land merge in a lacy shoreline of loughs, coves, islands and sea-swept blanket bogs.

The Bay Coast is a salty fresh-air playground, with its dazzling beaches and Blueway trails, and where people come to kayak, kiteboard, paraglide, swim and dive. Riders trek across the sands on sure-footed Connemara ponies. Cyclists follow the Great Western Greenway – one of the world’s most scenic cycleways. Walkers climb the sacred Croagh Patrick mountain and Twelve Bens range.

And with Wild Nephin Ballycroy National Park’s stunning 15,000+ hectares to roam, there’s plenty for nature lovers, wildlife spotters and even stargazers too.

There’s history and culture too: from elegant Georgian Westport to the Clare Island stronghold of legendary pirate queen Grace O’Malley, and onward toward Connemara’s coarse and captivating Derrigimlagh Bog – a mosaic of tiny lakes and peat, where the first transatlantic flight landed. And looking west across the great sweep of Galway Bay, you can watch the sun go down behind the Gaeltacht Aran Islands before spending a night in the City of the Tribes itself.