Discover Connemara

Discover Connemara - self-guided cycling tour

All prices are in Euro, per person sharing.
Quoted US $ prices subject to exchange rates. Rates as at December 2005

Daily itinerary:

Day 1
Arrive at your hotel on the Renvyle Peninsula (we can help arranging transfers). Warm welcome and chance to settle in. You will be given your route pack and general information to study overnight. If there is time we will allocate bikes and equipment. Dinner at the hotel.
Day 2
A lot to see on this day as you cycle around the Renvyle Peninsula, see the ruin of Renvyle Castle, Tully Cross, Letterfrack and further on to Clifden (35miles = 55kms). Stay the night in Guesthouse, dinner in restaurant. Explore Clifden town (the unofficial metropole of Connemara), where it is not difficult to find a pub with traditional music playing.
Day 3
You will stay the night again in Clifden, and therefore you can choose to go deep-sea fishing, or play a round of golf in Ballyconneely. If you want to cycle, there is the possibility of a short circle on the Sky-Road (25kms = 15miles) offering fabulous views over the Atlantic and its islands. Alternatively turn to the road running alongside hundreds of tiny loughs towards Maam Cross, visit Dan O'Hara's Homestead (Connemara Heritage and History Centre), sip a cup of tea in Ballynahinch Castle before returning to Clifden (50kms = 31miles). The dinner tonight is not included, and you are free to choose your meal in one of Clifden's many good restaurants.
Day 4
Leave Clifden along the shores of Mannin Bay, with its coral strand composed of myriad bleached fragments of corallines interspersed with smooth rock; reach Roundstone, a picturesque small fishing village offering beautiful views over the Twelve Bens. In the Franciscan monastery there is a small bodhrán (Irish hand held drum) making industry well worth a visit. Continue on to Cashel at the top of Bertraghboy Bay and Carna, where you will stay in a small hotel on the seashore, and dinner is served for you (45kms= 28miles).
Day 5
Carna offers sea angling and excellent fishing for sea trout and for brown trout in the neighbouring lakes. During July a three day festival is held and it features currach and hooker racing, also sea angling competitions, art and craft exhibitions and Irish dancing. In Lough Skannive there are two islands closely resembling crannogs (fortified lake dwellings). This area is still Irish speaking and you can listen to the local Fishermen in Kielkieran, speaking Gaelic. Continue on to Rosmuc, where the author and 1916 leader Padraic Pearse studied the Irish language. It is now open to the public. Spend the night in Screeb in a very friendly B&B, where the landlady will cook for you. (25km = 20miles).
Day 6
Cycle away from the coast back towards the mountains on a road through lake strewn moorland to Maam Cross, the meeting point of the roads, and a local sheep market place. Continue on over a low mountain pass to enter the Maam Valley, with fantastic views of the Maam Turks mountain range back to the village of Leenane (44kms = 27 miles). Stay the night in guesthouse, dinner in restaurant.
Day 7
You will leave the village of Leenane today and make your way back to the Renvyle peninsula.  Your cycling route meanders along the coastline to Tullycross, or alternatively by Kylemore, passing Kylemore Abbey, home to the Benedictine Nuns, and world renowned visitor attraction.  You stay in a hotel and your dinner is included tonight.
Day 8
Breakfast and depart.

For a more detailed programme, list of suggested equipment or any questions contact tours@killary.com

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