West Ireland Attractions

Ireland's most dramatic coastal walk — 214m sea cliffs, 30,000 nesting seabirds and views to the Aran Islands on a clear day. Arrive early or late to avoid the crowds.

A 250 km² limestone karst landscape where arctic, alpine and Mediterranean plants grow side by side — unlike anywhere else in Europe.

Three Irish-speaking islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, with Iron Age forts, limestone pavements and no traffic to speak of.

A Gothic Revival castle beside a Connemara lake, built in 1868 as a gift of love and now home to a Benedictine community.

Wild bogland, mountains and Atlantic coastline across 2,957 hectares — the heart of Connemara, with Diamond Hill as the main hike.

Ireland's only true fjord — a 16 km glacial inlet walled in by the Maamturks and the Sheeffry Hills. Boat tours leave from Leenane village; the Aasleagh Falls cascade at the eastern end.

Ireland's largest island — reached by bridge from Westport — with horseshoe-shaped Keem Bay tucked beneath towering cliffs, a 5 km Blue Flag beach at Keel and the ghost village of Slievemore on the mountainside.

A wild Atlantic headland with a sea stack (Dún Briste) that separated from the cliff in 1393 — one of Mayo's most dramatic coastal stops.

The oldest known field system in the world — 5,500-year-old Neolithic field boundaries buried under the north Mayo bogland.

Ireland's holiest mountain — St Patrick fasted on its summit for 40 days in 441 AD; 25,000 pilgrims climb it on the last Sunday of July each year.

A 15th-century tower house with fully furnished state rooms and a 19th-century folk park of 30 authentic rural buildings. The nightly medieval banquet runs year-round — a convenient first or last night stop near Shannon Airport.

The westernmost tip of County Clare — a working lighthouse on dramatic sea cliffs where the Shannon estuary meets the Atlantic.

Ireland's west coast city — a medieval walled town with a surviving Latin Quarter, traditional music in almost every pub, and the Claddagh fishing village at its edge.

A 13 km loop from Clifden along a narrow cliff-edge road above the Atlantic — arguably the finest short scenic drive in Connemara. The views take in the Twelve Bens, Clifden Bay, and the outline of Turbot Island on the horizon.

Two back-to-back curved beaches south of Roundstone forming a tombolo — a sliver of land with Atlantic on both sides. Dog's Bay is composed of foraminifera shell rather than quartz sand, giving it a unique white colour. Free to visit, rarely crowded outside July/August.

A limestone cave system beneath the Burren holding Europe's largest free-hanging stalactite at 7.3 metres. Guided tours run throughout the day from the visitor centre above Doolin village — an excellent complement to the Cliffs of Moher and The Burren.

A cave system in the heart of the Burren with guided tours past stalactites, a frozen waterfall and a hibernation chamber used by brown bears 10,000 years ago — combined with Ireland's largest Birds of Prey Centre, with daily flight demonstrations of hawks, falcons and owls.

A 5,500-year-old portal tomb standing in the open limestone of the Burren — one of the most iconic prehistoric images in Ireland. Free to visit, accessed by a short walk from the road through the limestone pavement. The remains of at least 33 people were found here.

A working hill sheep farm on the shores of Killary Fjord offering live sheepdog demonstrations, shearing and lamb feeding. One of the most enjoyable family experiences on the Wild Atlantic Way — and a real working farm, not a heritage show.

A grand 18th-century house above Clew Bay, built by the Browne family on the foundations of pirate queen Grace O'Malley's castle — Georgian interiors, a marble staircase, and a lakeside Pirate Adventure Park in the grounds.

A 3,000-year-old semicircular stone fort on the edge of a 100-metre Atlantic cliff on Inis Mór — the most spectacular prehistoric monument in Ireland, ringed by a defensive field of jagged standing stones.

The most photographed castle in Ireland — a compact 16th-century tower house on a rocky spur in Kinvara harbour on Galway Bay, open for daytime visits and famous for its evening medieval banquet.