Connemara and Galway Bay - Full-Day Rail Tour

A truly enchanting full day tour around the wondrous West of “The Emerald Isle” better known as Ireland.

Uncover the diverse landscape where you’ll be exposed to everything from the energetic and culture filled city of Galway to the magnificent mountain views in the small fishing village of Roundstone to the curiously tucked away Coral Beach which boasts verdant and vast views across both the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish countryside.

Throw yourself in to a most delightful day where you’ll come to know much more than you could have possibly imagined about what Ireland has to offer. You shall see first-hand where John Ford filmed “The Quiet Man” and also where “The Guard” starring Brendan Gleeson was shot. The trip takes you straight through Ireland's midlands where you’ll cross villages, valleys and bog lands and go along the gorgeous Shannon River.

You will arrive through Galway which has been nicknamed: City of the Tribes since the Hiberno-Norman period. This culture rich city will be the 2020 European Capital of Culture and it’s not hard to see why. There’s a lot to see and plenty more to do. You’ll have two hours to check out what’s about.

We will have the option to refresh ourselves with some lunch in the lovely little fishing village of Roundstone whilst we marvel at the view of The Twelve Bens Mountain Range. After that, we will make our way to the curious Coral Beach which is practically dripping in history. Alcock and Brown landed the first ever transatlantic flight here back in 1919, as well as that Marconi sent the first ever wireless messages to America from here.

On the way to Connemara, we shall go past The Kylemore Abbey and have a chance to snap some photos and see how the Benedictine community have restored it to a completely self-sustaining entity. Once we get to Connemara you’ll be swamped with photo opportunities from practically every direction and you’ll soon understand why it has been described as a “savage beauty”. The landscape was left barren during the great potato famine and even until this day it has been able to keep its beauty wonderfully intact.

You shall pop in to the pretty and quaint town of Clifden which is perfectly placed in amongst the 12 Ben Mountains and sits right in the thick of a luscious valley. Clifden is known as the place to go when it comes to shopping in Connemara and locals refer to it as the capital of Connemara. It is also famed for its fabulous sky road which gives the most remarkable views that can’t really be matched elsewhere. After this stop off, you’ll head back to Galway via the Inagh Valley. Try to soak up as much of its heritage before you then hop back on the train to Dublin once more.