my favorite pictures of the latest trip to Ireland have been added as new album to the gallery
Schlagwort-Archive: Hillwalk Ireland
30th June Drummin to Westport
Our last walk was Drummin to Westport with a distance of 19km and an approx. time of 5 – 7 hours. The tour started and ended in rain. So that when we reached Altamount B & B we were totally wet and weary and quite happy that Mary offered such a warm welcome with homemade sandwiches and coffee.
When I look back on our tour I can only say that it was perfectly organized by Hillwalk Ireland. The B & Bs were without any exception nice, cosy and we always had a warm and homely welcome there. The routes were perfectly described so that there was no chance to fail in finding the right way. I can absolutely recommend doing a walk with Hillwalk Tours!
29th June Leenane to Drummin
The next day started with rain again and so we asked our driver to bring us 3 km further as drop of point to cut down the distance. The original distance would have been 17 km with a walking time of 4 -6 hours.
After we were walking a while the rain stopped and we had to get out the sun blocker again. That route was definitely my favorite and I finally regret leaving the camera in the luggage (due to the rain) and only working with pictures from the iphone.
We finally ended up in Moher House where we were welcomed with fresh baked scones and homemade strawberry jam. We directly felt at home. Lovely room, nice hosts and as we were quite early they offered to drive us to Westport for the evening. A driver service brought us home for 10 Euro in the evening. Whoever is near that spot should definitely try to spend the night in Moher House!
28th June 2013, Lough Inagh to Leenane
Today’s trip would have been more relaxed. The distance was 15 km with only an ascent of 100m. But as it was raining all day, and we got seriously sunburnt yesterday so we joined our bags and drove to Leenaun. Time for some shopping in the wool mill and an incredible dinner at Portfinn Lodge.
Our B & B for tonight is Portfinn Lodge B & B
27th June 2013, Maam Valley – Lough Inagh
Day 2 of walking…from Maam Valley to Lough Inagh. Distance 15 km , ascent 310 m , approximate walking time 4 – 6 hours. We needed nearly 8 in sunny weather. Got really sunburnt in the mountains.
We’ll spend the night in Lough Inagh Lodge Hotel, which was a possible upgrade from the normal B & B. We had an excellent bar dinner, followed by a incredible „Middleton Very Rare“ in the lounge.
26th June, Oughterard – Maam Cross
Today we had our first walk from Oughterard to Maam Cross. The distance was 21 km and an ascent of 120 m. The walk was said to be 5 – 7 hours. It took us a little more to get to our collection point, but we had perfect weather and no need to hurry. The description told us that at the end we had a 3 km boardwalk. At that moment we had no idea what this was going to be. We learned it was walking through bogland on wooden boards and actually I would have been glad if the hint was given to go pee before you go on this 3 km 🙂
At the collection point Marion from Tiernakill Farmhouse picked us up and took us to the B & B. She made us wonderfull dinner….time to rest…
Our bed and breakfast for tonight is Tiernakill Farmhouse B & B
25th June 2013, Arrival in Oughterard
We took a City link Bus from Dublin Airport to Galway where we had two hours time until our Bus to Oughterard left. The price for the CityLink service was 28 Euros and we had nearly 2 hours time in Galway and left our luggage in a little shop and went into the city which is a short walk from the coach station.
When the bus dropped us in Oughterard we had a walk of about 15 min to the B & B. We could have called for pick up, but thought that a short walk would be good after the sitting in the bus.
Night at Woodlands B & B
Pre-Departure
This year I’ll be back in Ireland for walking. This time it’s gonna be a tour without a guide, but the tour itself has been organized by a company named Hillwalk Ireland. On their homepage http://www.hillwalkireland.com you can choose various tours and different levels of difficulty and they take care of
- booking the Bed & Breakfasts
- prepare maps and travel information
- luggage transfer between the walks
Now that it’s close to leaving I can say that so far the work of those fine people has been awesome. The package with our information that arrived is very detailed and they have so far been extremely nice and helpful with everything. I’m really looking forward in doing this tour.
We’ll be doing a six day tour through Connemara starting on 25th June.
The walks will be as follows:
- Oughterard – Maam Cross, 21 km, Ascent 120 m
- Maam Valley – Lough Inagh, 15 km, Ascent 310 m
- Lough Inagh – Leenane, 15 km , Ascent 100 m
- Leenane to Drummin, 21 km, Ascent 560 m
- Drummin to Westport, 19 km, Ascent 280 m
I’ve checked the B & Bs that were booked for us and so far they all look extremely cosy and nice…
- Woodlands B & B in Oughterard
- Tiernakill Farmhouse B & B
- Lough Inagh Lodge Hotel (we upgraded ..)
- Portfinn Lodge B & B
- Moher House B & B
- Altamont House B & B
I’ll try to report from the road, but doubt I’ll have WIFI everywhere…so we’ll see (I know the attached picture is Cliffs of Moher…I’ll replace that after the trip trough the best shot of the tour)