Ireland: legends of Connemara and its islands

2/5.

Easy to moderate. Between 1 and 6 hours of walking per day, with up to 200m of elevation gain on average. Few technical sections, with a mix of tracks and trails. This is a point-to-point walking holiday. You should enjoy walking and be in good physical shape.

You only carry a small daypack with your picnic lunch and the belongings you need for the day. Your luggage will be waiting for you at your accommodation each evening. On ferries, you will travel with your luggage.

7 days / 6 nights.

We provide a digital travel pack that includes access to the smartphone navigation app, a list of your accommodation, any vouchers required and all the information you need for your holiday to run smoothly. This is a self-guided holiday, so you travel independently throughout your stay. If you wish, we can provide a complete printed travel pack, including a route guide with maps and a detailed itinerary description, at an additional cost.

From 1 person (solo traveller supplement applies).

You stay in 3*-rated hotels, guesthouses or bed and breakfasts (equivalent to 3* comfort), in rooms for two people with a private bathroom. Single rooms can be booked at an additional cost.

Irish breakfasts are included. Lunches and dinners are not included. Your travel pack contains information on places where you can buy supplies for your picnic lunch. Please let us know about any food allergies or special dietary requirements when booking; we will do our best to adapt your meals.

Day 1 at your hotel in Leenane.

Day 7 after breakfast at your hotel on Inishmore island.

Flights are not included in the holiday price. We can arrange flights with scheduled airlines; please contact us for details.

Flights from Paris to Dublin. Direct flights to Dublin are also available from Lyon, Geneva, Bordeaux and Brussels.
For flight times and tickets:

• Air France: 0892702654 or visit www.airfrance.fr/
• Aer Lingus: 0153437910
• Transavia: https://www.transavia.com/fr-FR/accueil/
• Ryanair (departing from Beauvais): https://www.ryanair.com/fr/fr/

You can take a Citylink (www.citylink.ie) or Gobus (www.gobus.ie) bus directly from Dublin Airport (or the city centre) to Galway (approximately 3 hours). You can then take another Citylink bus or a Bus Éireann bus (www.buseireann.ie) from Galway to Maam Cross (Galway–Clifden route / approximately 50 minutes).

The total journey takes approximately 5 hours.

A number of our holidays offer opportunities to swim during the day’s walk or at the end of the day. It would be a shame to miss out. However, you alone must decide whether it is appropriate to swim; any swimming is therefore your responsibility and undertaken at your own risk.

Member of Agir pour un Tourisme Responsable (ATR)

Since 2012, Grand Angle has been a member of ATR, the leading association for more responsible tourism. We design our trips – on foot, by bike and on snow – to invite everyone to discover the world differently: with curiosity, respect and kindness.

With a seat on the board of directors since 2018, we actively help the sector move towards more meaningful practices. In practical terms, we focus on:

• Transparency in our practices and prices
• Respect for our partners and local communities
• Protecting the environment on every trip

We also share the values of the traveller’s ethical charter, which encourages everyone to take simple steps to protect the places they visit and make meaningful connections with the people they meet.

Travelife Partner

Since 2025, Grand Angle has been recognised as a Travelife Partner, an international label that certifies our responsible environmental, ethical and sustainable management practices, both within our company and in our work with partners and the organisation of our trips.

This label, the second level of a rigorous international certification scheme, recognises our concrete actions to support responsible tourism. We are actively working towards the next level, Travelife Certified, in line with our sustainability policy

For carrying your belongings

• A comfortable 30 to 50 L backpack with a hip belt to carry your personal belongings and picnic lunch during the day
• A bag for luggage transfers: a backpack, a travel bag in good condition or a suitcase that is not too bulky. -One bag per person; limited to 15 kg

Read our Mag article on how to pack your hiking backpack.

For hiking

• Hiking boots with ankle support, a good deep-tread sole, a supportive heel counter and good waterproofing
• Comfortable hiking socks (at least 3 pairs)
• A fleece
• Comfortable walking trousers (quick-drying technical fabric)
• Comfortable technical shorts for
• Technical T-shirts or base layers (quick-drying fabric) for
• A long-sleeved shirt
• Walking poles (telescopic), very important for making walking easier. Discover all the benefits of hiking poles in our dedicated article. Note: synthetic technical clothing performs very well. New merino wool clothing is also available; it performs very well, is comfortable to wear and has the advantage of resisting sweat odours! As a general rule, avoid cotton, which makes you cold when wet.
• A waterproof jacket and trousers are essential

For your lunchtime picnic

• Your cooking kit: a plastic bowl, container or plate, and cutlery (spoon, fork, knife)
• 1 or 2 water bottles (a total capacity of at least 1,5 L) – compulsory –; an insulated flask for winter

Protection from sun and rain

• Sunscreen (high protection)
• Sunglasses
• A hat, cap or bucket hat
• A rain poncho or a waterproof jacket, such as a softshell or Gore-Tex jacket, and possibly waterproof trousers

After your day’s activities

• A pair of running shoes for the evening
• A change of clothes and underwear
• A small toiletry bag and towel
• A small first-aid kit: personal medication, surgical masks, hand sanitiser, plasters, sterile dressings and a bandage, gauze, disinfectant, arnica granules, aspirin, etc. (Please note that this list is not exhaustive and should be adapted to your own medical needs.)

You can find these tips in our article #“What to take with you on a hike”

Ireland

Capital: Dublin

Population: 4757976 inhabitants

Irish traditions

The Irish pub
The pub is probably one of Ireland’s best-known institutions. It immediately brings to mind warm, welcoming surroundings where convivial company mingles with malty aromas…
Here, you order and collect your drinks at the bar, which can be difficult to reach at busy times. Be patient the first time you order a Guinness, as it is poured slowly in two stages. You pay as soon as you are served. At lunchtime, and sometimes in the evening too, pubs serve generous, varied food: soups, sandwiches or pub grub, a hearty meal at a reasonable price.
Unless you are particularly unsociable, you will rarely sit alone with your pint for more than 10 minutes. Important! If Irish people invite you for a drink, you do not pay for the first round, and above all, you should not insist… It is customary to drink as often as the Irish person you are with. A useful tip: if you are not used to beer or usually drink it in moderation, start with half pints (or glasses in Éire). For thirsty drinkers, a pint costs less than two half pints.

Mythology
Irish mythology holds a prominent place among European myths. It is the oldest to have been written down in the language of the people. The earliest texts date from the seventh century AD. The foundational poem of Irish mythology is the Táin Bó Cuailnge, known in English as The Cattle Raid of Cooley. Its warriors of the Red Branch are the equivalent of the Knights of the Round Table. In the days when people gathered around a storyteller by the fireside on long winter evenings, telling the Táin, along with a few accompanying tales, took an entire week! The central story concerns a war between the kingdoms of Ulster and Connaught. The accompanying tales include one of the most beautiful love stories in European literature, one of the Three Sorrowful Tales of Ireland: the story of Deirdre (“sorrow” in Gaelic). Full of twists and turns, it weaves together love, prophecies, dreams, rivalries, intrigue and battles.

Religions and beliefs
As you probably know, Ireland is a country with a strong religious tradition. You will have plenty of opportunities to see this for yourself: statues of the Virgin Mary along the roadside, large congregations at Sunday Mass and, on some radio stations, a minute’s silence for evening prayer.
Every year, the climb up Croagh Patrick draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, and the tiny island of St Patrick’s Purgatory (Donegal) can welcome up to 2500 penitents for three nights of prayer and mortification.
To understand such fervour, we need to look back a little. Christianity took hold gently and did not dismiss the ancient sacred sites and figures as diabolical relics. It absorbed them. The Catholic religion became a symbol of Irish resistance to the Anglican invader. Daniel O’Connell founded the Catholic Association and, in 1843, gathered nearly 1 million people at Tara (the former capital of the Celtic kings, another blend of Celtic and Catholic traditions); finally, the Constitution of 1922 has a decidedly clerical character. The prominent role of religion is, of course, closely linked to Ireland’s conservatism on social issues. Homosexuality was not decriminalised until 1993, divorce has only been legal since 1996, and abortion has only been possible since 2013… but only when the mother’s life is in danger!
﷟HYPERLINK “http://www.routard.com”Source: www.routard.com

Travellers, including minors, must carry a national identity card or passport (EU nationals). For more information, visit the website of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Bring your European Health Insurance Card, which you should request from your health insurance provider at least 15 days before departure. Health conditions are similar to those in France.

If you are planning a trip to Ireland, consider travelling between April and September: the weather is pleasant, the days are sunny, and there is less rain than in winter. Of course, you may experience a few rainy days, but it is quite common to enjoy a full day of sunshine with just a few passing clouds. In any case, avoid the coldest periods, such as December or January, when it gets really cold (whichever county you are in!). If you do wish to visit during this season, remember to bring warm, waterproof clothing.
Source: www.guide-irlande.com

French Embassy in Dublin
66 Fitzwilliam Lane - Dublin 2
Telephone: 003531 2775000

Dialling code from France: 00353

Ireland is one hour behind France. When it is 12:00 noon in France, it is 11:00 am in Dublin.

The euro is used in Ireland.