The Beauty of Connemara

Easy to moderate. Relatively short stages of 25 to 35km with the possibility of longer stages on certain days. No technical difficulty, there are some small hills and descents. Options for shorter or longer routes available on almost every day.

Route:

Your tour takes place 90% on paved roads and 10% on tracks.

Nothing to carry except a small bag with your daily belongings and your picnic.

Booking available from 1 person. A solo traveller supplement will apply (please contact us)

7 days / 6 nights / 5 days of cycling.

Departure dates and operating periods depend on current availability.

We provide you with a digital travel guide that includes: access to our smartphone guidance app, a list of your accommodations, any exchange vouchers and all the information necessary for your stay.
If you wish, we can provide you with a paper version of the travel guide with maps, route guide and travel folder, for an additional fee quoted with the current offer. You will also receive personalized welcome on the day of your arrival or the following morning.
For any paper travel guide request: less than 45 days before departure and for residents abroad, the guides will be sent to the first hotel.

Accommodation

You stay in a room for 2 people with private bathroom in a hotel 3* or (subject to availability) in bed and breakfasts/guesthouses. Bed and breakfasts are always very popular because you will stay in a family home where the personal touch and attention to detail are incomparable. A true Irish welcome awaits you along with home-cooked meals, comfort and a taste of traditional Irish life. Although you may be housed in part of the family home, this does not mean you will not have privacy. The rooms are comfortable, the amenities modern, and the care and attention are what these properties excel at.

Leenane Hotel in Leenane ® Leenane Hotel

Note: Accommodation photos are not contractual. Accommodations may be subject to change. Depending on availability, we can book other hotels of equivalent comfort and standard.

Dining

Breakfasts included. For lunch: you can order your picnic at your accommodation or eat along the way at an inn or typical restaurant. For dinner: you will have a choice of several restaurants along your route.
Please inform us at registration of any food allergies or special dietary requirements; we will do our best to adapt your meals.

Start

Day 1, in the afternoon at your hotel in Clifden.

End

Day 7 after breakfast at your hotel in Clifden.

Bike Rental

The bikes we offer you (or equivalents):

Trek FX 2 Disc (bike rental is included in the stay)

Trek FX 2 Disc

With supplement (on request):

1 / hybrid mountain bike with front suspension: Trek Dual Sport 3

Trek Dual Sport 3

2 / electric turbo bike: Trek Verve – Low Step

Trek Verve – Low Step

Electric turbo bikes are more powerful and make climbing hills easier. However, if the battery is completely drained, they are harder to pedal due to their higher weight.

Bike rental includes the following accessories:

We provide a bike rack, a helmet (various sizes), small front handlebar bag, side bags, repair kit with tyre levers and pump, and lock. Participants in our cycling trips must have a minimum knowledge of how a bike works and be able to change gears and brake, fix a derailed chain, repair a puncture and change a flat tyre.

By Plane

Flights are not included in the price of the stay, but we can offer them with regular airlines, please contact us. The main airlines serving Ireland are: Aer Lingus, Air France, and Ryanair. The main airport to reach Connemara is Dublin, as it has the most international flights.

Then you need to go to Galway. You have several options to do so. The simplest is to take a direct bus between the airport and Galway (CityLink). Direct buses depart from the airport to Galway every 30 to 60 minutes. You should allow between 2.5 and 3 hours for the journey.

Once in Galway you can take a direct bus to Clifden (approximately 1 hour 30 minutes journey: line 419 from Bus Eireann or line 923 from Citylink).

Please let us know your arrival time in Clifden so we can notify your accommodation and arrange your reception.

A number of our trips are suitable for swimming, during a stage or at the end of the day. It would be a shame not to take advantage of it. However, we emphasise that you are the sole judges of whether a swim is appropriate; these swims are therefore undertaken at your own responsibility and risk.

Member of Responsible Tourism Action (ATR)

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

Present on the board of directors since 2018, we actively contribute to advancing the sector’s practices towards greater purpose. Concretely, we ensure:

• Transparency in our practices and our prices
• Respect for our partners and local populations
• Preservation of the environment on each of our trips

We also share the values of the traveller’s ethical charter, which encourages everyone to adopt simple actions to protect the places visited and foster beautiful encounters.

Travelife Partner

Since 2025, Grand Angle is recognized as a Travelife Partner, an international label that certifies our responsible practices in terms of environment, ethics and sustainable management, both within our company and with our partners and in the organization of our trips.

This label, the second level of a demanding international certification, attests to our concrete actions in favour of responsible tourism. We are actively pursuing our progress towards the next level, Travelife Certified, in accordance with our sustainable development policy

For the bike

• Short or long cycling shorts depending on the season
• Cycling gloves
• A helmet (mandatory)
• Sunglasses (for sun, air, midges)
• A windbreaker
• T-shirts or cycling jerseys
• A handlebar map holder and/or smartphone mount on handlebars (with external battery)
• A water bottle

Note: synthetic technical clothing is very high-performance. New merino wool clothing has also appeared; it is very high-performance and pleasant to wear, and has the advantage of not developing sweat odours (Icebreaker, Ruka brands, etc…)!

In general, avoid cotton, which becomes cold when wet.

Against sun and rain

• Sunscreen and sunglasses
• Hat, cap or bucket hat (helmet)
• A windbreaker
• A rain cape or a “Goretex”

After the effort

• A sweater or fleece jacket
• Comfortable trousers for walking
• A pair of shorts
• A tracksuit or change of clothes
• A lightweight cotton shirt with long sleeves
• A pair of jogging-style trainers for the evening
• Change of clothes and personal items
• A swimming costume
• Toiletries bag
• A mini first-aid kit: personal medicines, plasters, second skin “2”, gauze, disinfectant, arnica granules and aspirin for minor ailments…

• If you don’t have a bag on your bike, take a comfortable 40-litre backpack with a waist strap to carry your personal items and picnic during the day. If you have a bike rack, you can attach your bag to it using bungee cords. Rental bikes are provided with a bag where you can put your items. Still equip yourself with a small backpack; this allows you to easily carry your belongings when you go sightseeing on the road
• A support bag: a backpack or travel bag in good condition

Country: Ireland
Capital: Dublin
Population: 4757976 inhabitants

Documents

Travellers, including minors, must be in possession of a valid national identity card or passport (for EU citizens).

Health

Obtain a European health insurance card, to be requested from your health insurance fund at least 15 days before departure. Health conditions are similar to those in France.

French Embassy in Dublin
66 Fitzwilliam Lane - Dublin 2
Telephone: 003531 6990984

Ireland +353.

There is one hour less in Ireland. When it is 12:00 in France, it is 11:00 in Dublin.

If you wish to plan your trip to Ireland, don’t hesitate to travel between April and September: the weather is pleasant, the days sunny, and there is less rain than in winter. Of course, you may experience a few rainy days, but it quite often happens to have a full day of sunshine, only crossed by a few clouds.
In any case, avoid the coldest periods such as December or January when it is really chilly (regardless of which county you are in!). If you ever wish to visit during this season, don’t forget to bring warm and waterproof clothing.
Source: www.guide-irlande.com

Euro.

Irish Traditions
The Irish Pub
The pub is probably one of the most well-known Irish institutions. It irresistibly evokes warm atmospheres where conviviality mixes with malty aromas…
Here, you go and order your drink at the bar, which is difficult to reach during peak hours. Don’t get impatient the first time you order a Guinness, since it’s poured in two stages, slowly. You pay as soon as you’re served. At lunchtime, and sometimes in the evening too, pubs offer you hearty and varied food: soups, sandwiches or pub grub, a substantial dish at a reasonable price.
Unless you’re particularly antisocial, you won’t often find yourself alone for more than 10 mn in front of your pint. Important! If you are invited by Irish people, you don’t pay for the first round, and especially, don’t insist… It is customary to drink as often as the Irish person who is with you. Valuable advice: if you’re not used to beer or usually drink it in moderation, start with half pints (or glasses in Ireland). For heavy drinkers, know that a pint costs less than two half pints.

Mythology
Irish mythology holds a prominent place in European myths. It is the oldest that is written in the people’s language. The oldest texts date from the 7th century AD. The founding poem of Irish mythology is the Táin Bó Cuailnge, in English The Cattle Raid of Cooley. In it, in the form of the warriors of the Red Branch, you find the equivalent of the Knights of the Round Table. In the times of long evenings by the fireside around a storyteller during long winter nights, the narration of the Táin, embellished with a few supplementary tales, took an entire week! The central story is a war between the kingdoms of Ulster and Connacht. Among the supplementary tales is one of the most beautiful love stories in European literature, one of the Three Sorrowful Tales of Ireland, that of Deirdre (meaning “sorrow” in Irish). Full of twists and turns, it interweaves love, prophecies, dreams, rivalries, intrigues and battles.

Religions and Beliefs
Ireland is a country of strong religious tradition. You’ll have the chance to see it for yourself: statues of the Virgin Mary around corners, crowds at Sunday mass, and on some radio stations, a minute of silence for evening prayers.
Every year, the ascent of Croagh Patrick brings together hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, and the tiny island of Saint Patrick’s Purgatory (Donegal) can receive up to 2500 penitents for three nights of prayers and mortification.
To understand such fervor, we need to look back. Christianity took hold gently and did not relegate the ancient sacred places and figures to the rank of demonic antiquities. It assimilated them. Catholic religion became the symbol of Irish resistance against the Anglican invader. Daniel O’Connell founded the Catholic Association and gathered, in 1843, nearly 1 million people at Tara (ancient capital of Celtic kings, still a Celtic-Catholic mix); finally, the Constitution of 1922 presents a resolutely clerical aspect. The important place of religion is obviously not unrelated to Ireland’s conservatism on social issues. It wasn’t until 1993 that homosexuality was decriminalized, 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!
Source: www.routard.com