^{_{Starts 5 miles west of periwinkle b&b Galway City Ireland}}.
Connemara is that huge area of land west and northwest of Galway City.  It is a Gaeltacht area which means that the Irish language is the first language of the people living there and can be heard anywhere the people congregate, the signs and shop names are also in Irish but don’t worry they all speak English too!!

No trip to Galway is complete without experiencing the rugged natural beauty of Connemara, its bogs, the stone walls, its mountains and rivers, where the clouds become part of the scenery changing the shapes and colours of the mountains while you watch.  Connemara is a land of colours, and nowhere is this best seen than in the magnificent array of wild flowers which abound from March until October. During spring and early summer, daffodils, primroses, cowslips, irises, rhododendrons and wild orchids can all be seen. In late summer, the famous Connemara fuschia dominates the landscape before eventually giving way to the yellow gorse and purple heathers of autumn. It is no wonder that so many artists live there if only for a few weeks each year!  It may only be a few miles from Galway but it is a different world, the pace of life is slower, and within a short time you find yourself relaxing and becoming part of that world so give yourself atleast one full day there.  Where else would the mountain sheep with their black faces have priority on the road as they stand in front of us and remind us we are trespassing on their open pastures before strolling up the mountains again to look like mushrooms on the slopes.

The National Park is located near the village of Letterfrack and covers about 4,000 acres of countryside. Four of the Twelve Ben mountain range, including the highest of the Twelve Bens, Benbauun, are situated in the park so it is ideal for hillwalking
There are so many beautiful places to see there, the roads around Lough Inagh, Kylemore and Leenane are especially scenic. Killary Harbour, which separates Galway from Mayo is on the road to Leenane. Cruises around Killary Harbour are also available.
There are many outdoor activities on offer in Connemara such as walking, cycling, canoeing, surfing, sailing, swimming, sea cruising, pony trekking, golfing, fresh water and deep sea angling and of course if you are lucky enough to be there for the Clifden Pony Show you would see the Connemara Ponies.  You might even see a hooker race on a Sunday afternoon on one of the Bays it’s a spectacular sight or to my mind the most memorable of all is to watch the sun go down from the Skye Road in Clifden.

Bus tours leave Galway each morning 10.am and return 5.pm

Joan can arrange your tours before 9.am each morning, you will be picked up at 9.30am at The Periwinkle B&B and brought to the bus free of charge.

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