Way Out West

Another glorious beach way out west

We have been in Ireland for almost two weeks now and to be honest it has been a real tonic. The weather has been a bit mixed, though we only lost one full day to rain, and the best days have been simply stunning.

The magnificent rock scenery of the Burren

The main tourist destinations are usually rammed, with coach-loads of grockles milling about whilst the buses block the roads, then the load up and drive along with a huge queue behind them. The obvious key is to avoid the hot-spots - which suites us just fine.
We have walked lots of stunning deserted beaches, explore the massive Cliffs of Moher and wandered around the limestone wonderland of the Burren.
For accommodation we have used a mixture of B and Bs (usually excellent, especially the Full Irish breakfasts) and more typical Hostels which are a bit more 'down-market' but are also less expensive and super friendly.
The people are great - Irish hospitality really has to be experienced to be believed - I'm not sure why they are all so cheerful but we do like it!

Luck of the Irish

The endless expanse of Inch Beach - Dingle Bay

So the summer rolls around and once again we are faced with the annual conundrum of what to do in July and August - much of the UK is very busy and with unsettled weather whereas the Continent is just as busy and hot too!
Many years ago we spent a great week climbing at the Burren on the west coast of Galway - a beautiful part of the world with great folks, so we thought that a reprise might fill a couple of weeks.
The ferry was £500+ return for a crossing that takes less than two hours. RyanAir were offering flights from Manchester to Shannon for £5 each - a bit of a no-brainer then - especially as car-hire was less than £110 for a couple of weeks.

Emerald woods on the Emerald Isle

Two days in and we have visited the amazing beach at Inch on Dingle Bay and spent a day wandering around the Killarney Lake District. The weather has been a little bit of what the Irish call 'soft' - but it hasn't stopped us getting stuff done. The people are exceptionally cheerful and friendly which is great and starting each day with 'Full Irish' gives us enough fuel to make it through to the evening without the need to eat again - so we haven't needed to visit an Irish pub - yet!