Often when students are attending an English language course at the DLTC Language School, they also want to see other parts of Ireland during their stay. One very popular trip is to Galway, the cliffs of Moher and Connemara – all very famous and very beautiful parts of Ireland. It’s possible to visit these places on a coach tour with Maccoole Tours or Healy Tours but if there are a few students who want to see these places, it is also very economical to rent a car for a weekend. So we’ve decided to give you the information that you need here in order to do this trip and we got the information from a group of DLTC students who did this tour in January 2012. We’ve got a few photos of what to expect and have drawn the route on a Google map (http://g.co/maps/pqsef) – and here’s what the DLTC students told me:
“Ok so last weekend we travelled from Dun Laoghaire to Galway, Connemara, Cliffs of Moher. We rented two cars from Enterprise Car Rentals which is right here in Dun Laoghaire. The cars were big with 6 people in each car and cost only about 25euro per person for the 2 days – including petrol! (But the driver should be about 25)
We left on Saturday morning and drive straight to Galway – it only takes about 2 hours. We left our bags in the hostel and continued to the Cliffs of Moher. It took about 1.5 hours to get there as we took the coast road which isn’t very direct but is very beautiful.
At the cliffs, you have to pay about 6euros per student but there is a movie with information about the cliffs and a coffee bar and services. But of course the most amazing part is the cliffs themselves – very beautiful and very powerful standing at the Atlantic ocean! Be careful not to go too near the edge – people do fall off, seriously!
As it was now nearly dark, we drove back to Galway by the direct main road which took about an hour. In Galway there are many places to eat and we found a good menu with dinner and a drink for about 15-20euro. Fish and chips is also a good option if the weather is warmer outside.
After that it was party time. Galway has a great social atmosphere and we went to the Kings Head pub where there was live Irish and international music until 3-4 in the morning. There were lots of people there and the atmosphere was fantastic – we would really recommend it.
The only thing we wouldn’t recommend in Galway was the hostel which was quite dirty. It only cost 14euro per night – included was a light breakfast of cereal/toast/tea – and the rooms were shared with 5-10 people. Some other people we know got a hotel room for 2 people with full breakfast included for 60euro – so it was a lot more comfortable and not much more expensive.
On Sunday morning we got up early at 8am to have breakfast and drive on the Connemara loop. This goes from Galway out to Connemara and back again in some of the most fantastic scenery.
We stopped at a trail head for the Connemara National Park which had 3 trekking options (easy / medium / difficult). The difficult option requires waterproof boots and rain clothes – it rains here most of the year! We went for a 1.5 hour walk – you may want to bring water and food because in winter there is nothing open here.
We also visited Kylemore Abbey which is one of the most famous photographs of Ireland. It costs about less than 10euro to enter if you are a student (you can get International student cards ISIC from the DLTC Language School office) and unfortunately, you only see 3 rooms in the house and the abbey and the gardens – you cant see all the castle – so maybe it’s a little overpriced – but location is very beautiful and the Abbey fantastic to see.
One other place that we didn’t have much time to visit was the Field Pub (Gaynors) in Leenaun beside Killary Ford – this is the typical Irish pub with a fire and local people speaking the Irish language. A famous Irish movie, The Field, was filmed here and there are pictures of the movie on the wall.
It then took us about 3-4 hours to drive back from Connemara to Dublin, arriving back on Sunday night. It only takes about 2 hours on the motorway between Galway and Dublin but the other roads are a lot smaller and it takes much longer to travel what seem like smaller distances – be careful on these roads, they can be very narrow .. and always drive on the left and turn left at roundabouts!
In total the weekend cost us about 120-130euro each for the 2 days, including: hoste, car, petrol, entrances, meals, tolls and 3 or 4 beers (optional!).”
Ok so there’s some good information on what to expect, if you want to do a similar tour. It’s very easy to organise if you get a few students together in the school who all want to go. If you need any other advice, talk to the DLTC Language School office and we can try to help. With thanks to Francisco for the details!
View Connemara, Cliffs of Moher, Galway weekend in a larger map
