Almost all of this is Connemara, and the Twelve Bens are the centre of it. They are a range of bare quartzite peaks inside the national park, twelve of them over 500 m and topped by Benbaun at 729 m, the highest point in the county. Several of the other entries here are either one of those summits or a view of them. Benlettery, the southernmost Ben at 577 m, has a hostel at its foot and a five-kilometre climb that is the gentlest way onto the ridges. The Glencoaghan Horseshoe behind it is a serious day with no marked paths.
If you are not walking, the Sky Road is the one to drive. Sixteen kilometres out of Clifden, free and open year-round, it climbs to a clifftop viewpoint over Clifden Bay and the islands, and takes an hour by car or half a day with the walk to Clifden Castle and a stop at Eyrephort. The Inagh Valley does something similar from the floor of a glacial trough, the R344 running past Lough Inagh with the Bens on one side and the Maumturks on the other.
Away from the mountains, Golam Head on Leitir Mealláin is a marked coastal walk to an 1804 signal tower with the Aran Islands out in front, and Tully Mountain gives an outsized view for a short pathless climb.
Bare quartzite peaks at the centre of Connemara National Park, twelve of them over 500 m, carrying some of Ireland's finest ridge walks and no marked paths.
A free 16 km clifftop loop out of Clifden over the bay and the islands, an hour by car or a good half-day on foot.
The southernmost of the Twelve Bens at 577 m, and at about 5 km the gentlest single climb onto the range, from a hostel at its foot.
A marked coastal walk from Leitir Mealláin out to an 1804 signal tower, with a shallow turquoise reef below and the Aran Islands in front.
A glacial trough with the Bens on one side and the Maumturks on the other, driven on the R344 past Lough Inagh and the pine-crowned islet on Derryclare.
23 of 25 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Connemara, galway
The Twelve Bens are a range of bare quartzite peaks at the centre of Connemara National Park, twelve of them over 500 m and topped by Benbaun at 729 m. The high horseshoes, led by the Glencoaghan, are among Ireland's finest ridge walks – but they are serious mountain days with no marked paths. Casual walkers should stick to Diamond Hill instead.
Clifden, galway
The Sky Road is a 16 km loop out of Clifden that climbs to a clifftop viewpoint over Clifden Bay and the islands. It's free, open year-round, and takes an hour to drive or a good half-day with the walk to Clifden Castle and a stop at Eyrephort beach.
Connemara National Park, galway
Benlettery is the southernmost of the Twelve Bens, rising to 577m above Ballynahinch Lake. A hostel sits at its foot, making the standalone 5km climb one of the easiest introductions to Connemara's ridges, or the first leg of the long Glencoaghan Horseshoe.
Connemara, galway
The Twelve Bens are the bare quartzite peaks behind Letterfrack, topped by Benbaun (725m), the highest point in County Galway. Most walkers do the marked Diamond Hill loop for the views over Kylemore Abbey and Derryclare; the full Glencoaghan Horseshoe is a serious day out for experienced hillwalkers only.
Leitir Mealláin, galway
Turquoise Atlantic waters break over a shallow reef at Golam Head, while a sturdy 1804 signal tower stands guard above. Reach the headland via a well-marked coastal walk from Leitir Mealláin, with views of the Aran Islands and Connemara’s rocky shoreline.
Recess, galway
The Inagh Valley is a glacial trough running through the heart of Connemara, walled by the Twelve Bens to the west and the Maumturks to the east. The R344 follows the valley floor past Lough Inagh and Derryclare Lough, with a pine-crowned islet on Derryclare and the Maumeen pass, an old mass-rock pilgrimage site, on the eastern hills. It is free, open year-round and good for driving, fishing and serious hill walking.
Leenane, galway
Leenane sits at the head of Killary, Ireland’s only fjord, hemmed in by the Maam-Turks and Mweelrea. It’s the base for 90-minute fjord cruises, a working sheep farm you can visit, and the Western Way long-distance trail – and the village where Jim Sheridan shot *The Field*.
Letterfrack, galway
Letterfrack sits at the foot of Diamond Hill and is the main gateway to Connemara National Park, whose trails and visitor centre are free to enter. Founded as a Quaker relief village and later the site of a notorious industrial school, it's now a small hub with good food, a bookshop-café and Kylemore Abbey five minutes up the road.
galway
The R336 runs through Maam Valley between the Maumturk mountains and Lough Corrib, in the heart of Joyce Country. Along it are the ruined White O' Morn cottage from The Quiet Man, the old pilgrim pass at Mámean, trout rivers, and marble folds where a fossil found in the 1990s turned out to be a species new to science. It is a slow drive with plenty of laybys.
Streamstown Bay, galway
Twice a day the Atlantic empties out of Streamstown Bay, leaving mudflats you can walk at low tide, including a short crossing to the grassy islet of Boolard. The inlet sits on the Sky Road loop just north of Clifden, with a lone granite standing stone at Letterdeen and old Connemara marble workings nearby.
Galway, galway
Tully Mountain rises abruptly from the Renvyle Peninsula to 356m, with a summit view stretching from the Twelve Bens to Croagh Patrick and out to Inishbofin. There's no marked path – it's open, boggy hillside you navigate yourself – but the climb is short and the view outsized.
Connemara National Park, galway
Letterfrack, galway
Connemara National Park, galway
Connemara National Park, galway
Maam Cross, galway
Kilronan, galway
Roundstone, galway
Clifden, galway
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Connemara, galway
North-west Connemara, galway
Kylebrack, galway
Inis Oírr (Inisheer), galway
Inis Mór, galway
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