Tourism Pure Walking

Guided Walking Holidays in Mayo, Ireland

 

follow us ...

@tourismpure

 

Blog

Walking Holidays in Ireland

There are many great reasons for taking walking holidays in Ireland. Of course, we have the beautiful landscapes, particularly here in the west. We have the nice and relaxed pace of life along our west coast. We have the great craic in our rural pubs. But, of course, most of all we have the people. You’ve heard the phrase, “strangers are but friends waiting to be met”.

Walking holidays in Ireland

Discovering Ireland's Lakes

Walking holidays in the west of Ireland are about discovering our huge Atlantic blanket bogs, our exciting cliff-top trails and our offshore islands. They are about our mountains, although low at only up to 1,000 m, majestic and with spectacular views over the coastline all around. They are about our inland lakes and our tiny little villages, full of charm. They are about our pubs and the melodic sound of Irish traditional music that fills the best of them. They are about our lovely hosts in their special B&Bs and the effort they make to make all my guests feel special.

But walking holidays in Ireland are also about learning of our rural culture, our history and our tremendous Irish legends. They are about stories of battles, chieftains, churches and castles, about the land, The Great Famine and the struggle for independence. For many from the UK and USA, they are about learning of how their forefathers lived. For our continental visitors, they are about hearing and learning more of this fabled land that is Ireland. But most of all, it’s about the expereience of getting to spend time in our lovely land and meeting our people.

You’d be welcome.

Posted in Blog, Walking in the West of Ireland | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ag tuile is ag trá a chaitheann an fharraige an lá

“The sea spends its day ebbing and flowing”

Posted in Blog, Ecotourism | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Off We Go Walking Again !

Today sees the arrival of my first walking group of 2012. I’m bringing them up to the wild and majestic northwest corner of Mayo – to the Mullet peninsula and its fabulous cliff-top walks.

I know this is going to be a great year. The entire month of August is already booked out, as is the first half of June. Days are being blocked in July and all looks good from here.

What a pity it was when I heard a lady from Kerry tell some potential tourists to Ireland last week that going north of Galway was “not interesting”. How misinformed. Yes, we have fewer tourists in this part of the country than down in the southwest, but perhaps our offer is all the better for that.

Here’s my proposal. Come here to the wilds of the true West – Connemara nd Mayo – and then go home telling your friends and relatives you were disappointed. I doubt it.

Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cong Lakes Walking Weekend 2012

Join our group for this fantastic guided walking weekend in May. Taking place over the May bank holiday weekend, from May 4 through 7, this is one of the top walking weekends the West of Ireland has to offer.

Walking is graded easy on two of the days, with the third graded moderate and includes a hike to the top of the 411 m Benlevy mountains outside Clonbur.

 

Cong, at the very southern tip of County Mayo, is one of Ireland’s prettiest villages. The village is criss-crossed by numerous channels of the same river, with deep pools dotted all around. Cong even enjoys the added attraction of beautiful native and exotic woodlands all around.

Cong is a wonderful place for walking, with good quality off-road trails that skirt along the edges of the great western lakes of Loughs Corrib and Mask. The trails meander through lovely woodland, a mix of native broadleaves and the typical conifers of the West of Ireland.

Two pubs in Cong are excellent - Danagher’s at the bottom of the village and Lydon’s at the top. Both are home to really good trad music sessions. 

This is a three-night guided walking event, involving three days of walking. Cong and neighbouring Clonbur inhabit the narrow isthmus between the great Loughs Mask and Corrib, on the Galway Mayo border.

We stay in a choice of a Cong B&B or Cong Hostel, both directly across the street from eachother, with full board, including three breakfasts, three dinners and three packed lunches for the walks.

Day One (Fri.) : Arrival, dinner and orientation.

Day Two (Sat.) : Hiking the linear walk between Clonbur and Cong, through the native woodland regeneration site and on the limestone pavement (a ‘mini Burren’) landscape at Lough Mask.

Day Three (Sun.) : Hill climb of Benlevy, wedged between the two lakes and offering fabulous views of Mask, Corrib and the higher Connemara and South Mayo mountains in all directions. Visit the haunting deserted village at its base.

Day Four (Mon.) : Low lying walk through woodland and along the shore of Lough Corrib. Departure.

You can book your place on this relaxing, lovely walking weekend here.

Posted in Blog, Walking in the West of Ireland | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mountain Scenery

A short post to share some pictures I’ve recently taken out hillwalking here in Mayo. The weather has been incredible these past few weeks, with very little rain and nice bright, crisp blue-sky days in the hills. Great weather for hiking Mayo’s hills and higher mountains, so “Get Out There !” and go walking.

Mayo’s mountains tend to be wet and boggy places, with only a few boasting truly rocky summits. Our highest peaks reach modest levels between 700m and 814m for Mweelrea, Connacht’s highest point. Mountainous areas are to be found mostly in the south and west of the county, while the north and east are more flat landscapes.

The great attractions of Mayo’s mountains are twofold. First, this is a truly rural, little populated part of Ireland. You’re unlikely to meet anybody on any Mayo mountain, with the obvious exception of the ‘holy mountain’ of Croagh Patrick. Second, it is from the summits of our mountains that you can best appreciate the extraordinary landscapes of this west of Ireland place.

Look down from a mountain on our beautiful and varied coastline, our vast blanket bogs, our tiny villages – indeed our deserted villages – and across the surrounding mountains with their superb examples of corrie lakes.

You’re welcome to Mayo.

Posted in Blog, Ecotourism | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Thank you very much, Walshes

We had absolutely beautiful weather as we completed The Bangor Trail on Friday last. Even though we were in the dying days of winter, I had never experienced the trail in such a dry condition, not even in summer. I guess that’s not really surprising, as we’ve had very little rain this winter.

We took 9 h 45 min to complete the 26 km trail, which included a diversion up to the Scardaun Loughs for lunch. We had no rain at all.

Quite the opposite on Saturday, however. Having only one car, our small team had to cycle back from Bangor to Letterkeen to pick up mine, a distance of around 32 km. It didn’t stop raining for one minute. Leaving Bangor, we had the wind and rain to our backs. That was okay, but I realised what lay ahead. Having turned at Bellacorick, we had it hitting us from our  right hand side, sweeping in and down over Slieve Carr and Nephin Beg, nearly knocking us into the ditch. The real problems, however, arose when we turned at Keenagh. Now it was straight in our faces. Now we started to feel the 2 h 20 min already in our legs, piled on top of the long hike the day before. Not to mention the fact that J didn’t really have waterproof boots …

With the very hilly section ahead and our willpower waning, J asked for assistance, with 7.5 km of serious ups and downs still to go. Mr. Walsh agreed to give me a spin up to the bothy, where I could collect the car, drive back, pick up the others and head for Castlebar. We were very grateful.

At the bothy, I met some acquaintances who had failed to get beyond the third stream to be crossed on the Trail, such was the amount of water that had fallen since the previous day.

On my return to the Walsh household, I found the lads in the kitchen, pulled up to the table and eating soup and bread served up by the lady of the house, to these unannounced total strangers. I was invited in and shared of their generous hospitality. Later, in the car on the way back to Castlebar, I noticed J was wearing jeans. Mrs. Walsh had invited them to use the bathroom to change their clothes. Genuine West of Ireland people. Thank you very much.

Posted in Blog, Walking in the West of Ireland | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment