Tourism Pure Walking Holidays

Guided Walking Holidays in Mayo & Connemara, Ireland
 

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Posts tagged with: 'Mayo'

Cong Lakes Walking Weekend 2013

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Barry Murphy

Join our group for this fantastic guided walking weekend in May. Taking place over the May bank holiday weekend, from May 3 through 6, 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 mountain 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.

Book this walking weekend :

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

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

Single Parent Families Outdoors at Easter

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Barry Murphy

Event Dates :

Single Parent Families Outdoors at Easter takes place from

Saturday 23rd – Tuesday 26th of March 2013

Event Location :

Cong, Co. Mayo [3 hrs from Dublin; 1h30 from Sligo; 40 mins from Galway]

Event Details :

A short holiday for the single parent to come and enjoy with your children. Get to spend some time with other single parents, in a relaxed, rural environment. Our group will gather Saturday afternoon the 23rd of March – the day after schools close for Easter holidays. On Sunday and Monday, we will walk off-road on easy, flat ground in lovely woodlands. We will visit a ruined castle, lakeshore, sink holes and more. Children will especially enjoy the treasure hunt on Sunday and the orienteering on Tuesday. They will climb a tower and learn about tree species we encounter as we go.

Cong is a beautiful place in County Mayo, traversed by numerous river channels, with islands and forest tracks that mean we can stay off the roads while walking.

At night, parents can discover the local pubs, relax and chat, while the children will enjoy movies, boardgames and popcorn, under supervision.

Choose between B&B or hostel private room accommodation. They are literally straight across the quiet cul-de-sac from eachother. All meals will be held together in the B&B, with packed lunches on each day we’re in the great outdoors.

We will endeavour to accommodate each family’s preferred sleeping arrangements. The B&B has rooms with one double plus one single bed, others with twin beds, etc. The hostel has en-suite rooms with four beds.

Saturday, March 23, 2013 :

Arrive at your leisure in Cong during the afternoon, for dinner together around 6 pm.

Sunday, March 24 :

We will walk in woodland and by Lough Corrib. After our picnic lunch, we will have a treasure hunt in the woods.

Monday, March 25 :

We will discover new woods and Lough Mask. After our picnic lunch, we will walk around Cong village and feed the ducks.

Tuesday, March 26 :

Having departed our accommodation, we will enjoy an orienteering event in a lakeside woodland located 30 minutes along the road.

Get in touch if you are interested in coming along with your children on this single parent outdoors break, in one of Ireland’s loveliest locations.

Included : Three nights in a B&B or hostel, 3 x dinners, 3 x packed lunches, 3 x breakfasts, treasure hunt, orienteering, full guiding throughout.

Not included : Travel to Mayo, miscellaneous purchases, drinks.

We suggest that this break is most suitable to children aged roughly 7 to 14 years.

Single Parent Families Outdoors at Easter Prices & Reservation :

Full board B&B Accommodation in a shared room – Price for parent (€260) + first child (€100)  
Date :
 € 360
Full board B&B Accommodation in a shared room – Price for each subsequent child (€40)  
Date :
 € 40
Full board Hostel Accommodation in a shared room – Price for parent (€230) + first child (€90)  
Date :
 € 320
Full board Hostel Accommodation in a shared room – Price for each subsequent child (€40)  
Date :
 € 40

Please Note : Drinks are not included in the prices.

Posted in Events, Multi Day Walking Tours | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Achill Island Walking Weekend

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Barry Murphy

Event Dates :

This walking weekend on Achill Island takes place from

Friday 5th – Sunday 7th of April 2013

Event Location :

Keel, Achill Island, Co. Mayo

Event Details :

Experience the wonderful scenery of Achill, Ireland’s largest island, during springtime. Come to the West and enjoy one of its greatest assets – this fabulous island with its spectacular coastline, unrivalled cliffs, hidden corrie lakes and inviting mountains.

Walks will be moderate to hard, as we tackle both Achill’s impressive mountains. At 671 m, Slievemore offers lovely views out across Blacksod Bay to The Mullet Peninsula beyond. Visit a neolithic tomb and the remains of prehistoric houses. Croaghaun looms above the westernmost tip of the island, falling 688 m away to the ocean below.

Friday, April 5, 2013 :

Arrive at Westport train station Friday evening. There’s no need to bring the car to Mayo. Jump on a train from Heuston at 12.45, relax and arrive in Westport at 15.55. Transfer to Achill and an after-dinner stroll on the wonderful beach, just metres from our weekend base.u

Saturday, April 6, 2013 :

We will hike Slievemore, taking in the famous deserted village and archaeological features of this northern part of the island (approx. 6 hours).

Sunday, April 7, 2013 :

A superb hike up to Croaghaun, Ireland’s highest sea cliffs. Descent past old booley houses to the iconic beach at Keem Bay (approx. 6 hours), before departure on the 17.45 train that gets in to Dublin at 21.10.

Get in touch if you are interested in taking part in this small group guided walking weekend to one of Ireland’s most beautiful walking locations. As always, packed lunches and warm dinners are included in the price, along with B&B.

Included : Two nights in a B&B, 2 x dinners, 2 x packed lunches, 2 x breakfasts, local transfers, full guiding throughout.

Not included : Travel to Mayo by train or other, miscellaneous purchases, drinks.

Achill Island Walking Weekend Prices & Reservation :

Full board B&B Accommodation in a twin or double room (price for one person)
Date :
€ 275
Full board B&B Accommodation in a single room (total price for one person)
Date :
€ 295

Please Note : This guided walking weekend is not suitable to people under the age of 18, or those with limited or restricted mobility. Transport to and from Westport by train is not included in the price. You will be collected from and returned to Westport train station at no extra cost.

Discover more about Achill Island.

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Walking Tours Ireland 2012 – A Photographic Review

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Barry Murphy

I was sitting here reviewing some photos from 2012 walking tours, when I thought, well, why not share them in a blog post. So here we go. I’ve selected five photos that might inform the would-be visitor to this wonderful part of the world what a walking tour in Mayo and Connemara might consist of. I hope you enjoy the pics.

Walking tours Ireland - Mayo

Inisturk, off the Mayo coast

The first is of the wonderful Atlantic Ocean. Being out on a boat, heading to or from one of Mayo or Connemara’s offshore islands is a real treat. This pic is of the imposing cliffs on the western edge of Inisturk, on an impossibly beautiful early summer’s day. The light was fab that day and we really enjoyed a great stroll around this small, beautiful Mayo island.

Walking tours Ireland - The Bangor Trail

The Bangor Trail, Mayo

The second is of the very special Bangor Trail, a centuries old drover’s track across bog and below mountains in west Mayo. Though this was taken on a bright day, it actually suits this lonely, hidden place to be under lower cloud cover. This is a fantastic, wet place – a place where Atlantic blanket bog and wild west of Ireland weather will dominate you, rather than the other way around.

Walking tours Ireland - Belmullet

The Mullet Peninsula, Mayo

This is the low-lying and very remote Mullet Peninsula, in north west Mayo. Beyond Belmullet town, this place is a full 80 minutes drive from Castlebar or Westport. But it’s very much worth the visit, even if only to tramp along its stunning beaches in bare feet. Feel the wind in your face and look out over the haunting islands and rocks of Iniskea, Inisglora and others.

Walking tours Ireland, Maumtrasna

Corrie lakes below Maumtrasna

In February, fog filled the valley floor below Maumtrasna, as we approached from Barnahowna. Slowly, it dissipated, to reveal the twin corrie lakes of Loughs Nambrackkeagh (foreground) and Nadirkmore (below the dramatic cliffs, beyond). Ireland’s finest example of a true plateau, Maumtrasna offers excellent loop walks, taking in its fantastic valleys.

Walking tours Ireland - Iniskea

Abandoned homes of Iniskea

With its broken down homes as backdrop, Iniskea Island makes for one of the finest day trips in the West of Ireland. The boat out from Blacksod is a treat in itself, skipping between the Mullet peninsula and various little islands and rocks. The island, with its fascinating mix of human history, tragic tales, industrial heritage and varied coastal wildlife, is a place visitors never forget. A very special trip.

Walking tours Ireland 2013

If you’d like to cosider a walking tour in this part of Ireland during 2013, visit my walking tours page. You can view one-day hikes also.

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Walking Tours in Ireland – Anatomy of a Day

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Barry Murphy

Walking tours in Mayo, Ireland, are about enjoying the beautiful coastal, mountain, lakeshore or woodland landscapes our part of the country has to offer. And they’re about the people we meet and share our time with.

Walking Tours - guided walking holidays Ireland

Enjoying themselves in Mayo

Sitting in a quiet rural pub by night, I observe members of our small group recounting stories and sharing opinions on where we’ve been today. They can be overheard admitting to one another that they had never really known much about Mayo until now. They’re having a good time.

Earlier in the evening, they had been enjoying each other’s company around the dinner table in our B&B. Telling eachother where they come from, where they’ve walked, what they like. Getting to know eachother. There’s a lovely camaraderie you find on walking tours, born from sharing 6 hours of hiking through wind and bog, with nobody around but us.

We had returned to the B&B around 5 pm, giving us all plenty of time to relax before dinner. People drifted off to their rooms for a shower and a lie-down, delighted with their day of walking two lovely, fairly easy cliff-top trails. With sea air in their nostrils and sea spray in their hair, they were glad to have the chance to rest their legs. It’s an integral part of a walking tour.

The day had begun with a wholesome breakfast – you know, the most important meal of the day for the walker. But we’re not talking about a 7 am rise here. No, this is a relaxing walking tour. Breakfast was at 8 and we left the house at our leisure, around 9.30.

Walking tours in Ireland - Tourism Pure Walking Holidays

A Wonderful Sea

Our first walk brought us along cliffs rising to 230 m, with great views across the North Atlantic. Even transferring from the first walk to the second was enjoyable, with good craic, interested questions and varying opinions being bandied about the minibus. When you hear opinions, you know you’ve a great group. We munched on our packed lunch and sipped a cup of tea. The second walk was easier than the first, with new views and seabirds to accompany us all along. They liked the wind. They loved the waves crashing on the rocks below.They didn’t even mind the rain shower. Finishing up after 4.30 pm, we happily regained our B&B.

So as we lounge in the local pub, I reflect that successful walking tours are first and foremost ones where walkers have fun. And, heck, if the sun shines, all the better.

Find walking tours in Mayo, in the West of Ireland.

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Walking Holidays – Shared Rooms Only ?

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Barry Murphy

I’ve been wondering about this for quite a while now. Could I offer a walking holiday with shared rooms only ?

Guided walking holidays in Ireland

Walking in West Mayo

We’ve all heard about ‘production orientation’ versus ‘customer orientation’, right ? The former is where a business puts production values before customer ‘wants’. The latter is where a business puts the customer’s ‘wants’ at the centre of all decisions. The former is generally deemed bad, while the latter good. And yet …

One of the pillars of ecotourism / green tourism / sustainable tourism / rural tourism (whatever you’re having yourself) is the notion of supporting local communities and their tourism providers.

Which Walking Holiday ?

So here’s the conundrum. Up in far-flung Erris, out on the Mullet Peninsula, there are only a small number of B&Bs. Each has only a limited number of rooms. Now, I try to support them by bringing some walkers out there each year (not enough, but that’s another story). Anyway, my issue is that it bothers me greatly when I ask them for single bookings, because I know I’m occupying their very limited rooms while not maximising their income.

Guided walking holidays Ireland

B&B Partner, Léim Siar

In this case, is it really that bad to be somewhat ‘production-oriented’, by offering walkers shared rooms only for this walking holiday experience ? Does this mean I’m favouring the product over the customer ? I think not. I hope you think not too.

In my heart, I know it’s a lovely walking holiday product that’s being offered. I believe that walkers will agree to this perhaps unusual ‘condition’. So, for the 2013 version of my popular Western Ocean Walking Weekend, taking place over the August bank holiday weekend, I’ll only be offering shared accommodation. Let’s see how this one pans out.

Cick on the link to book your room-sharing place on this lovely guided walking weekend.

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