Connemara, Cong & Kylemore Abbey Tour

Step back in time and relive the old way of live with us through the  Connemara heart land. Our tours take in the Atlantic coast drive while offering a 2 hour stop at the magical Kylemore Abbey & Gardens. Also we will try to teach you a few ‘coupla focail’ along the way!! Tours daily year round except Dec 25th 26th & Jan 1st  

Choose which Healy Connemara Tour suits you!!!

• 10am Connemara, Galway Bay & Cong Tour: More FREE time to relax and experience the old way of life in rural Connemara. This tour travels along the coast of Galway bay. After a 2 hour stop at Kylemore Abbey & gardens the tour travels back along by Killary Fjord , Cornamona and Cong village. Returns 17:30pm approx
• 11:30am Connemara & Cong Tour: This later tour travels out by the leafy banks of Lough Corrib & Oughterard to Kylemore Abbey & Gardens. After a 2 hour stop at the abbey the tour travels along by Killary Fjord , Leenane ,Cornamona with  a short stop in Cong village before returning to Galway 17:30pm approx

This tour has the following highlights
	Spiddal - Located just 12 miles of Galway City, people speak both Irish & English. Renowned for its blue flag beach & angling Spiddal Craft village offers people the opportunity to buy handmade gifts directly from Artisans themselves.
	Connemara - a unique landscape of blanket bog. Comprising of some 250km square miles extending west into Connaught
	Replica of Quiet Man Cottage - here about the Quiet man movie directed by John B Keane starring John Wayne & Maureen O'Hara.
	Inagh & Maam Valleys - described by Irish writers as areas of scenic & unsurpassed beauty. See turf cutting in the valleys & sheep roaming the roadside. The only traffic delays you will encounter!!!
	Kylemore Abbey & Gardens - built out of love, an enchanted fairy tale castle with magical looks & walks through the Kylemore wooded heartland. Home to the Benedictian order of Nuns, Kylemore Abbey is a secret haven of peace & tranquity. 2 Hour stop. This is the lunch stop on the tour.
	Killary Fjord - one of 3 glacier fjords that exist in Ireland, it is 9 miles deep offering diving throughout the year while aquaculture is important here locally with salmon rafts visible on the surface. Also an opportunity to cruise on its waters during the summer season.
	Leeane - snugly situated at the head of Killary harbour, here the film adaptation of John B Keanes famous play The FIELD directed by Jim Sheridan was made in 1989. An opportunity to visit Gaynors bar for a real Irish pint!!!
	Cong – Renowned as a location setting of the Quiet Man movie. Cong is also home of Ashford Castle one of Ireland's finest hotels, converted from a Victorian faux lakeside castle built by the Guinness family and has a fine example of a ruined medieval abbey, Cong Abbey.
	Lough Corrib - one of 14 fresh water trout lakes found in Europe. Reputed to have 365 islands comprising of 44000 hectares of wetland . It is considered one of the best fihing lakes in Europe and is home to a variety of fresh water fish including brown trout, pike, perch, and roach. Also attracts salmon and eels from the Atlantic Ocean.

More Information:

As we travel from Galway we take the scenic coast road along the coast of Galway bay. One can see across the bay the Burren and the Aran islands unfold. Our first stop is in the quaint fishing village of Spiddal often refered to as the 'Gateway to the Gaeltacht' to photo The Burren mountains, Galway Bay & the Aran Islands. Then the tour heads down to the Deserted famine village, an area heavily populated before the Great Famine. Travelling through the Connemara rugged landscape, the stacks of turf, the Connemara ponies and the old thatch cottages begin to unfold. Arriving at Maamcross, the tour stops for a short coffee break to visit the replica cottage used in the movie "The Quiet Man". An opportunity also to cimb up the 20 metre viewing tower to take advantage of the Connemara lakes and mountains.

Now we are entering the wild beauty of Connemara, mountains start to rise and there are vast open breath taking spaces in the Inagh Valley, a spectacular region that divides up the Twelve Bens mountains of Connemara. Arriving now at Ireland's most romantic building Kylemore Abbey & Gardens there is an opportunity to explore inside the abbey, neo-gothic church, mausoleum and Victorian walled garden . This is also the lunch stop on the tour and admission price to Kylemore Abbey and gardens is not included in the tour ticket. Dropping down into the village of Leenane where the film "The Field" directed by John B. Keane was filmed, Killary Fjord (Ireland's only fjord) unfolds. Here it is visible to see the salmon and mussel pots floating on the surface of the water where fish stocks are farmed all year round.

Heading back to Galway by Cong  through the Maam Valley region an area of scenic and unsurpassed beauty, Lough Corrib lake unfolds amongst the Maamturk mountains. The tour makes a final stop in Cong  where there is an opportunity to see Cong village home to Cong Abbey used as the location of the Quiet Man movie and Ashord Castle, Ireland's Premier five star Castle Hotel. The tour arrives back in Galway at 5:30pm approx.