Mayo
Mayo offers “all of Ireland’s romantic beauty but without the crowds. Find an improbable bounty of prehistoric sites, Georgian towns, abandoned manor houses, fishing villages and old-fashioned country hospitality… Mayo has wild beauty and haunting landscapes, but you’ll find few tourists here, which means there are plenty of untapped opportunities for exploration by car, foot, bicycle or horseback.
Life here has never been easy and the Potato Famine (1845–51) ravaged the county and prompted mass emigration. Consequently many people with Irish ancestry around the world can trace their roots to this once-blighted land.”
Galway
“Brilliantly bohemian” Galway (City) has been named “one of the world’s top cities for travellers in 2020” by travel guide Lonely Planet. The city scooped the accolade in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2020, its annual collection of the best travel destinations, trends, journeys and experiences….. Galway features fourth in the list of top cities for 2020 (after Salzburg, Austria, Washington, USA and Cairo, Egypt).”
Lonely Planet describes Galway as “arguably Ireland’s most engaging city”, where “brightly painted pubs heave with live music” and “cafes offer front-row seats to watch buskers perform”. Irish Times, Deirdre Falvey, 21.10.19
“Some of Ireland’s most picturesque scenery fans out from Galway’s city limits, particularly along the breathtaking Connemara Peninsula. Tiny roads wander along a coastline studded with islands, dazzling white sandy beaches and intriguing villages; the interior shelters heath-strewn boglands, glassy lakes, looming mountains and isolated valleys. In the county’s east, towns with medieval remains give way to rolling farmland.
Offshore, the wild and beautiful eroded swathes of the Aran Islands possess a desolate and windswept yet entrancing aura and offer a glimpse into Irish life of centuries past.” The Lonely Planet Ireland Guide