Sustainable Connemara and Galway Bay Rail Tour from Dublin
Description
Leave Dublin for the day and take a coach and rail tour to Connemara and Galway. You'll travel through breathtaking Irish scenery, pass by stunning Kylemore Abbey and tour the lovely lakes, mountains, stone walls and thatched cottages of Connemara.
Tour Options
Itinerary
We arrive in Galway at 10:05, off the train, and our conducted tour of Connemara (by tour bus) leaves Galway. At Maam Cross, the Connemara "crossroads", there is a replica of the cottage used in the 1950s John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara film ‘The Quiet Man’, which was filmed here. From Maam Cross our tour heads out to Leenane, Kylemore Abbey and Letterfrack, in the shadow of purple mountains rolling down to blue and green rocky valleys, reflecting the rich and varied colours of Connemara. There is a lunch break at Kylemore Abbey, an 18th century castle now owned by the Benedictine nuns who run an excellent pottery, gift shop and restaurant. Letterfrack is one of Ireland’s major national parks. The colourful town of Clifden has been one of Irelands leading holiday resorts for generations. It is an excellent touring centre beloved by the walker, the biker, the hiker or the fisherman. On the road out of Clifden the Dan O'Hara pre-famine farm (circa 1840) is on your left, fronted by a replica of an ancient Irish Crannóg or lake dwelling. Further on is the fully integrated Clifden Glen Holiday Village. Back at Maam Cross again and the road turns southwards now through the Screeb, Costello and Rossaveal. Rossaveal is the departure point for ferryboats to the Aran Islands and is also a major fishing port. We are now in the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area) of Connemara where Gaeilge or Irish is still the everyday spoken language of a bilingual people – we rarely use the term Gaelic and usually say ‘Irish’ when referring to our national language. (For operational reasons, on certain days we will not travel to Clifden – please check with your host/driver) Our tour of Connemara heads homewards towards Galway City now, along the shores of Galway bay, through the Gaeltacht villages of Inverin and Spiddal and looking out across the blue waters of the Atlantic at the unique lime-stone of the Burren and the hills of Clare. In Spiddal there is a craft village and the Standun sweater shop. After your day's touring you will be returned to Galway Station.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Check in at 7:10AM! Train departs at 7:35am & it does not wait. Our yellow check-in stand is located close to the Customer Service Desk at Heuston Station where our representative will be waiting for you in their BRIGHT yellow jacket!
- Due to operational reasons it may, on occasion, be necessary to alter certain itineraries.
- WHEELCHAIR POLICY: Our tours are a combination of train and luxury coach and include a moderate level of physical activity, such as short walks to meeting points etc. Unfortunately even the most modern luxury coaches (buses) are not wheelchair friendly, thus our tours are not suitable for those with mobility issues, and regretfully walkers, wheelchairs and mobility scooters cannot be accommodated on our tours.
- This tour offers stops en route for photographs, shopping, etc.
Reviews(55)
Tour cancelled with less than 24 hours notice because they didn’t flog enough tickets. I’m not annoyed the tour was cancelled in anyway at all. However, I am furious about the short notice given and total disregard for failing to give me proper notice. I booked my travel and hotel to ensure it covered a date when this tour was running. Companies that charge a premium price and offer a Ryanair service like this can not expect my custom in the future.
Hi David, Thanks for the review. We are sorry to hear that you were so upset however, as per our terms and conditions, we reserve the right to cancel tours due to (inter alia) insufficient demand. This happens very rarely, as our booking system operates on a ‘Book Today - Travel Tomorrow’ basis and last-minute bookings bring sufficient numbers for the tour to run. This is why you were contacted the morning before (11am) when it was clear that there would be no departure. You were then contacted (by both phone and email) and offered several alternative tour options, or a full refund (with our apologies) - which you opted for. We feel your comments about our service being akin to a low-cost, budget airline quite unjustified. Please see the many 5 star reviews below for reference. All the best, The Railtours Ireland Team
My daughter and I had a wonderful experience taking this tour in spite of the rainy, cold weather. We were the only two rail passengers from Dublin to Galway so had our guide, Andrew Roche, all to ourselves for the three-hour trip west. He was very knowledgeable and pointed out many interesting facts along the way and shared many stories about the country with us. Once on the coach, we had a lovely time taking in the many sights through Connemara. I was especially struck by the beauty of the mountains and, of course, Kylemore Abbey. On the return train ride, we were kept up to date about our expected arrival time in Dublin, and were well taken care of. Andrew, again, made the time on the train fly by, keeping us entertained with more stories. I highly recommend this tour!
Dear Kathleen, Thank you for your fabulous review! We are so glad to hear you enjoyed our Connemara & Kylemore Abbey day tour! Your complimentary remarks about Andrew and the tour are very much appreciated and will be passed on. We look forward to welcoming you back on tour with us in the future! Kind regards, the Railtours Ireland Team
The rail trip was great. The scenery and sites visited were gorgeous. The guide was a bit rude - didn't really seem to want to be there - and "salesy" on the places we visited / passed by. The coach driver was dangerous - very high speeds on narrow roads. It felt a bit rushed. I might do the tour again for the convenience of rail and coach but would choose a different operator.
Hi T8847VEdg, Thank you for your review, though we are disappointed to read that your experience was less than 5*. We take complaints very seriously, and we would invite you to email us at info@railtoursireland.com so we can investigate this properly. Kind regards, The Railtours Ireland Team
The views were awesome but the trip seemed like forever! Our guide was very knowledgeable but never took a minutes break in speaking that got to be a bit much but don’t want to take away from his knowledge and life experiences as he is fantastic.
We wasted a day. We were booked on the Sustainable Connemara and Galway Bay Rail Tour from Dublin. However, our train was 15 min late and the tour bus would not wait. The guide on the bus said they couldn’t wait and our only option was to take another tour which included things we already did on another tour the day before and didn’t include Kylemore Abbey, which was the reason we signed up for that tour in the first place. She was not very pleasant. There is an earlier train from Dublin to Galway and I really think you should consider that earlier train rather then just throw customers on another bus, when the train is late, to take a tour they didn’t want. When we got back to Dublin we signed up, and paid for, another tour on another date so we could see Kylemore Abbey.
I have a very bad experience with this company. On July 5, 2024, we should have been on the all-day trip to Connemara, which was canceled for operational reasons less than 24 hours before the start. Our disappointment was enormous as it happened at the last minute. We didn't even have time to organize a corresponding replacement program. They had the money from us in their account from April 23, 2024 (3x139 euros). This company never again and one star only for the fact that they returned our money.
Today was absolutely fabulous! John Todd, our tour guide, was the very best. He has a heart of gold and looked after us so well. Galway and Connemara are stunning. It was a day to remember forever!
We did this tour as a replacement because the weather was too rough for the Aran Island tour. Our first Railtour guide was Frank and he was very nice and got us situated where we needed to be. Then once in Galway we transferred to a lollytours bus and stopped for tea and pictures. We got the authentic Irish experience and it downpoured on us. The rain/fog made it hard to see the landscape but later in the day it cleared up and Connemara is absolutely beautiful! We enjoyed our time at Kylemore Abbey we should have found the kitchen sooner because we ended up crunched for time. Galway was very busy with the Christmas market.
John, our bus driver/guide who works for Lallly Tours was phenomenal. He provided so much history including the local flora. He spoke when needed but not overly talkative which can be very annoying by many guides. This tour started and ended in Galway which is a beautiful town. Seeing the Connemara and the Burren along with the Cliffs of Moher is a must see when visiting Ireland.
Train host, bus host and bus driver were all amazing, as were the sites. My disappointment is that I spent $250 and was only allowed 1:50 minutes at Kylemoore. 1. No breakfast on train even though your trip details listed that. 2. Was rushed from train to bus even though we needed something to eat and drink, and my wife is diabetic. 3. We were told the bus would stop for tea in 45 minutes. It was 1:30 before the first stop. More time when my wife's sugar was dropping without food. 4. Had to choose between Kylemoore OR the national park. Trip details leads you to believe you see both. 5. Drove past Kylemoore to drop folks at Natl Park first, then returned back to Kylemoore to drop us. We could have had an addtl 30 mins at Kylemoore if we had been dropped on the way by the first time. 6. No one greeted us at the train station to accompany us back to Dublin. Not significant, but again we were told several times that there would be someone. This was our third Viator trip this week and the first one that was a bad experience. Whether intentional or not I don't know but there was quite a bit of misinformation. Bob Hilbert fggrider@yahoo.com
