Coast and Villages of Connemara

This lesser-known western coast area (the Irishman's Ireland) has place names that sound like poetry - Galway, Carna Bay, Oughterard. In fact, Oughterard is where the bus from Shannon will take you, to an inviting hotel for your first night in a storied land.

The next day's biking is an immediate plunge into history: a visit to Aughnanure Castle, dating from around 1500, a time when a family who could afford it built a castle-like tower to live in because anything else might be dangerous. The O'Flahertys, the family who built Aughnanure, have come down in history as "ferocious, mountainous and wild people," but like others of the local nobility wanted a secure place to call home. A wholly different atmosphere will be found at Brigit's Celtic-Inspired Gardens, where we stop for lunch and to enjoy the flowers. The afternoon takes us ever closer to the sea, ending at the seaside itself and the town of Furbo. Our hotel has a swimming pool; the ocean has a beach.