Connemara begins where Galway city ends, and two roads carry you into it. The easiest way in is one of the Connemara day tours from Galway, which leave from two kerbs in the city centre. Here are the roads, the buses by route number, and where each tour picks you up.
Almost every trip into Connemara starts in Galway city. Trains arrive at Ceannt Station, just off Eyre Square. Bus Éireann leaves from the same station. Citylink leaves from the Galway Coach Station on Fairgreen Road, a five-minute walk from the square.
The tour kerbs are within walking distance of all three. So you can arrive by train in the evening, sleep in the city, and be at your pickup by half past nine.
Two routes lead west. The lake road follows the signs for Clifden, on the N59 through Oughterard and Maam Cross, and joins the mountain road into the Bens. The coast road follows the signs for An Spidéal and runs along Galway Bay through the Gaeltacht.
The tours use both. Lally Tours goes out by Oughterard and Maam Cross and comes back by Spiddal. The choice days go out by Screeb and Clifden and come back through the Inagh Valley. If you drive, take one road out and the other home.
You can reach Connemara by public bus, but plan the return first. Some routes run once a day. We give the routes; the operators give the times, which change with the season.
| Route | Operator | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| 419 | Bus Éireann | Galway by the lake road to Clifden, on to Leenane once a day; stops at Letterfrack for the park |
| 424 | Bus Éireann | Galway along the coast, through Bearna to An Cheathrú Rua and Leitir Mealláin; Carna once a day |
| 423 | Bus Éireann | Westport to Letterfrack, for the national park |
| 923 | Citylink | Galway to Clifden, Cleggan and Letterfrack, a regular service |
For the national park, route 419 or Citylink 923 gets you to Letterfrack, and the entrance is a short walk beyond the village. Check the last bus back before you set off up Diamond Hill.
There is no railway into Connemara. The old line from Galway to Clifden closed long ago, and parts of it are becoming the Connemara Greenway. Irish Rail runs to Galway’s Ceannt Station from Dublin, and that is where the train journey ends.
From the station, a tour is the simplest onward step. The bus is the cheaper one, and a hire car gives you the most freedom.
The shared days leave from two kerbs, both a few minutes from Eyre Square. Be there ten minutes early. One traveller missed a departure because the coach waited about 100 m from the map pin, so look along the street as well as at the pin.
| Where you meet | Operator | What leaves from here |
|---|---|---|
| HYDE Hotel, Forster Street | Lally Tours | The Leenane and Kylemore day at 09:45, the park day at 09:45, the small-group sheepdog day at 10:15 |
| Kinlay Hostel, Merchants Road | Wild Atlantic Way Day Tours | The park-or-Kylemore day at 09:30, back about 18:30 |
| Kinlay Hostel, Merchants Road | Galway Tour Company | The Cong day at 10:00; check in by 09:40 to 09:45 |
| Kinlay Hostel, Merchants Road | Ireland Wild Escapes | The park-or-Kylemore day |
| Your address in Galway | The private cars and Fat Bike Galway | Pickup at a time you agree; Fat Bike Galway collects within 3 km of the city |
Compare the days that leave from it, with the long stop and the Kylemore ticket shown on every card.
Connemara is on the far side of Ireland from Dublin, beyond Galway. No day trip from Dublin is sold here, because the drive alone would fill the day. Take the train to Galway the evening before, and join a day out from there.
If you would rather not change, the Connemara tours from Dublin run for 3, 5 or 10 days, with hotels in the fare and a day in Connemara. Rabbie’s leaves from opposite the Kilkenny shop on Nassau Street, and Overland Ireland from the Ashling Hotel on Parkgate Street.
Westport is the northern door into Connemara. The N59 runs south through Leenane and along Killary Harbour to Kylemore and Letterfrack. The park entrance is about 53 km from Westport, and Bus Éireann route 423 runs to Letterfrack.
Coming this way, you meet the fjord first and the mountains after, which is the reverse of the Galway days.
The N59 is the spine of Connemara. It runs from Galway through Oughterard, Maam Cross, Recess and Clifden to Letterfrack, Kylemore and Leenane. Beyond Oughterard it narrows, and sheep on the road are part of the drive.
For the park, the quickest way from Galway is the N59 to Recess, the first right after the village through the Inagh Valley, then left for Letterfrack. That is about 82 km. Going round by Clifden adds about 11 km and the town. Parking at the park and at Kylemore is free.
Routes and distances come from Connemara National Park’s own pages and from Connemara’s tourism site, read in 2026. Kylemore’s distance is the abbey’s own. Meeting points and start times come from each tour’s own listing.
A coach from the HYDE Hotel at 09:45 to Leenane and Killary, then two hours at Kylemore Abbey and its walled garden with the estate ticket paid.
From $76 per person
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Three days from Dublin with the Cliffs of Moher ticket in the fare, a night in Galway, then Cong, Kylemore Abbey and the national park on day two.
From $1,001 per person
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Ten days round Ireland from the Ashling Hotel in Dublin, with nine nights booked, three hours in Connemara on the way to Westport and a ferry to Inis Oírr; non-refundable.
From $3,857 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: see the whole region on the Connemara map, plan your days with the trip planner, or compare every day out on Connemara Tours.