Doolin - Inis Mor

Since my sister and her husband were visiting Ireland, I decided to take a couple of days off too, and we travelled to Aran Islands. I went to Doolin on Wednesday after work, and met them there. I arrived to Doolin quite late so I just went for a walk after sitting on my ass all day. I started walking, didn't realise that I walked about an hour and that I actually have to walk back too and it was getting late. Luckily this is Ireland and Irish people exist. One car stopped and offered me a ride, and dropped me off about 1,5 km from my hotel. I stayed at Aran View Country House, I booked it only 2 days before and I got a very good last minute deal, 64 € for a single room including breakfast.

Doolin is a lovely little town, very touristy since it is close to the Cliffs of Moher. This was the view from the hotel!

More pics from my walk



After breakfast (scrambled eggs and smoked salmon), it was time to head to the ferry. My sister stayed at b&b, and the owner drove us to the pier. It was a bit windy, so the sea was a bit rough but not too bad, and even my sister survived. We had a bit of rain too, and we got salt water face peel for the same price! Lovely.

The ferry takes about 1,5 hours to Inis Mor, which is the furthest and the biggest of the 3 Aran Islands (Inis Oirr, Inis Meain and Inis Mor).

From the ferry we walked to our b&b Tigh Fitz, it was about 1,5 km. It was lovely b&b in very peaceful area, the only noises we heard were cows and roosters.

View from the backyard, and flowers in the front yard



The main sight in the island is Dún Aonghasa, a prehistoric hill fort. It is actually not known exactly when it was built, and the walls have been rebuilt. We took a minibus there, but it is very popular to rent a bike too. Or you can take a horse-drawn carriage, but I don't recommend it. We had a guide in the bus, who gave us a lot of information about the island. The population on the island is about 800, and it is popular tourist destination. They want to keep Irish culture and language alive, and there you actually hear people speaking Irish. In the mainland you never hear Irish unfortunately. They learn it at school, but nobody speaks it. Young people leave the island, because if you want any education after high school, you have to leave, and most of them are not coming back. Our guide told us that there were 17 in his class at school, and he is the only one living there today.

A few pics from the minibus

Dún Aonghasa. To get up to the fort, you have to hike up... and the trail is rocky. You really wish you could just admire the scenery, but you have to look to your feet non stop, especially when coming down. I appreciate they have not changed it much, but cable cars do have their advantages too :D.

That is actually the edge, from there it is a long way down... The view was absolutely gorgeous, and luckily the weather was clear. There are no fences or any security on the edge, and some people were actually standing exactly on the edge! I am not afraid of heights, but I am not that stupid either... It is also popular to lie down on the edge and look down that way but I didn't do that either. Needless to say, neither did my sister :D.

Some more pics from the minibus

After the tour we went to Aran Sweater Market, they wanted to buy something original as souvenirs and what could be more original than that! I have my Aran Island Sweater, and some other stuff too. I really recommend them, very warm and good quality products (you can order also online, they ship anywhere in the world). Then it was already 5 p.m. and we hadn't had lunch, so we wanted to get something to eat. We went to a pub first, but they still had lunch menu and there was nothing except salad to eat. So we walked to the hotel (there is only 1 hotel on the island) because it was closer to our b&b, but they didn't serve food at that time! So we walked to a restaurant further away, and finally got food... Very nice baked cod by the way! And a glass of wine (duh). After that we were way too tired to walk, so we took a taxi back. The rest of the evening we just relaxed

On Friday after breakfast we took a minibus to the pier. It was a bit rainy so we didn't do much else, just took some pictures. The main village, taken from the pier.

From the ferry, the piers on other islands looked like this. I don't know if you can see it that well, but it was like a huge Rubiks cube made of big rocks!

My view at Inish Meain

And the view at Inis Oirr

Luckily the view was mostly a lot better! This time the sea was calm, which made my sister very happy, so when the rain stopped we sat outside on the deck and enjoyed... I really enjoyed the visit, I got the same calm and peaceful feeling there as I got in Shetland. That feeling is difficult to explain, but for me it is very relaxing. I could just sit in silence and look at the scenery for hours, and I get energy of that. I guess I am an island person, but I would not want to live in a small island like that. It is great to visit at summer, but living there in the winter... Nope. 

The day was clear but it was a bit misty towards Doolin, so couldn't see Cliffs of Moher that well unfortunately. But trust me, this is Cliffs of Moher and it looks amazing on good weather!

Aran Islands is absolutely a place to visit, well worth it! You can take a ferry from Doolin or Galway, or fly to Inis Mor. Many people do just a day trip, but I highly recommend staying at least one night. From there we went to Dublin, but I will make a new post about that...