Our next stop is in the pretty seaside town of Lahinch on the west coast of Ireland. But, as usual, we can’t just drive straight to our accommodation as there is way too much to see along the way. Plus the west coast is so ruggedly beautiful that it would be a real shame to drive by.

We first head to Limerick as we need to cross the Shannon River and there are few places to do that, then we’ll head back to the coast.

Limerick gives us the opportunity to look at St John’s Castle, St Mary’s Cathedral and several of the bridges in that area. It’s a quick stop as we are keen to see more of the countryside and in this case, the seaside.

After a coffee and a look around we are back on the road heading towards Loop Head Lighthouse. We stop for a few nice photos along the way and then we arrive at the lighthouse.

I am lost for words, which is rare. The Loop Head peninsula is simply breathtaking and we have arrived on a still, sunny day and almost have the whole area to ourselves. We have bought a picnic lunch with us and enjoy eating it while looking at the scenery.

The cliffs are rugged and fall away to the sea in an almost sheer fashion. But the part that amazes me is that you can physically walk right out to the edge of the cliff. No guard rails, no pathways, just grass and rock up to the point that the land disappears. We are talking cliffs that plunge over twenty metres to the sea below. With these being the best weather conditions we bravely step to within a ruler’s length of the edge. Freaking awesome!

We spend the best part of two hours at the lighthouse before moving on to the Bridges of Ross. This peninsula just keeps giving. I think Mother Nature took her time here as she excelled with the beauty of this area and it would be constantly changing. I’d love to see it in stormy conditions but I don’t think I’d get anywhere near as close to the cliff edge.

We head on to Lahinch, sort out our accommodation and then descend on the local beachside bar for a drink. It’s a nice spot to enjoy the day’s end to reflect and appreciate what we experienced today.

The next morning we are up early to head out to another of Mother Nature’s best efforts. The Cliffs of Moher are a short drive away and we are there as they open the gates to the parking lot. This area has a similar beauty to yesterday but is more refined with properly formed pathways, safety walls made from local slate sheets and a visitor centre that has interactive displays and a 4D cinema showing what it’s like to be a seagull living near the cliffs. It sounds a bit corny, but it works. I am taken by the views again but still love the rawness of Loop Head.

We continue our drive north, hugging the coastline and coming to grips with narrow roads and oncoming traffic. We reach Doolin where the ferry to the Aran Islands docks. It’s busy here with a large volume of people headed across for the weekend. It is a pretty bay with the blue waters and islands looking inviting.

The final part of this loop for the day sees us head to Galway stopping along the way at a number of small towns, country and riverside locations.

It’s mid afternoon on a Saturday and Galway is busy with markets and people enjoying the great weather. After a nice lunch at a local pub, we wander the streets of the Spanish Arch and Latin Quarter looking at the various shops and the trinkets that they sell. We should have allowed a lot more time to explore Galway further as it has a lot more to it than what we saw.

We return to Lahinch and prepare for the next part of our trip which has us heading to Sligo for a night before moving on to Belfast for the last few nights of this trip. We have covered a fair bit of ground but there is so much more to see.

Maybe there’s a return trip to think about…