With the wild Atlantic Ocean on the western side, surrounded by rocky cliffs, County Mayo, situated on the west coast of Ireland, offers breathtaking views at its every point.
This 2-day itinerary in County Mayo is something we followed and I felt might be useful to at least some of my readers.
Traveling in Ireland
We love to travel, take photos, try out different cuisines and make memories. Ireland is a country that is encompassed by natural beauty. But the distance to travel between any of these beautiful spots are long. Very, very long. I had read somewhere that it’s best to see Ireland in short stretches. And it’s so true. The best we could fit into is 2 or 3 places a day. The rest was spent traveling.
But what makes the trip amazing are the scenic views on either side of the road. You would not be able to control the urge to pull over and bask in these beauties.
Day 1- Ashford Castle
Cong
Traveling from Dublin to Cong, by car takes around 2.5 hours. Cong is a beautiful little village that lies on the border of County Mayo and County Galway. Our destination in Cong was Ashford Castle.
Previously owned by the Guinness family, this Victorian castle has been converted into a 5-star luxury hotel. Even though the entrance to this castle is only for those who stay there, the grounds are open to visitors.
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Mrs. Tea’s Boutique and Bakery, a café that operates on the grounds, serves delicious cakes, coffees, milkshakes, and more. They also have a souvenir shop where you can find collectibles with the Ashford Castle brand. They are open till 5 pm.
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The river Cong flows past the castle adding to the ethereal beauty of the place. From here, we went to Claremorris, where there are plenty of restaurants to choose from in the town.
Our Stay
We stayed in Valley Lodge Hostel, Facefield in Co Mayo. This was just an 8-minute ride from Claremorris and is only 20-minutes away from Castlebar, one of the main towns in Mayo. This hostel also has a pet farm which would be loved by kids. Devu absolutely loved feeding the animals and would have brought back the cat home, if anyone had said yes. Bhavi was scared of the cat though.
The price of the rooms is so reasonable, anybody would love it, especially considering how spacious the rooms are and the facilities they provide. As it’s a shared B&B, get ready to meet new people during your stay. They have a common kitchen and dining area as well. This stay can be booked through booking.com.
Day 2 – Keem Beach, Westport House, Westport Town
Keem Beach
Breathtaking views greet us as we get down to the beach.
Keem Beach on Achill Island of Co Mayo, is one of the most beautiful beaches we have been to. Named as one of the best beaches in the world by global travel site, Big 7 Travel, the Keem beach is one of the must-visit places in Co Mayo. From the Valley Lodge Hostel, it takes 1.5 hours to reach here.
The views on the way to Achill Island are beautiful. With cliffs on either side and grassy slopes as we get down to the beach, every spot is worth some good photo shots. In my quest to take amazing photos, I had found from the blog ‘The Irish Road Trip‘, the best spots to grab a fine view.
Since the roads are narrow, always travel at low speeds. Breathtaking views greet us as we get down to the beach.
We always love to collect sea shells from the beaches we visit. But here, surprisingly, we could not find a single sea shell.
Instead, Devu and I found some beautiful stones of different colors primarily orange.
As we go back from the beach, there was a spot where they had a bench. Driving at low speeds, we can pull over to our left side to grab this view. Please be mindful of oncoming traffic as well as sheep on the road.
Mind the road, pull over and sit for some minutes while absorbing the beauty that is Keem beach.
Gielty’s Bar & Restaurant
Gielty’s Bar & Restaurant is the first pub on the road when coming in from the beach. It is just an 8-minute drive from Keem beach and is located on the left side of the road. They serve amazingly delicious food. Pasta, chicken curry/vegetable stir fry with rice, mashed potatoes, onion rings are just some of the mouth-watering dishes they offer. This pub is regarded as the most westerly in Europe and is also famous for the traditional music sessions.
Keel Lough
Driving from the Keem beach in the direction of Westport, we came across this beautiful water body, where there were a lot of windsurfers. This was one of the places we pulled over to take a photo.
Westport House
‘Jewel in the crown of Mayo‘- Westport house
A drive that takes an hour from Keem beach, Achill Island, we can reach Westport house.
‘Jewel in the crown of Mayo‘- This is the tag line that Westport house goes by and it is true.
When we visited this place in March, major portions of the grounds and the house as well was closed off for construction purposes. The latest information regarding the Westport house is that it will be opening soon by April.
So, if any of you are planning to visit this Jewel, make sure you ring ahead to confirm before traveling.
Even from the little glimpses that we got of the Westport house, we felt that it would be definitely worth a visit when they open completely.
They have small trains to ride which take you through the grounds, as well as a pirate adventure park that, according to the website, will be reopening for Easter. The photos of this park does promise lots of fun.
Westport Town
Once you get out of the parking area of Westport House, Westport town, is just around the corner. Roughly a 10-minute drive, this town is filled with architecture designed in the Georgian style.
A stroll through the town center made us realize something. There were no signals here to control the traffic. If you need to cross the road, you just have to go to the designated crossing points and everyone stops for you. It’s the first time I have come across a town this peaceful in Ireland.
Carrowbeg River flows through Westport town, with trees lined on either side of streets. Stone bridges connect these streets, filled with shops and restaurants where we can collect souvenirs as well.
Dinner
For dinner, there is a wide variety of choices in Westport. From Middle Eastern kebabs to Irish pubs to Asian cuisine, there are a lot to choose from. If you are just craving something sweet, then head out to Krem Gelateria & Cafe.
They have a variety of crepes and milkshakes. They have some unusual flavors of gelato to try such as beer flavor and bread and butter flavor.
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We travelled the next day back to Dublin, our hearts already missing the friends we made but filled with the beautiful sights we saw on the trip.
Really nice
Thank you 😘😘😘