Hiking Ireland’s Coastal Northwest

Wonderful trip. Blessed with good weather and a wonderful guide we enjoyed the sights and the hiking and learned a great deal about the history and the current state of Ireland. Accommodations and provided meals were all up to the standard we’ve come to expect from Road Scholar. It all left us convinced that Road Scholar is a great way to travel and with a desire to return to Ireland in particular.

Gorgeous hiking in less touristy parts of Ireland. The instructors offered rare insights into the places we visited.

Linda Howard is an outstanding trip leader and shared her knowledge freely. It was a wonderful hiking adventure on the Northwest coast of Ireland. The 4 local guides provided quality insights into their history and communities. Be sure to pack waterproof hiking boots, quality rain gear and hiking poles and you are in for an exhilarating trip.

This program is great for those who love outdoor views and love challenging hikes. It was a great way to see and learn about Ireland outside the cities.

The Northwest Ireland tour was brilliant. I had the most learning and fun experience.

The Hiking Ireland's Coastal Northwest is a fantastic experience. Away from the larger cities and in some of the most beautiful hills, cliffs, bogs and fields of rural Ireland. Sheep and deer all over the meadows! Hiking through magical areas with waterfalls, bogs and moss-covered woodlands.

What a wonderful adventure this trip was!!! Our guide Linda was just a gift in every way - patient, kind and considerate - and full of information on Irelands history and beauty. There was never a dull moment (including the ever changing Irish weather!) even the short transit rides were full of readings of Irish wit and literature, poetry and story-telling. Accommodations and food was outstanding - delightful traveling companions and bus drivers. Couldn't have had a better experience and looking forward to returning to the Emerald Isle!

This was a great trip. Ireland has stunning scenery and the Irish are wonderful, warm and welcoming. I learned a lot and really enjoyed the entire trip. Joe was a wonderful group leader, very knowledgeable, a good teacher, friendly and helpful. The local guides for the Aran Islands and Galway were outstanding; both were exceptionally interesting and knowledgeable. The local guide for the cliffs was excellent; she was knowledgeable and communicated that knowledge clearly -- plus she stopped enough to allow the slower hikers to catch up. I appreciated that she stopped our hike because the wind made continuing too dangerous. I didn't like the local guide for Queen Maeve's Cairn; she walked too fast (although she said she'd go at an easy pace), didn't wait for people to catch up, and got so far ahead of those of us who were slower that she was out of range for our listening devices (and never noticed). I enjoyed every place we visited and wouldn't skip any of them. I think that one day should be added to the trip to allow time to visit Yeats' grave (he's too important to Ireland to not include) and to visit a poor house (too important to Ireland's history to miss). It's very difficult/tiring to switch hotels every other day; it made it very hard to do laundry (necessary when hiking) or to feel settled. It would be better to have at least 3 nights in 1 place, even if just once during the trip. Construction dirt/dust in the hotels was a serious problem for people with allergies. Overall the meals (especially the breakfasts) were delicious. I didn't think the lunches we bought for our hikes would be very good, but every place we stopped had really good choices that were tasty and reasonably priced. Great recovery from the Shannon hotel fiasco!

Better than I expected!

The tour was great. We enjoyed the sites, the guides were well informed. The hikes were just long enough, without overdoing it and the views were breathtaking. Nice combination of ancient sites and views. The accommodations and transportation were excellent.

Outstanding, you should go!

My sister and I took our father with us on this hiking adventure. We enjoyed the language, history, music, castles and scenery immensely. Our guide, Joe, kept us laughing and learning the entire time. He couldn't control the Irish summer weather, but he did a great job organizing everything else. I would recommend this program to anyone who loves to hike and learn.

I enjoyed the hiking adventure in Northwest Ireland tremendously! The experience exceeded my expectations. The place is stunningly beautiful and the people are lovely. Our trip guide also exceeded my expectations as did the local guides for our field trips. The day hikes were invigorating physically and intellectually. The other guests enhanced my experience. I am a solo traveler and this was so comfortable and fun for me. My recommendation is whole-hearted.

Hiking in Ireland was beautiful and interesting terrain. Linda was an encyclopedia of knowledge of her country.

Wonderful trip. The main Group Leader Linda Woods was fabulous. Filled with information about Irish culture and history as well as the hiking locations. Our local guides were also excellent. Lovely scenery, well thought out hikes and experiences. Hard to choose favorites, but I was excited to visit one of the Aran Islands and meet our enthusiastic local guide. A special thank you to LW for organizing the knitting shop visit in Galway. As a longtime knitter I enjoyed discussing patterns and traditions of Aran knitting with the shop owner. Wish the trip extended into Connemara, but that leaves something for another time. I would rank this at five star, but seem to have missed that option!

As a solo traveler on the hiking trip through NW Ireland, I felt very included in the group. Our guide, Anne, was wonderful. In addition, we had 3 other day guides that were very informative, funny, and added interest to the activity that day. Enjoyed the variety of delicious food, loved the scenery, and broadened my horizons.

This program combines scenic beauty, cultural understanding of an intriguing region, and good hiking. If you are interested in this area of the world at all, you should really consider it.

This was our first Road Scholar program and a really great introduction to the way travel and learning need are facilitated. The small group format really worked for us. I am grateful for the detailed planning and wonderful experience. This was a hiking program and the challenge was just what we were hoping.

Easy to navigate

Be sure you have a clear understanding from Road Scholar should you become ill with Covid in Ireland. The instructions provided during this tour were inaccurate and constantly changing.

I highly recommend Road Scholar for anyone wanting a great learning experience while traveling! They took care of all of our needs for the trip in terms of schedules, booking of flights, and transportation from site to site. The trip to Ireland, exploring the Northwest Coast, exceeded my expectations! Thank you!

This was a wonderful trip. We had some challenging hikes to beautiful places. I learned about a part of Ireland that I hadn’t considered before. I highly recommend it.

This year (September 2019),my wife and I made our first Road Scholar trip. I have always been a "plan my own trip" traveler, who felt group trips could not match my interests. Our west Coast Ireland hiking trip changed my mind. The hikes were lengthy, scenic, and away from the crowds. It was nice to be dropped off at one end and picked up at the other end. I could go at my own pace (slow, in order to photograph) and my wife could continue at her own pace, and have others to talk to. It was nice not to have to worry about parking, driving, reservations, etc. The group was small enough (20 of us) that everybody could get to know each other. We were all like-minded in the reason for being on the trip. One day it was cold and windy and rained - but not one person complained. We certainly plan to do more trips. The only problem is deciding which one next!

For anyone who loves hiking and exploring, who would enjoy learning about the past while taking on the challenges of the sometimes difficult but always magnificent Wild Atlantic Way along the NW coast of Ireland, this is the trip for you. Every day was different as we walked and hiked coastal trails, through bogs and sand dunes, uphill to wonderful coastal views, through castles, Abbeys and Victorian gardens, historic towns and villages and finally to one of the Aran Islands. Our guide, Anne, was an inspiring and caring leader who became our "Irish mother" for the 8 days of our travel. Local experts who were all so very well prepared and able to share their expertise added to our learning. In all, it was a wonderful, sometimes challenging and always extremely interesting learning experience. I highly recommend it!

I thoroughly enjoyed this adventure, my first trip with Road Scholar. Any apprehension I had about joining the group as a solo traveler was quickly erased. We hiked 6 to 9 miles a day along stunning coastal cliffs and green hills and fjords, getting an immersion course in Ireland’s social and political history as we went. We got a full sampling of Irish weather, including rain and wind (but we were ready for it) as well as brilliant sun. One or two nights we had time to hear traditional music at local pubs. There were 10 of us in our friendly group – from the U.S. and Australia – plus our extraordinary trip leader Anne Leonard. You couldn’t ask for a more knowledgeable or caring guide. All the instructors we met along our way were also sharp and eager to share their passion for culture and history. From the archaeologist who took us to an ancient portal tomb in Kilclooney to the geologist who raced us up a hill to a probable passage tomb at Knocknarea, from the man who gave us a history tour of old Galway City to the woman who told us about her childhood on Innisheer—the smallest of the Aran Islands—as we climbed up to the 14th-century O'Brien castle, they were all terrific and added immensely to our appreciation of what we saw. Thanks for a wonderful trip.

The overall program was everything I expected and was every happy with the overall experience . The only negative was one hotel was unsatisfactory however the staff were great. One hotel was above expectations.