If you're heading for the dramatic walking country of the mountains, or if you plan to base yourself at Clifden, the road to take from Galway is the N59 through Oughterard. It makes the easiest hitch and the most pleasant cycle ride from Galway, avoiding the boring strip development down to Spiddal and taking you instead along the shore of island-flecked Lough Corrib , past crumbling ruins. These include the main sixteenth-century O'Flaherty fortress of ... [More]