Ireland - The Burren Way (June 2022)

Day 1: Flights from USA went fine. I arrived in Dublin around 5:20 a.m., and got through immigration really fast (I was early off the plane and speed walked), was able to catch the Dublin Express to Heuston Station at 5:40 (had bought tickets online for the 6:10 one, but the tickets are good for any bus within 12 hours of your original booking, so as long as there is room you can take another one). Dublin Express was easy and worked fine to and from the airport.

I was at the train station a little after six; I was able to change my ticket from the 10 a.m. to Ennis to a 7 a.m. one (don’t print your ticket if you think you might want to change, as you can’t change after it’s printed, and if you have a return ticket it will print it all as one, so you may not be able to change the return either). I got cash from the ATM here - I took out 300 euros and that was more than sufficient – 180 was for the BnBs that asked for cash, and I would have been just fine using my card for everything else except for one kebab shop that had a 10 euro minimum for cards. Train ride was great, I love a train. Had two transfers, but easy and no issues. The Irish Rail website has stop information for the route, I took screenshots so I could follow along as we went (it also had transfer information, which was useful).

I arrived in Ennis, and because of the earlier train I had plenty of time to go visit the Friary (very cool!), have a coffee and muffin, buy trekking poles at the Tresspass shop (I packed carry-on only, and couldn’t carry on poles), and do a little birdwatching along the Clareabbey River Walk near the train station. I then caught the bus (#333) to Corofin (I did the walk counterclockwise). The train station was just a few minutes walk from the main street.

I found the Bus Eireann website to be just okay – the “buy tickets” part never worked for me, and I kept getting a “no direct routes” error when trying to plan my route; however, the timetables for bus routes where accurate and useful. I downloaded the TFI Journey planner app and that was great, and then also used the TFI Go app to buy digital tickets for the busses, that also worked great. The bus was easy, I just told the driver where I was going, and they had a digital display of stops so I knew when we were getting close to mine.

Once in Corofin I had a late lunch at Bofey Quinns – very tasty, had my first half pint of Guinness in Ireland, and spent a little time on a cozy couch in front of their fire recovering from all the travel. I went to the Centra shop to get snacks and lunch stuff for the next few days. I love buying snacks in different countries, it is so fun to try new things. I stayed at the Corofin Country House, it was lovely! Very nice room, very nice host, tasty breakfast. Almost everywhere I stayed had breakfast starting at 8 – at first I was worried that was too late because I was walking and am not the fastest walker, but it ended up working just fine. I did have sleeping issues (nothing to do with the lodging, beds were all comfy, and very quiet!), and was often up by 6, so I made sure to have a little pre-breakfast snack ready to have with coffee in my room until breakfast was ready downstairs. I often did the continental breakfast; breads, fruits, cereal, yogurt, etc – sometimes tried other things but not the full Irish (am vegetarian).

Day 2: First day of the walk! 13 miles today, Corofin to Carran. Lovely weather for walking! Except for one day (more on that later) the weather this trip was perfect for me - 50s to 60s, some clouds and some sun, and a couple very short rain sprinkles. The walk was wonderful. The trail in whole is mostly road walking – overall there were a few sections over the walk where I wished there was more shoulder, and one or two spots were I got anxious about the traffic, (mainly between Doolin Cave and Doolin, and a couple spots where you are briefly on a N road and a busier R road) but mostly it was very quiet. This day was lots of farms, stone walls, and country lanes. Many cows. I saw the Parknabinnia wedge tomb, that was awesome!. I had a snack and aired out my feet as I admired it. After I arrived in Carran I had lunch at Cassidy’s, yum! The rhubarb tart was delicious. There was a group playing Irish music (not sure if they were practicing?), so that was a nice surprise. I stayed at Magouhy House, I was the only guest that night. Very nice place, cozy and cute, great host, cute dog, tasty breakfast. Woke up to a cuckoo bird calling, how appropriate.

Day 3: 18 miles Carran to Ballyvaughan with detour to see the Poulnabrone Dolmen. The dolman was fantastic! I had lunch there, and was a very nice place to spend a bit of time. They have tour busses come and go, so it would be busy then I would have it all to myself before the next one showed up. It was fun seeing people’s reactions! This day was a long walk, and covered a lot of terrain. I saw strips of peat drying alongside the trail, that was interesting. I also saw three feral Burren goats! They were in the middle of a switchback on the trail, so I actually got closer than I expected (and they have not insignificant horns…). I felt so lucky! I also got my first look at the amazing soft terraces of the Burren mountains, like piled loops of buttercream. I stayed at the Wild Atlantic Lodge, very nice, and for dinner got curry chips from Mr. Kebab that I took down to the harbor to enjoy.

Day 4: 12 miles Ballyvaughan to Fanore. Up and down two mountains today, with lots of lovely meadows, stone walls, and green roads. I passed Cahermacnaghten, the ringfort/historic law school. I met someone else doing The Burren way, although going the opposite way (although I saw a few day walkers, this was only other person doing the whole trail I met). My BnB host let me know that the pub in town was closed that night, so I stopped at the shop in Fanore and bought a frozen pizza to heat up later (and got more great snacks for walking!). I stayed at Orchid House – so lovely! My room (and the breakfast room), had a view of the sea, the host was so lovely and knowledgeable, and the potato cake (along with the rest of the breakfast) was delicious. I wanted to go to Fanore Beach, but my feet said no thanks, so I skipped it.

Day 5: 9 miles Fanore to Doolin. Another day of perfect weather (not too much sun, a little breeze to keep it cool, no rain). Started with more green roads, then small country roads into town. I stopped at Doolin Cave for lunch, the vegan sausage roll and lemon merengue tart were so good! I didn’t go in the cave as not my thing, but it was a great spot to rest (and I saw my first European Robin, so cute!). The section just before and after the cave were not my favorite, not any shoulder, curves, and some tour busses meant I zigzagged a lot from one side of the road to the other for visibility. Not bad, but made me slightly anxious. Doolin seemed bustling after Fanore, during this trip it was enjoyable to have a mix of very quiet places and more busy ones. I stayed at the Aille River Hostel, in a private room. They have laundry services - 5 euro a load. I washed things in my scrubba along the way, but it was nice to get everything done (while I hung out in my rain gear and sleep shirt!)). They had cheap breakfast options available, kind of a DIY bareakfast set-up. I had forgotten about those showers with one button you push to get a timed bit of water, and you have to hold it/keep pushing … can’t blame the hostel but can’t say that was my favorite thing, ha. But the place was very nice, with a great little outdoor area by the river. I went to McGann’s for dinner and music, enjoyed myself very much! The Irish music in the pubs was a real joy.

Day 6: Rest day (and my birthday!). I took the ferry to Inis Oírr and had an absolutely wonderful day there! It was the sunniest day of the trip. Did the pony trap (10 euros per person, cash, had to wait a bit as they were busy) out to the Plassey and walked back to the beach, relaxed on the beach, watched planes take off/land on their teeny strip, saw St Cavan's Church, had ice cream, had lunch at Tigh Ned, did some birdwatching and saw seabirds, it was all just lovely. There were several school groups, I was told they were Irish language classes, so that was neat. A long time ago I used to be a summer camp counselor, so it was fun to enjoy their energy but not have to be responsible for any of them. 10 am ferry out, and 4:45 back. I had planned on doing the Cliffs of Moher boat tour on the way back, but despite meds, ginger, and seasickness bands I got too green around the gills on the ferry and had to skip that (I was able to see some of the cliffs from the ferry anyway, so that was nice! Dinner and music at McDermott’s, another great time!

Day 7: 19 miles Doolin to Lahinch. In contrast to yesterday, today was the worst weather of the while trip! Walked along the Cliffs of Moher, then back country roads until I got to the beach in Lahinch. High winds, rain all day, fog. I left the hostel at 5:30 because it was a long day walking, and basically had driving rain until 3 or so. I was very happy to have extra socks, changed them twice! I saw the cliffs at a viewpoint near the start of the cliff walk, which was good because the fog really moved in after that. I had to walk through a herd of cows along the way, with the fog I think both of us were quite surprised. I could not see anything from the visitor center! Did have a nice snack at the café. As I continued on I could occasionally see a bit of cliff here and there, the bits that stick right off the trail. It was a little disappointing, but also what can you do? The cliffs are beautiful and seeing them in this weather didn’t change that (maybe just made them a little more mysterious, ha). I stopped for lunch at the Anchor Inn in Liscannor, it was a bit fancier than I anticipated, but they were very kind despite the fact I looked like I had been pulled backwards through a rainstorm. The beach in Lahinch was so pretty! I stayed at the Atlantic Lodge, it was very nice. Dinner was a cup of noodle I picked up from a Spar shop, that I ate while soaking my feet.

Day 8: Back to Dublin. Breakfast started at 8, bus was at 8:29 – I made it with time to spare. Again, TFI Go app (and the TFI Real Time app) worked great. There was a big hurling match, so the train was PACKED and I had to stand from Ennis to Thurles until most people got off (I had a reserved seat, but the carriage was so packed that it wasn’t worth fighting my way in, and to be honest my nice spot standing by the door was more chill then being in the middle singing/drinking crowd, bless them). The train was running late and I missed my booked time slot for the Book of Kells, but they were kind enough to let me go though at a later time. The Book and the Long Room were gorgeous to see, really enjoyed that. I grabbed a sandwich at a Spar (vegetarian chicken and stuffing, what magic is this?!), and then Dublin Express back to the airport. I stayed at the Radisson, it was very convenient (in part it was chosen as I had a Covid test scheduled at the airport, but the day after I arrived the testing requirement for back to the US was cancelled). The hotel has a shuttle, but I just walked, it wasn’t far. I was tired, so just had dinner in my room from leftover bits and bobs. Room was nice, had an AMAZING rain showerhead.

Day 9: Flew back home. Airport was busy, but not crazy. I could see terminal 2 from my hotel room, so kept an eye out to see if people started lining up outside (I was there a couple weekends after Dublin had their real rough days). I was able to use Fast Track, and only had carryon, so took about 20 minutes to get though security, then another 20-30 for the US pre-clearance. I hung out at the 51st and Green lounge until my Aer Lingus flight home.

Packing – More details about what I took, in case of interest/useful. Because I was carrying everything along the trail, I tried to get things as light as I could. I ended up with a 10lb base weight, then with water and snacks was at around 18 lbs. In the end my bag was comfortable and the weight didn’t give me any issues. It helped that I started out with 3L of water each morning, but my load lightened as I drank it so by the end of the day my pack was 6lbs or so lighter! There was not a lot of water sources on this walk, so needed to carry plenty with me.

Bag: Gossamer Gear G420, 42L. Loved this bag. I have a Farpoint 40 that I like, but wanted something lighter (the Osprey is around 3lb, and the Gossamer is around 1.2lb), and something with good hip and shoulder straps. I used a pack liner and a rain cover, the rain cover was more for visibility, but the pack liner worked great (the day I spent 10 hours in the rain, the things in the pack stayed dry!). The front stretchy pocket was very useful, as were the side pockets. This bag was perfect for my needs, and I was very happy with it.

Shoes: On Cloud 5 waterproof as main walking shoe, and Reebok Skyscape Runaround 2 as travel/alternate shoes. I tried so many shoes, and in the end was really happy with the Ons. There is a debate on whether to get waterproof shoes versus non-waterproof shoes that dry fast – personally I wanted waterproof ones and was happy with the choice. I didn’t have issues with overheating, and I really hate wet feet so was happy they kept me dry during most showers and sprinkles. They did wet out during the 10 hour day of rain, but I can’t blame them, and they dried overnight (and were still comfortable wet) The On were very comfortable, I broke them in for about 50 miles at home, and learned how to lace them for my feet (heel lock and skipping a row due to high instep). My longest day was 19 miles - my feet were sore at the end, I never had blisters/hot spots, and no residual pain. The Reebok are some of my favorite shoes, they are discontinued and I am hoarding the two pairs I have for traveling. They are very comfortable, and although the Ons were good, it felt very nice to give my feet a rest in different shoes at night.

Packing info in case it's useful -
Rain gear: Antigravity gear jacket and pants. Bought these as ultralight options when I was working on getting my base weight down. These are non-breathable rain gear which I haven’t tried before; there were times when I was sweating and they did condense on the inside, but they have big pit zips and that helped. They worked great, kept me dry, and was a nice windbreak too. On the 10 hour day of rain they were good - I had some wicking up on my shirt on the wrists but not unexpected. They have Velcro at the ankle so I could attach the legs to my shoe laces and that helped keep them in place in the wind. They are thin, so could tear, but I did have some encounters with bramble bushes that didn’t leave any holes. Several people online recommended Frogg Toggs as a cheaper alternative.

Sun hoodie/light jacket: Columbia Place to Place II full zip hoodie. Loved this so much. I think it is discontinued now, which is a bummer as I would buy more. It was super soft and light, had UPF 50. I tried so many sun hoodies, many of them had thicker fabric than I wanted, and some had uncomfortable seams, and I learned I really want a full zip. This one was the best for me.

Pants: Mountain Hardware Dynama pants. These were awesome! I took two pair, one for travel/evenings, and one for walking. They are light, dried overnight, very comfortable (loved the elastic waistband). They did snag on some thorns, and are a little thin. Nice big pockets. Comfortable to sleep in on the plane, and for walking miles in.

Tops. I took a Patagonia tank top as my main walking shirt, it worked well. Comfortable, dried quick, not too stinky or sweaty feeling if I wore it a couple days in a row. No chafing, very happy with it. I took a Patagonia t shirt as an alternate, the tank worked so well I mostly used the tshirt for evenings. Very soft, cozy. I had a Magazine sleeveless top for travel and evening, nice and light, looked good with the pants, and fast drying. I also had a very old Gap t shirt that I slept in, and simple black cardigan for travel days/evenings if needed.

Socks. Darn Tough Micro crew hiking socks. These worked awesome! I wanted something taller than ankle sock as another layer of protection against ticks. I took three pair because I wanted to make sure I could change as needed if they got wet/sweaty. On most days I just took off my socks and aired my feet at rest stops and that worked great, on the day of rain I was happy to have all three to change as they got soaked (even wet they were still warm, they just got pretty squishy). I also had two pairs of Old Navy low cut socks for travel/evening.

Underthings: I took three pair of Gap breathe underwear (awesome, comfy, dried fast), a True bra (very comfortable, no issues), and two thin modal Jockey camis. All worked great, no issues.

Misc clothing: a hat (great hat, lost it on day two) one thin scarf (very handy as head cover when I lost my hat, also a nice wrap, or as a scarf on chilly mornings), a pair of thin fleece gloves (nice on the rainy day when my hands were getting cold). I also took a pair of sun mitts I didn’t use because it wasn’t that sunny and I was good enough with sunscreen and my sun hoodie over the back of my hands.

Toiletries. Basics – deodorant, face lotion, sunscreen, toothbrush/toothpaste, nail clippers, razor, some little packs of liquid laundry soap, a couple hair ties, panty liners, a pack of wet wipes, masks, and a standing urination device (no bathrooms on the trail). Also had a stick of foot glide, that was great. Most of the places I stayed just had soap/body wash and not shampoo, so washed my hair with that … after a few miles walking, between the sweat and the sunscreen, it didn’t even matter but FYI.

Packing, con. -

First Aid. Everyone is going to have what works for them, but I think one of the ways I avoided blisters was foot glide, and preventively taping/bandaging known problem areas on my feet, so I had Compeed (this worked so well for the tips of my toes!), Ktape, and first aid tape. I also had lots of ibuprofen, and I am very glad I brought that – it was helpful at night when my feet were sore, and sometimes in the morning when I was stiff heading out. I am glad I brought enough for the while trip because most of the little villages I stayed in didn’t have a pharmacy, and if I had needed to resupply I would have been out of luck. I also had some Dramamine, and Imodium, and a tick pulling tool (didn’t have to use that, thank goodness. Before I left I treated my pants, socks, and shoes with a permethrin spray).

Gear. I only took my phone – less weight, and less to worry about getting wet. I had a wireless charger, so had the cords/plugs for those two, plus a plug adaptor. I had wired headphones in a little silicone case. I also had trekking poles I bought there, a high viz vest, my 3L hydration bladder (platypus brand, worked great), sunglasses, a mini sewing kit and a scrubba mini. I got the scrubba as a gift, it was useful, and it was nice to sit in bed and agitate it while I watched TV. It worked well - a sink is fine but I felt like the extra agitation got more dirt/sweat out. Not needed, but a nice gift. I also took a compass in case my phone died, and one of those emergency blankets in case thing got bad and I needed to hunker down somewhere (never used these, but they weren’t that heavy and can’t hurt to have). I bought a Lifeproof case for my phone … it did work well - I dropped my phone a couple times on the rocks and it was fine, and my phone was dry through the day of rain … but it was expensive, there may be cheaper but equally as good options. Also had binoculars for bird watching, used them a lot (also used the Merlin bird app tons, it has a sound ID function that was awesome!). I had paper OS maps, and used the maps.me and Apple maps apps. I took pictures of each day’s section of map so I didn’t have to get them out all the time. The apps and maps worked great (and the trail is well marked).

I had a Thrupack fanny pack I used in the evenings and on the plane; it held my passport holder/wallet, phone, headphones, pen, etc. I was not worried about pickpockets, but do worry I will accidently drop something important out of my bag, so I attached a split ring to my passport holder/wallet, and I could hook that on a clasp in my bag. I also had a mini locking s-biner that kept my bag closed, again more so that I didn’t just dump something out by accident.

I hope this may be helpful to someone else, and thanks again for all the questions and answers on the forum!

Great trip report and thanks for sharing it.

I left out a bit of the packing info, so slightly out of order, oops!

Packing – More details about what I took, in case of interest/useful. Because I was carrying everything along the trail, I tried to get things as light as I could. I ended up with a 10lb base weight, then with water and snacks was at around 18 lbs. In the end my bag was comfortable and the weight didn’t give me any issues. It helped that I started out with 3L of water each morning, but my load lightened as I drank it so by the end of the day my pack was 6lbs or so lighter! There was not a lot of water sources on this walk, so needed to carry plenty with me.

Bag: Gossamer Gear G420, 42L. Loved this bag. I have a Farpoint 40 that I like, but wanted something lighter (the Osprey is around 3lb, and the Gossamer is around 1.2lb), and something with good hip and shoulder straps. I used a pack liner and a rain cover, the rain cover was more for visibility, but the pack liner worked great (the day I spent 10 hours in the rain, the things in the pack stayed dry!). The front stretchy pocket was very useful, as were the side pockets. This bag was perfect for my needs, and I was very happy with it.

Shoes: On Cloud 5 waterproof as main walking shoe, and Reebok Skyscape Runaround 2 as travel/alternate shoes. I tried so many shoes, and in the end was really happy with the Ons. There is a debate on whether to get waterproof shoes versus non-waterproof shoes that dry fast – personally I wanted waterproof ones and was happy with the choice. I didn’t have issues with overheating feet, and I really hate wet feet so was happy they kept me dry during most showers and sprinkles. They did wet out during the 10 hour day of rain, but I can’t blame them, and they dried overnight (and were still comfortable wet, I did change my socks twice but no blisters or other issues). The On were very comfortable, I broke them in for about 50 miles at home, and learned how to lace them for my feet (heel lock and skipping a row due to high instep). My longest day was 19 miles, and although my feet were sore at the end, I never had blisters/hot spots, and no residual pain. The Reebok are some of my favorite shoes, they are discontinued and I am hoarding the two pairs I have for traveling. They are very comfortable, and although the Ons were good, it felt very nice to give my feet a rest in different shoes at night.

Thank you so much for posting such a detailed report. I am planning this walk for next year and your information is helpful.
I will also be doing the walk solo, I am too slow for others to join me!
I did have some questions.
- Getting lost is a concern of mine. I see that the trail is marked, so is going in the wrong direction or missing a turn much of a problem?

• Did you walk directly to your nightly lodging or did you need to take a bus from the trail to lodging?

• On your Day 4 you mentioned “up and down 2 mountains”. Will you elaborate on that? I am older than you (as in substantially older!) and mountains looks a little challenging.

• Was there a reason to choose this particular direction for the walk?

• Do you think a rest day is absolutely necessary ?

Again, I appreciate such a detailed report. The packing list is so helpful.
Did you leave the trekking poles behind?
I have ordered the paper maps and you have inspired me.
- List item

@Leslie – thank you so much for your comment!

@Baxter22
That is wonderful you are doing the walk next year! I am so pleased the post gave you some useful information, that was my hope!

To address your questions –
I was also very worried about getting lost as I don’t have a good sense of direction. I found the trail very well sign posted with one exception (more below). I had the paper OS maps, and downloaded the maps.me maps for the area so I could see where I was along the way. The Apple maps app worked well too, I mostly used that to get a quick check of how far away (time wise) I was from a place – I did use data for that, but I had a data plan. The one part I got lost was about two miles (?) outside of Ballyvaughn (coming from Carran) – the trail turns off a road and cuts through a field (the trail is right by an electric fence, made me nervous as I am clumsy, but it was fine), and then through a wooded area – as I entered the woods there were a couple off-shoot paths but they all came together to one trail, that was fine. The issue was after the woods it opened up into a brushy area with limestone grykes, and there I totally missed the path and ended up wandering around for twenty minutes or so before I found the path. I think if I had kept more to the left after leaving the woods I would have seen it better. Now, on the way OUT of Ballyvaughn the trail was much easier to see from that direction in this area. But other than that, no issues.

I walked directly to my all lodging.
Corofin it was about a mile to the trail start from Corofin Country House.
Carran – also around a mile from Magouhy House back to the trail.
Ballyvaughn – Maybe half a mile from where you enter the town to Wild Atlantic Lodge?
Fanore – Orchid house is right off the road
Doolin – The Aille River Hostel is just block or so off the road, then about three fourths of a mile to where the Cliff walk starts.
Lahinch – the Atlantic Lodge was a few blocks from the beach where the trail ended.

There are two mountains? Hills? I went over between Ballyvaughn and Fanore. I believe their elevation was around 250-300 meters, so probably technically hills, but having walked over them I feel I earned “mountain”. I think you have the option of taking the trail around Black Head Loop, instead (not saying that is easier, I don’t know). Some of the up was a little steep, but not scary so. I took rest breaks as needed. They were some of my favorite parts, the views were amazing! There are sections where you can clearly see the trail you just came up, where you are going down, and then were it goes up again. The path in this section was wide gravel farm roads, or wide green roads. Looking at my phone, it took me 7 hours to do that 12 miles, including rest breaks, stop at the store in Fanore, etc. Overall, I felt it was a challenge, but not a terrible one.

I think either direction is fine! I went counterclockwise because of wanting to time the Cliffs on my birthday, and so my longest day would be at the end. I don’t think a rest day is absolutely necessary, no! I wanted a day to visit one of the Aran Islands. However, I was very happy to have that rest day before the longest day, but that’s me.

I didn’t mean to leave the trekking poles behind, I was going to see if I could wrap them in plastic or something and check them, but I forgot them at my hotel in Lahinch!

One tip from my BnB host in Fanore – I came in on the road into Fanore that (looking at Google maps) goes through Ballyella, they recommend on the way out I walk S down the main road in Fanore (R477) and take the road back up that is just before “Crumlin Lodge”. That worked great, I didn’t have to backtrack, and the road was prettier (and not any more steep then the one in). It depends on where you stay, though!

I wish you the best of luck in planning, and am so excited for you (and I will look forward to your trip report next year!).

Great report, I love Ireland and if the old bod holds up, I would consider seeing the island on foot. Thanks!

Tammy, I am glad you enjoyed it, thank you!