Since the arrival of regional airports to Ireland flying has always been the fastest and most relaxing way to get to the West Coast of Ireland.
Budget airlines are a part of life now, and although complaining about their service is a very popular pass-time in reality they are a really handy way of getting to Ireland, if you can travel light and are flexible in your dates then it can be a very cheap way of getting there.
Knock Airport is always the favourite destination for people from the UK and it is the closest to Connemara and Mayo . Shannon for some reason seems to have a lower profile than Knock but is a very compact and well serviced Airport that has flights to Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London Gatwick London Stansted and Manchester. In addition to this Aer Lingus flies to Shannon from London Heathrow.
Knock covers the London Airports as well as some other useful destinations such as Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London Luton, London Stansted and Manchester.
Although Shannon is a little further away from Clifden on the M18 and N59 it is a very easy drive being mostly on Motorway, and the upgrades to the N59 Galway-Clifden road make life much easier and as long as you can avoid the evening traffic in Galway City you will have an enjoyable journey. Lunch in Galway is always worth a stop over and you can have a nice walk around the Latin Quarter with its interesting cafes, shops and restaurants. Of course you can also visit Tesco in the Headford Road shopping centre so you arrive in Connemara fully stocked up with food.
If you are driving from Knock airport along the N59 you will be going through Westport anyway so you can break your journey here and take a look around this lovely town with its high street full of interesting shops. There are plenty of eateries and bakeries too if you are peckish. For the next part of the journey, through the Erriff Valley and the Sheefry hills towards Leenane, you will need to keep the Camera handy as the scenery is breathtaking.
The major disadvantage of flying anywhere for a holiday is that you end up in the arrivals hall queuing for an expensive hire car, however Connemara Coastal Cottages have been doing a bit of networking to see if we can reduce the cost of car hire for our customers. It took a bit of negotiation but have come up with a great deal from a company called Europcar – We are delighted to be able to offer all our guests 10% off car hire with an Irish company Europcar Car Rental If you Click Here you will be brought to their reservations page where you will get 10% off your rental. You can get a car from €20 per day, which is quite a good deal, especially if you are taking a short break. This reduction applies to any airport so you can fly to Dublin and pick up a car there too.
