The Notebook

The Long Way RoundNotebook No 107August 2025

The Sky Road out of Clifden

Connemara's small loop, the one most visitors drive past.

Collected by Deborah. Read her editorial perspective

When the Connemara light is still tentative, before the day fully arrives, take the Sky Road. This ten-mile loop outside Clifden offers you a high path along the headland and a lower return route through the bog. No large tour coaches navigate these narrow turns, ensuring this experience remains for you to discover.

The Sky Road out of Clifden

Slea Head

We always recommend driving this loop before the midday activity truly begins. Pull over at the upper viewpoint, alight from your vehicle, and walk just a hundred yards beside the old stone wall. The air here holds the land's silence, an untroubled quiet we find nowhere else.

This hour is a pure distillation of Connemara.

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From the notebook

Editorial itineraries from Ireland.

Collected notes. A few times each season.

Last reviewed by the editors of The Ireland Edit