Connemara National Park · Co. Galway

Diamond Hill before the buses

Not the summit. The lower loop, walked early, when the park belongs to no one.

Distance

The lower loop, briskly

Pace

Be back at the car park by ten.

Weather

Connemara morning, often four seasons

Best light

First light through Twelve Bens

An expat note from Deborah

Diamond Hill is the only walk in this guide we recommend going early. Not because it is unpleasant later. Because the silence at eight in the morning is its own reward, and entirely gone by half ten.

We do the lower loop. The summit is fine. The lower loop is better.

Coffee at Letterfrack afterward. The day is now yours.

How we'd actually walk it

The rhythm of the day.

01Leave Ballynahinch by half seven.
02Lower loop in a measured hour.
03Coffee at Letterfrack. Drive on to Kylemore or back to the hotel for a second breakfast.

The hotel pairing