Ultimate Aran Islands Day Trip: How to Visit Inishmore from Galway in 2024

Just 1.5 hours ferry from Galway, Inishmore of the Aran Islands is packed with rugged natural beauty, prehistoric rock formations and medieval ruins.

Rent a bike and cycle from monument to monument, meet farm animals and encounter historic cottages along the way.

If you want to know how to visit Inishmore and what there is to see, keep reading!

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Galway Ireland Basics

Currency: The Euro. 

Cash or Card: Either is perfectly fine, I never had an issue with not carrying cash. 

Visas: Ireland provides 90 day tourist visas to most passport holders.

Although the Republic of Ireland is part of the European Union (EU), it is not part on the Schengen Zone.

If you haven’t heard about the Schengen Zone, read about it here before visiting Europe. It is a group of countries in Europe that allow visitors to apply for one encompassing tourist visa that covers all the countries in the Zone. With a Schengen Visa you can enter and move between any country in the agreement freely for up to 90 days in every 180 days.

Basically, this means that most tourists can visit Ireland for up to 90 days in addition to 90 days in Schengen countries.

Check on the Irish Immigration page whether you need to apply for a visa before arriving. Travellers from many countries can get a visa on arrival.

How to Get to/from Galway

The easiest way to get to Galway is to first fly to Dublin, then catch a bus or train (3 hours).

The closest airport is Shannon Airport, which is 1 hour drive from Galway. Flights to Shannon Airport from abroad are sparse and expensive.

Where to Stay in Galway

$ Hostel $

Woodquay Hostel
3/24 Woodquay, Galway, H91 P8RP, Ireland
This hostel is the best and cheapest in Galway. Housed in a cosy and quirky building, Woodquay Hostel offers free cancellation and easy access to Dublin’s nightlife and train station. Check availability or see other options.

$$ Hotel $$

Urban Nest Townhouse
25 College Rd, Galway, H91 P688, Ireland
This family-run guesthouse has been recently renovated. There are single, double and combination rooms, and they all have a private ensuite. Check availability or see other options.

How to get around Galway

Galway is a very compact city. All the sights in town are in walking distance, while those out of town such as the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands can be accessed via bus or tour.

What to Pack for Galway

If you are not sure what to bring to Galway, my UK packing list for backpackers gives a good overview of what clothes and items you’ll need.

It is absolutely crucial that you pack a rain-jacket and/or an umbrella! It is most likely that it will rain at least once during your visit, so best to be prepared. 

What are the Aran Islands

The Aran Islands are a group of 3 islands off the coast of Galway, Ireland. The largest island (Inis Mór) is the most frequently visited. The second largest is Inishmaan (Inis Meáin) and the smallest is Inisheer (Inis Oírr).

The islands are named very literally – ‘inish’ is Gaelic for ‘island’ and ‘mor’ means ‘big.’

Just 1.5 hours sail from Galway, Inishmore is packed with rugged natural beauty, prehistoric rock formations and medieval ruins.

How to Get to the Aran Islands: Inishmore

Option 1: Galway City Docks to Inishmore, return via Cliffs of Moher

This ferry departs from the Galway City Docks at 9:30am every day, arrives on Inishmore at 11am. You have until 3:30pm to explore the island, after which the ferry sails past (doesn’t stop at) the Cliffs of Moher and arrives back in Galway at 6pm.

Tickets cost €49 for adults.

This tour is seasonal, so it’s only available during the summer.

Option 2: Shuttle to Rossaveel, return ferry to Inishmore, shuttle back to Galway

This ferry departs from Rossaveel Pier 4 times each day: 10:30am, 11:45am, 1pm and 6:30pm. A shuttle will take you from Victoria Place in Galway city to the pier. Departures from Inishmore take place at: 8:15am, 12pm, 4pm, 5pm and 6:30pm

Tickets (including shuttle bus) cost €40 for adults.

This ferry takes place all year round.

Best choice?

I chose option 2 because I visited the Cliffs of Moher the day before. I wanted to maximise my time on the island and I don’t think that 4 hours is enough.

Inishmore Sights

Kilronan Village

The ferry port is in Kilronan Village.

I hired a bike at Aran Bike Hire, which you’ll find just at the end of the pier. I recommend pre-booking your bike online because when the ferry lands, it’s a bit of a hectic race to secure a good bike. Check that the brakes work, the chain is attached, the seat is comfortable and you’ve got a helmet, because you don’t want to have to call for help when you’re out scooting on the island!

Seal Colony & Cafe

Cycle along the coast until you reach the Seal Colony Viewpoint.

There’s a little coffee shack here selling drinks and snacks.

Rest here for a little and try and spot the seals. It’s not really an impressive ‘colony’ per se, but if you’re lucky there will be a few lounging on the rocks.

Don’t walk on this beach or try to approach the seals: they are protected, can injure people and transmit nasty diseases.

Kilmurvey Beach

Continue cycling around the headland until you reach Inishmore’s best sandy beach, Kilmurvey Beach.

This beach is pretty impressive for Ireland, with soft white sand peppered with black volcanic sand.

There were a few people swimming despite it being painfully cold and windy.

Along the way you might even make some new friends!

The Seven Churches

From Kilmurvey Beach, cycle 3 kilometres along fairly flat ground to the Seven Churches.

The Seven Churches (also known as Dísert Bhreacáin) is a complex of religious buildings.

Despite the name, there are actually only two churches. The other structures include a stone hut, cemetery and well.

The Seven Churches dates back to the 7th or 8th century, when it operated as a monastic settlement. For a long time it was a popular pilgrimage sight for Christians to come and seek forgiveness and blessings.

Kilmurvey Village for lunch

To get to Kilmurvey Village you have to back-track a little.

There’s not much to this village. Teach Nan Phaidi is the only proper restaurant in town (the only one with indoor seating). They serve classic Irish food like lasagne, stew, salad and sandwiches.

Other food options include Aran Seafood Cafe truck, Bláthín food truck, and Paudy’s Ice Cream.

I brought a packed lunch with me from Galway and bought a drink at Bláthín.

There’s also a few quirky gift shops; all of them focus on the famous Aran Island knitwear (I will just say, I don’t think I saw a single sheep …)

It’s at the southern end of town where you need to buy your entry ticket to Dun Aonghasa at the Dun Aonghasa Visitor Centre.

Tickets cost €5 for adults, although they gave me a student ticket (€3) without me even asking.

Dun Aonghasa

Adults €5, Students €3, Family €13.
Website

Dun Aonghasa is a prehistoric stone fort, built over 3000 years ago!

The fort consists of three gigantic stone walls perched on the edge of the cliff. It’s not the fort itself that is impressive, but rather the view from the fort.

It’s difficult to convey through pictures the sheer size and sharpness of the cliff, it seems to just suddenly materialise out of the ocean.

I left my bike in Kilmurvey and walked up to Dun Aonghasa with the rest of the crowd. This seemed to be one of Inishmore’s most popular sights because there was a lot of people walking up the path, and a lot of them were slowww walkers which was a little irritating for me.

The trail is about 1 kilometre long and gets steep and rough towards the end.

You can easily get onto this plateau and walk around, just step over the stone wall along the path to Dun Aonghasa.

You can walk all the way across the plateau to the Wormhole, and observe the waves crashing out of this square pool from above.

Theres no fence along the edge of the cliff, so be careful.

The Wormhole

To get down next to the Wormhole, you have to head back to Kilmurvey and cycle around.

To get there, cycle past Kilmurvey Beach and then turn right towards Gort Na gCapall.

From the village, follow the painted rocks directing you to the Wormhole. The trail will become rougher and eventually you will have to park your bike and make the rest of the way on foot. Walk to the right instead of towards the ocean; the path is not well marked so you might end up wandering a little.

Despite its perfectly square shape, the Wormhole is not manmade! It was formed through the wonders of erosion, from water pummelling this limestone rock for thousands and thousands of years.

It was cool to watch the waves ebb and flow in and out of the wormhole. Its definitely worth the tricky walk to get here and, again, the photos really don’t do the sheer size of these cliffs justice!

Near the Wormhole I found these weird puddles of algae. They looked like something out of an alien movie and I wouldn’t be surprised if they contained some yet-to-be-discovered creatures.

It was time to head back to the dock so I tried to soak in as much of the fresh countryside air as I could.

I loved the stone fences dividing up the little paddocks. It made me wonder why this method of fence building has gone out of fashion; it has proven stronger than any modern method of fencing. They are simply a bunch of rocks stacked on top of each other, no mortar or anything! The beauty of this method is that if something crashes into it and breaks some of the fence, you just rebuilt that part instead of having to rip the whole section out and start from scratch.

We cycled as fast as we could back to the port to head back to Galway.

Are the Aran Islands worth visiting?

The answer is a complete and resounding YES!

Visiting the Aran Islands was the one of the major highlights of my UK and Ireland trip.

A day trip to the Aran Islands is suited to someone who enjoys the outdoors, medieval history, and is of average fitness level. Although you can hire a horse and carriage to transport you between the main villages, the island is best and most thoroughly enjoyed by bicycle.

If you are in Galway, I beg you to book a ferry to Inishmore, I promise you will not regret it!

Inishmore is off the main tourist radar so its not too busy but still touristy enough that there are services and facilities available.

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