“Enjoy Irelands unique countryside and history”
8 Day Guided Galway Clare Burren Post to Post Horse Trail Riding Tour in the West of Ireland
An Sibin Riding Centre, Derryoran East, Whitegate, County Clare, Munster, Ireland V94T6N1
Horse Riding Holiday in Ireland
All through the summer, Irish Horse Riding offers a guided Galway - Clare - Burren trail ride, where you can discover Ireland’s beautiful nature and colourful history from horseback. Your horse will willingly carry you through scenic rural Ireland with a wide variety of landscapes from extensive bogs, enchanted forests, fresh rivers, peaceful lakes, and the famous Burren National Park, finishing near the stunning Cliffs of Moher, overlooking the famous Aran Islands, and riding along the wild Atlantic Way.
Key Information
- Riders have to be physically fit and safe riders in the outdoors in a group of horses. You ride up to 6 hours daily at all paces. On the last day, you lead your horses up and down a hill on difficult terrain, good solid riding boots are highly recommended.
- Seat saver recommended
- Rider Weight Limit: 185 pounds / 85 kilograms
- Horse Height Range: 14 to 17 hands
- Tack Type: English tack only
- Horse Breed: Connemara, Irish Cob, Gipsy Vanner / Tinker, or Irish Sport Horse
Meet the instructors
Bertie & Nicola
Highlights
- 6 days of guided trail riding with an approximate daily riding time of 2-6 hours
- Easy ride to the surrounding peaceful forests through the Slieve Aughty mountains
- Learn Ireland's history while passing old farm ruins and miles of stone walls
- Discover 5,000 years old Neolithic dolmen and ruins of a monastic settlement
- Ride through a lake and on trails along typical farmland of rural Ireland
- Enjoy riding on lovely wood tracks and across bog land overlooking the Shannon river
- Witness the moon-like landscape and unique scenery of the world-renowned Burren
- 7 nights accommodation with full board meals
Skill level
- Intermediate
- Advanced
Styles
6 days with instruction in English
The organizer also speaks: French, German, Spanish
Group size: 4-8 participants
Airport transfer available:
Dublin Airport (US$ 351 per person)
Dublin Airport (US$ 351 per person)
Airport transfer available:
Shannon Airport (US$ 60 per person)
Shannon Airport (US$ 60 per person)
Accommodation
Check-in Time:
12:00
Check-out Time:
10:00
In this tour, you will be accommodated in a comfortable en-suite accommodation for four nights at An Sibin Guesthouse in the An Sibin Riding Centre in Whitegate, and three nights at Bed & Breakfast in the Burren region.
An Sibin Guesthouse
The tastefully restored 300-year-old farmhouse is in the heart of the riding centre. The ambiance of old times gone by is carefully maintained and yet all modern facilities for the riding guests are provided. The guests can relax in individually decorated ensuite rooms.
Program
Day 1: Failte to Ireland
You will arrive in Shannon Airport (SNN) and be transferred (if booked) to the An Sibin Riding Centre in Whitegate. Transfer from Shannon to Whitegate takes approximately two hours. You will be staying here for the first four nights. On the arrival day, you can just relax and recover from your journey, or take a stroll on the well-mapped nearby East Clare walking trail.
For the more adventurous under you, there is also the possibility to go on a guided boat tour to the historic Holy Island with its monastic settlement of the ninth century. In the evening, you will get to know all your fellow riders for this week. You will have dinner in the tastefully restored 300-year old farmhouse in the An Sibin Riding Centre by candlelight and open turf fire.
Day 2:
After breakfast, you will be brought to the start of the trail, where your guide will allocate the horses to you according to your experience. Every rider can then get used to his own horse for the week by brushing and tacking up, don’t worry - there are always lots of helping hands around you. You will then leave for an easy ride into the surrounding peaceful forests and huge areas of heather and bog land using old tracks through the Slieve Aughty mountains. You will ride your horses to a field where they stay overnight and you will be driven back to the the An Sibin Riding Centre for lunch. Riders and horses take a rest for the afternoon and enjoy a relaxing evening.
Day 3:
Today’s ride brings you up over the hills of the Slieve Aughty mountains with fascinating views over the majestic Lough Derg and River Shannon. Along the track, you will be passing old farm ruins and miles of stone walls, and your guide will tell you about Ireland's most significant incident in history.
About 150 years ago, many farms and villages were left because of the famine. This was the time of the severe potato disease, which destroyed for a couple of years the sole source of food supply for the rural and poor Irish peasant and his stock. In addition to that, a typhus and cholera epidemic enforced the disaster, leading to a flood of millions of people emigrating to other countries or starving with the hunger.
Knowing about those times, you will be greeting the tasty lunch waiting for you before you head across the extensive areas of bogland in the afternoon. There, you will pass local farmers cutting and drying the turf in the traditional way. A Neolithic dolmen with the legendary name Oisin’s and Grainne’s Grave beside the track proves that this area was already mystified about 5,000 years ago. Much younger (about the ninth century) are the ruins of a monastic settlement on Holy Island, which you can easily spot by the well kept typical round tower.
Day 4:
Leaving the sheltered pasture, you are heading this morning for the top of the hills again overlooking endless woods and grazing land to the north, west, and south. Long before you get there, you can spot way under you the sandy shores of Lough Graney where you are heading for.
The trail goes right across the refreshing lake. The ride in the later afternoon takes you through the typical farmland of rural Ireland with its lovely green fields and the endless old stonewalls surrounding the peacefully grazing sheep and cattle.
Day 5:
Today’s lovely wood tracks take you further westwards overlooking the wide fertile valley of the River Shannon, where hundreds of years ago Ireland's kings preferably used to settle. After the lunch break near a typical mountain river, you will cross the boggy uplands.
County Clare unfolds all around you up to the in the distance rising hills of the famous Burren National Park. On a clear day, you will even get the first glimpse of Galway Bay. This afternoon, your horses will be transferred by lorry across the busy valley to tomorrow’s start at the Mullaghmore mountain in the Burren. You will be staying tonight in a village in the Burren region.
Day 6:
The totally different and unique scenery of the world-renowned Burren will accompany you for the next two days. The moon-like landscape of this limestone area bears not only an immensely colourful flora and fauna with a large number of very rare species but also reveals a stunning variety of prehistoric settlements. Dolmens and Wedge Tombs line up next to Norman stone fort ruins and Celtic ring forts.
Close to a Fulacht fiadh, an ancient cooking site, you will enjoy your lunch. It is amazing how many eye-catching sites this at first sight so vast looking landscape can offer you. The next two nights, you will be staying in a village in the Burren region, which is famous for the traditional music in the pubs.
Day 7:
Today, you head westwards through the Burren, learning about the impressive Poulnabrone dolmen, and the huge and dangerous cave systems in this special area. You rest for lunch overlooking the storytelling rocky landscape. After the break, you lead your horses up the last hill for the breathtaking view over the Atlantic Sea, the famous Aran Islands, and the rugged Connemara Mountains.
You look down to the extremely rocky shore of County Clare way underneath you and enjoy your last gallop. In the glittering afternoon sunlight with the impressive silhouette of the Cliffs of Moher rise in the distance. Near the ruins of the spooky looking Ballinalaken Castle, your ride ends.
Day 8:
After breakfast, you will be transferred back (if booked) to the airport for your onwards journey.
Note: Riders have to be physically fit and safe in the saddle at walk, trot, and canter in a group of horses.
We ride up to 6 hours daily.
On the last day we lead our horses up and down a hill on difficult terrain, good solid riding boots are highly recommended.
Location
You will be discovering Ireland’s beautiful nature and colourful history on horseback. Your horse will be carrying you about 140 miles from County Galway, which is situated in the Midwest of Ireland, westwards through the rural areas of County Clare, into the unique Burren region, and onto the rough Atlantic coast overlooking the spectacular Cliffs of Moher.
Ireland is undoubtedly a nature lover’s paradise. Especially in the West of Ireland, there is a unique combination of sand and limestone soils, boglands, lakes, and woodlands. An immense variety of flowers, shrubs, and trees burst into bloom every year.
The influence of the Gulf Stream with its warm, moist and “soft” air stream and the very small winter/summer temperature differential enhances the growth of many commonly known plants, as well as several rare kinds of flora. No wonder the local farmers praise every day as it comes “Grand soft day today, thank the Lord!”
Ireland’s colourful history is reflected in a stunning variety of prehistoric evidence, like megalithic tombs and dolmens, Celtic ring forts, and burial sites, each of them with its own local legend and myth. The Celtic culture and language dominated Irish history for thousands of years, and even now, the legacy is still with it.
Food
Irish Horse Riding will serve you meals from arrival day evening meal to departure day breakfast, with daily lunch. Tea, coffee, and water will be also available.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Drinks
The following drinks are included:
- Water
- Coffee
- Tea
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Vegetarian
- Gluten Free
- Regular (typically includes meat and fish)
- Lactose Free
If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation
Things to do (optional)
- Bicycling
- Birdwatching
- Boat trips to Holy Island
- Golfing
- Hiking
- Walking to the fairy tree
- Walking to the local signposted
What's included
- 6-day guided trail riding
- Use of horse and English tack
- Service of the guide
- Luggage transport between accommodations
- 7 nights accommodation
- Daily breakfast, lunch, and dinner
- Tea, coffee, and water
What's not included
- Arrival and departure transfers
- Alcoholic drinks and sodas
- Tips for waiting or guide staff
- Personal, luggage, travel, or accident insurance
How to get there
Recommended Airports
DUB
Dublin Airport
150 km
Transfer available for additional US$ 351 per person
SNN
Shannon Airport
46 km
Transfer available for additional US$ 60 per person
Arrival by bus
From Dublin Airport (DUB), you can ride a bus to Loughrea with www.citylink.ie. Transfer from Loughrea (route 763) to the riding centre for EUR 45 per person in our group transfer. Meanwhile, a transfer from Whitegate/Co Clare bus stop is available for free. You can get to Whitegate with Local Link bus Ireland.
GPS
- N 52.98031 W 8.40423
Airport: Dublin Airport
Airport transfer available:
Dublin Airport (US$ 351 per person)
Additional charges may apply. You can request this in the next step.
Airport: Shannon Airport
Airport transfer available:
Shannon Airport (US$ 60 per person)
Additional charges may apply. You can request this in the next step.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 14% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 30 days before arrival.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through BookHorseRidingHolidays.com. All major credit cards supported.
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