{"id":7067,"date":"2016-01-27T16:20:08","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T21:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eurotriptips.com\/?p=7067"},"modified":"2021-01-05T11:40:34","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T16:40:34","slug":"a-daytrip-at-the-aran-islands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.toeuropeandbeyond.com\/a-daytrip-at-the-aran-islands\/","title":{"rendered":"Visiting the Aran Islands – the cradle of Irish culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>hink of a remote island. Isolated. Rugged. Untouched. Got it? Now, make that even more<\/em> remote. THAT’s the Aran Islands. Located a few miles west of Galway in Western Ireland, this small group of three limestone islands has seemingly stood still against the current throughout the centuries, and by looking at it you’d could be fooled into thinking it’s actually a movie set depicting 1800s rural Ireland.<\/p>\n

But on the contrary; the Aran Islands are very much real and even though you’d be hard-pressed to find mobile reception it’s still a place I highly recommend to those exploring the famous Wild Atlantic Way.<\/p>\n

I spent a half day there as part of my All Ireland Rocker tour<\/a>, and I’m so happy I got to see this special part of Ireland.<\/p>\n\t

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Aran Islands scenic flight and Galway rail tour from Dublin<\/a><\/h3>\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

About the Aran Islands<\/h2>\n

\"Aran<\/p>\n\n

Perhaps because of their isolation and their profound ties to ancient traditions, the islands retain an extremely strong sense of Irish identity – in fact, the majority of locals, although fluent in English, speak Gaelic among themselves. Take a few minutes to converse with them and it might just end up being the highlight of your trip; Islanders are notoriously entertaining storytellers (and, for some reason, I suspect their stories’ cadence grows in inverse proportions to the amount of Guinness left in their pint).<\/p>\n

As you expect them to be. This is Ireland, after all.<\/p>\n

If I’m honest, there’s actually very little to do on the island; it’s definitely not a “bring your bucket list to tick off as you go” kind of place. This is the kind of place where you close your eyes to breathe in the fresh Atlantic air and hear lullaby of the waves crashing against the limestone.<\/p>\n

It’s a place where you visit Bronze age and UNESCO-registered stone forts like Dun Aengus, where you shop for handcrafted Aran sweaters (the iconic Irish fisherman sweaters) at the Kilmurvey Craft Village, where you walk amongst celtic ruins at Na Seacht dTeampaill, and where you visit Teampall Bhean’in, alledgedly the smallest church in Ireland. I can definitely see the appeal in that.<\/p>\n\n\t

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Ireland’s most visited attractions \u2014 the stunning Cliffs of Moher<\/a><\/h3>\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\n

How to plan a day trip to the island<\/h2>\n