Steph's Travels: Doolin and the Aran Islands

We left Bushmills for Doolin which meant we had to cross the border into the Republic of Ireland. Beautiful ride, but it meant for a long travel day again.

We got to our hostel in the evening and put our stuff away. Our host recommended places for dinner and for hearing music after. Doolin is known for it great traditional music. So we finished our night at a little pub down the road. I love pubs out here. They aren't bars. They are family friendly and you can expect to see children out late there dancing to the music our playing with their family. It just makes pubs so much more comfortable and family oriented. The band that played on the first night was amazing!

The next day we left our hostel early to explore the Aran Islands.

I loved it out here because everyone spoke Irish as there first language! All the signs were in both Irish and Gaelic.

The village was very small but very cute!

We had to take a ferry out to the Islands and it wasn't exactly what we expected...

It was much better. Such an exciting ride!!! We had to hold on tight so we didn't fall in against the rough swells. We found out later that day that many people were getting very sick that day because of the rough swells.

When we got to the biggest Island we rented bikes and explored! So much fun!

There was an old fortress on the edge of the cliffs at the end of the Island and we got to go right up to the edge. It was so windy!

AFter exploring the Island we shopped a bit then warmed up with tea and hot food at a little restaurant near the dock.

Then we sailed away back to Doolin.

On our way back it was a lot of fun because we were able to visit with the ferry workers.

Our hostel was so cute!

We had a nice dinner that night and went to listen to music again a little bit later. I love traditional Irish music!

The next morning we got up early and hurried over to see the Cliffs of Moher. IT was the first day in a long time that people were actually able to see the cliffs so it was great timing!