Experience the best of Westport

Westport sits at the head of Clew Bay on Ireland's west coast, planned in the eighteenth century by the Browne family and laid out around a tree-lined river and an octagonal square. Westport House, a Georgian mansion built for the family, stands in parkland beside the sea, and the Mall runs along the Carrowbeg river under rows of trees.

Croagh Patrick, a cone of quartzite about 760 metres high rising over the bay, is Ireland's holy mountain, climbed by pilgrims on the last Sunday of July and by walkers throughout the year. Clew Bay is dotted with small drumlin islands, and the Great Western Greenway, a traffic-free path along an old railway line, runs from Westport all the way to Achill Island. Connemara and the Killary fjord lie to the south.

Seafood chowder, Clew Bay mussels, Mayo lamb and soda bread fill the menus, and pubs hold traditional music sessions most nights. Weather comes in from the Atlantic, bringing soft rain and quick clearings, and the long evenings of summer light the bay until late.