Connemara in the west of County Galway is a landscape of moors, lakes, and the Twelve Bens mountain ranges. Founded in 1980 near Letterfrack, Connemara National Park spans approximately 2,000 hectares; from the visitor centre, an approximately seven-kilometre circular trail leads up the 442-meter-high Diamond Hill with views of the coast and islands.On a lake shore stands Kylemore Abbey, a castle built from 1867, where Benedictine nuns have resided since 1920, complete with a neo-Gothic chapel and Victorian garden. Clifden is the main town, offering the roughly eleven-kilometre Sky Road along the coast.

With around 86,000 inhabitants, Galway is the largest city on the west coast and was European Capital of Culture in 2020. Life revolves around the Latin Quarter near Quay Street, with pubs, street music, and small shops; on the riverbank stands the Spanish Arch, a remnant of the medieval city wall, right next to it the Galway City Museum.Eyre Square marks the center of the new town, and to the west, the Salthill promenade stretches about two kilometers along Galway Bay. The city is a starting point for Connemara and the Aran Islands, with year-round ferries departing from Rossaveal, located about 37 kilometers away.

The three Aran Islands Inis Mór, Inis Meáin, and Inis Oírr lie off Galway Bay and are, with stone walls, barren limestone fields, and small villages, a piece of original Ireland. Most of the approximately 1,350 inhabitants speak Irish as their everyday language.On the largest island, Inis Mór, the stone fort Dún Aonghasa is perched approx. 100 meters above the Atlantic, right on the cliff edge. The ferry from Rossaveal, west of Galway, operates year-round and takes about 40 minutes; from Doolin, there are seasonal connections from April to October. On Inis Oírr, the wreck of the Plassey lies on the shore.

Westport is a planned Georgian town on Clew Bay in County Mayo, with a tree-lined Mall along the Carrow Beg River, the Octagon, and lively pubs. On the outskirts lies the 18th-century Westport House mansion.West of the town rises the 764-meter-high Croagh Patrick, Ireland's most famous pilgrimage mountain; the ascent begins in Murrisk. On the last Sunday in July, Reek Sunday, thousands of pilgrims climb to the summit. From Westport, the 42-kilometer-long Great Western Greenway follows an old railway line via Newport and Mulranny to Achill.

The Burren in the north of County Clare is a karst landscape of grey limestone pavements, where rare plants bloom in spring between the fissures. Together with the Cliffs of Moher, it has formed a UNESCO Global Geopark since 2011; the Burren National Park, founded in 1991, covers approximately 1,500 hectares.The most famous monument is the Poulnabrone Dolmen, a portal tomb from the Neolithic period, where archaeologists found the remains of over 30 people. The coastal village of Doolin is known for traditional music in its pubs and as a port for seasonal ferries to the Aran Islands.