"Barna, Galway, Ireland" Barna by mylesnag

5 kms from Galway city, westwards on the coast road, Barna was for 50 years a sleepy little hamlet and is the gateway to western Connemara. Barna now hosts some 1,000 residents and boasts a handsome new Hotel, 'the Twelve Hotel' which caters for visitors and locals alike, with great food, drink and catering facilities. The rooms are spacious and very comfortable. Other Barna businesses include Donnellys Bar and Restaurant (great food all day), O'Grady's Seafood Restaurant on the pier in Barna harbour (primo seafood and stunning view of Galway Bay), Barna Gifts, where Regina chooses really great clothing and traditional and contemporary gifts. Clarkes Supervalu Supermarket, open 8-9, 7 days, great wine selection. Barna Golf Club is an 18-hole park course with super views of the bay.

Stepping out at Blackrock on a summers day

Barna on Galway Bay, faces the Atlantic, and the Burren-capped coast of Clare with Black-head and the Aran Islands in the distance. The little harbour has an angled pier which safeguards the sheltering boats. Silverstrand beach is great for a walk or a swim and the Barna woods make for a leisurely stroll protected from the south-west winds coming in from the sea. Salthill prom and the diving boards at Blackrock are but 2 miles east from Barna and wind-surfing and kite-surfing at Rusheen Bay are a sight to behold on a windy day.

The auld Sod, a turf reek in Barna

Barna is set on the seashore, below the Connemara escarpment that rises some 500 feet as you drift inland towards Moycullen and west to Spideal. Ancient Granite and Limestone plains are covered by the ubiquitious blanket bogs of Connemara. Turf was once saved here for use as fuel for the open fires in the thatched cottages (now rare), but nowadays the bogs are protected and are a safe habitat for flora and fauna alike. Pheasants, frogs, newts, foxes and cuckoos all call the Barna bog home. Small lakes dot the landscape and and quiet boreens (little one-car roads, great for walking and cycling) meander haphazardly and make up the Connemara Way. Heathers, Rhodedendrons, Fuschias, Honeysuckles, Hydrangeas and scots pines grow in abundance here.

• Pros:Good pit stop and overnight spot for Connemara touring
• Cons:Visually, the best is fruther west. Too many new houses.
• In a nutshell:Quiet back-water, in direct contrast to busy Galway city, with friendly folks and great food and drink.