Letterfrack Base Camp

Walking & Hiking Connemara

$Twelve Bens from Letterfrack$ Sorry, we’ve no sherpas, but The Bards Den in Letterfrack has proven a very welcome and affordable base camp for hikers, hill walkers, and ramblers exploring the beaches, hills, and mountains of west Connemara. Diamond Hill in the Connemara National Park overlooks our hostel, bar & restaurant, and the park’s entrance is an easy 5-minute walk from us. Many peaks of the 12 Bens lie within the park, and the Maumturks and mountains of Mweelrea are within reach of The Den.

The Connemara Walking Club, founded in January 2009, is based in The Bards Den. We’d be happy to suggest routes or help with your walking plans.

Bed & Breakfast at our hostel in Letterfrack supplies what any successful mountain expedition requires: a delicious and hearty full Irish breakfast for the energy needed to assault a summit, plus a warm and cosy bed to recover in after the hike (or after the post-peak victory celebration in our pub). Renvyle sea view

If reaching the ceilings of Connemara isn’t your thing, there are plenty of less gruelling walks around Letterfrack. We offer free walking maps and hiking route suggestions. Amble along the strand at Glassilaun or the White Strand Beach in Renvyle, wander the boardwalk paths in the Connemara National Park or simply saunter through the displays in the park’s visitor centre and tea rooms.

The ascent of Diamond Hill follows elevated walking paths and steps carved into the stone. If you do reach the Diamond Summit (442 metres), take a photo of yourself at the top—if you’re staying at The Bards Den Hostel, we’ll treat you to a free bowl of chowder and a pint of Guinness as reward for your trek.

Mweelrea Mountains Wherever and whatever the walkers and hikers staying at The Bards Den have got up to during the day, you can be sure that evening will find them in our restaurant for a good feast of fresh seafood, Irish steak, or Connemara lamb. And then on to the pub.

The pubs of Letterfrack (The Bards Den Bar in particular) are well known for lively traditional music, as well as sean nós singing and dancing. Hill walkers, scuba divers, pony-trekkers, and cyclists all seem to congregate in the Bards Den at night for a bit of relaxation and spirited conversation. Craic: this is where our Letterfrack Base Camp far surpasses anything on offer in the Alps or Himalayas. Pint of Arthur, our porter