This itinerary takes you off the beaten tourist track through the wild, hauntingly beautiful scenery of County Clare, Connemara, and County Mayo. Lying on the coast of County Clare, the Burren presents a vast landscape of smooth limestone rocks whose crevices are ablaze with rock roses, blue gentians, and all manner of Arctic and Alpine flowers in the spring and early summer. Otherwise there are no trees, shrubs, rivers, or lakes—just bare moonscapes of rocks dotted with forts and ruined castles, tombs, and rock cairns. Traveling to Connemara, your route traces the vast, island-dotted Lough Corrib and traverses boglands and moorlands. Distant mountains fill the horizon and guide you to the coast where gentle waves lap at rocky inlets sheltering scattered villages, and whitewashed cottages dot the landscape. Ireland's holy mountain, Croagh Patrick, and the windswept Achill Island leave a deep impression on the visitor.