Doolin

The village of DOOLIN, four miles north of the Cliffs of Moher and marked as "Fisherstreet" on some maps, is for many the music mecca of the "singing county", and, in fact, of Ireland's west. By the time you get here, you may already have met a good few traditional music enthusiasts on their way from across northern Europe, and there are extra buses laid on to bring them here. That said, it is not necessarily the best place for top traditional sessions – these tend to move around – but you are guaranteed to find some kind of merriment in each of Doolin's three pubs (O'Connor's, McGann's and McDermott's) every night throughout the year. The music varies enormously and you may come across anything from a bunch of amplified performers doing a medley of Eurovision classics to the kind of fabulous session you'll remember for the rest of your life. Bearing this in mind, the key to getting the best out of Doolin is to remember that if you stumble into a poor session, there are two other bars nearby. Doolin can get very crowded in the summer, so book your accommodation in advance if you want to stay here overnight. Without the music, Doolin would be a rather forlorn and desolate place, lodged as it is beside a treacherous sandy beach at the tail end of the coast that climaxes with the Cliffs of Moher. Bold shelves of limestone pavement step into the sea by the pier, from which Doolin Ferries (tel 065/707 4455) runs to the Aran Islands. If you want more than a couple of hours on the islands – and this is a very good idea – then day-trips are only really feasible to Inisheer. It is possible to sail from Doolin to all three islands and then on to Galway or return to Doolin. Music may be Doolin's raison d'être, but the village is now ruthlessly geared to providing accommodation for as many visitors as it's possible to squeeze into the place's three pubs. There are plenty of B&Bs. -excerpt taken from Rough Guides