Kinvara

Kinvara, with its pretty harbor and iconic ocean-edge tower house, makes for a leisurely break along the busy tourist trek between the Cliffs of Moher and Galway City. Its quayside cafés and brightly painted pubs entice visitors to linger and toss aside the itinerary. Kinvara is home to the annual Fleadh na gCuach (Cuckoo Fleadh), a traditional music festival held the first weekend of May, as well as the long-standing early-August sailing event, Cruinniú na mBád (Festival of the Gathering of the Boats), in which traditional brown-sail Galway hookers laden with turf race across the bay.