A Day Trip to Westport

I love going off exploring, and although I’ve been to Westport before, it hasn’t been for years. I have fond memories of celebrating Jono’s 18^th birthday there; we went to Westport House and had a ball. I decided to go back for a brief visit on my week off work.

Although I didn’t get to Westport House this time, Westport Adventure has recently opened there, it’s a new outdoor adventure park at Westport Estate, and I’ve heard great things about it. So, that’s one for the list. Check it out here: https://www.westportadventure.ie/

I left home bright and early. It’s a much easier trip now that the Castlebar bypass has opened. No sitting at roundabouts for ages. A very straight run, but Castlebar is a great town to stop in too, and well worth a visit, and don’t miss the Museum of Country Life either.

Westport is a beautiful town, full of colourful shops, stunning flowers, and friendly people. Everyone said hello to me when I walked through the town. I also have to say it’s cheap to park your car – a rare thing! I was in a car park where it was just €2 for the day, sure where would you get it!?

I went to Servd for my breakfast, this has been on my ‘to do’ list for years. I had a Butterfly Pea – blue latte, it was different, probably a bit too gingery flavoured for me. I loved the colour though. My pancakes were topped with lemon curd cream and fruit, and there was lashing of cream. It made a change for me not to have chocolate – that was my nod to being healthy! 😉

The Westport Walking Tour was the next thing on my agenda. Our tour guide was Deirdre, and she told us about some of the history of Westport, I’m not going to tell you much about it, because you really need to do the tour for yourself, and I don’t want to ruin it for you. We also heard about the biodiversity in the town, and about the work that the Tidy Towns have been doing to encourage swifts and pollinators.

An added bonus of the tour, and one that I wasn’t expecting, were the visits to some of the shops. I loved this because we got to sample chocolate, and fudge, and the children on the tour got ice cream. We heard about some of the lovely shops, in Westport, and Deirdre told us that they aren’t on commission, they just want to tell visitors about the best places to visit (that sounds familiar!) We also heard about some of the food that’s produced in Mayo, including Achill Island Sea Salt (their fudge is amazing!)

We visited the Grace O’Malley mural, and heard her story, what a fascinating person! We visited The Shambles and heard about how the market used to be held there. We heard so many things. Walking tours are one of the best ways to find out about the place that you are visiting. Westport Walking Tours also run a food tour – I’d love to do that one! It looks amazing.

Deirdre tells me she also does tours at Glen Keen Farm in Louisburgh. I was there years ago and loved it. You can read my blog post here.

I had ice cream in Krem Gelateria & Café. This place has won multiple awards, and their gelato is gorgeous. Graham Byrne is a fourth-generation gelato and pastry chef, and he’s passionate about what he does. I took a bit of video but there was a lot of talking in the background so it’s hard to hear. I’d have loved to chat to him for my podcast. He’s so passionate about what he does he even has a tattoo of an ice cream cone. Find out more about the business here: https://www.krem.ie/our-story

I went back to Market 57, we’d called there on the walking tour, and they had pear drops! I’d been looking everywhere for them! They have so many gorgeous products, well worth a visit.

I bought chocolate in Marlene’s Chocolate Haven, and got to meet Marlene, she’s so lovely and friendly. The chocolate is amazing! I demolished a bag of chocolate buttons! Shop here: https://marleneschochaven.com/

My final stop of my short visit to Westport was Tertulia Bookshop, I’ve wanted to visit this place for ages. There’s a coffee shop, film memorabilia, and even a cupboard under the stairs! I was really hoping to talk to Neil, who was serving, but I was too anxious, so I just had a look round, bought a book, and left. He would have been another wonderful podcast guest. I also love their social sustainability ethos – you can read about that here: https://tertuliabookshop.com/featured-authors/

I said farewell to Westport after a lovely morning. Half kicking myself that I didn’t push myself to talk to people more, but these things happen, and I know that if I pack a lot in, I get tired and feel a bit overwhelmed. Maybe I’ll go back another day.