The Great Western Greenway: Walking Ireland's First Greenway, Westport to Achill
The first thing that surprises walkers on the Great Western Greenway is how quiet it is underfoot. No bog. No stiles. No stopping every few hundred metres to scan the hillside for the next waymarker. Just a smooth ribbon of gravel and old railway ballast curving around Clew Bay, with the Nephin Beg mountains on one side and two hundred drumlin islands on the other.
You can walk it in trainers. You can walk it pushing a buggy. Long stretches of it are firm and level enough for a wheelchair. In Ireland, where most long walks involve wet ground and a certain amount of faith, that is genuinely unusual — and it is why the Great Western Greenway has become the trail people bring their parents on, and their children, and the friend who says they are "not really a walker".
It is not a National Waymarked Way, and we will say plainly at the start that Walking Holiday Ireland does not sell it. But it comes up in enough conversations that it deserves an honest guide.
The Great Western Greenway at a glance
- Distance: 44km Westport to Achill Sound, plus a 5km extension to Cashel on Achill Island — 49km in all
- Typical duration on foot: 2 to 3 days at a comfortable pace
- Grade: Easy. Railway gradients throughout
- Surface: Off-road gravel and sealed path, with one short on-road section through Newport
- County: Mayo, along the Wild Atlantic Way
- Sections: Westport–Newport 12km, Newport–Mulranny 18km, Mulranny–Achill Sound 14km, Achill Sound–Cashel 5km
- Opened: first section April 2010, full route July 2011
- Shared with: cyclists, all the way
A railway that took seventy years to become a path
The Greenway follows the bed of the Achill branch of the Midland Great Western Railway, built in the 1890s to link Westport with the western seaboard and closed in 1937. For seventy years the line sat there — embankments, cuttings, the odd bridge — going quietly back to grass.
Turning it into a walking and cycling route cost around €5.7 million and required agreement from more than a hundred and fifty private landowners, none of whom were compelled to take part. That detail matters. The Greenway exists because a lot of Mayo farmers said yes, and it is worth remembering when you pass through a gate at the edge of somebody's field.
The first section, Newport to Mulranny, opened in April 2010. The full route was opened in July 2011, and within a year it was carrying hundreds of people a day and had won Ireland's European Destinations of Excellence award. Every greenway built in Ireland since has been measured against it.
Westport to Newport — 12km
Westport is the obvious place to start: a planned Georgian town on the Carrowbeg river, with enough beds, food and music to justify a night at either end of your walk. The Greenway begins just north of the town centre and climbs gently away from it.
This first section is the least dramatic of the three and the one most walkers underrate. It runs through farmland and small woods, with Croagh Patrick — Ireland's holy mountain, and unmistakable once you have seen its cone once — sitting behind your right shoulder for most of the morning. There is a long, easy contour where the old line was cut into the hillside and the hedges close over the top of it.
Newport itself is a handsome village built around a red sandstone viaduct that once carried the railway you have been walking on. Note that roughly two kilometres through the town still share road space with traffic — it is signed, it is slow, and it is the only place on the whole route where you need to pay attention to cars.
Newport to Mulranny — 18km
This is the long middle day and, for our money, the best of the three. The route swings out towards the coast and the views open up properly: Clew Bay ahead of you, Clare Island low on the horizon, and the Nephin Beg range rising inland to the north — the edge of the largest expanse of blanket bog in Ireland.
The walking is level and unhurried, which is exactly the point. You are not working for the view here. It simply arrives, and keeps arriving, for four or five hours.
Mulranny sits on the neck of land between Clew Bay and Blacksod Bay, with a beach below it and a causeway out across the sand. There is a cycle hub in the village that has, since 2024, offered adapted tricycles — the first facility of its kind in Europe when it opened, and a good indication of how seriously this route takes access.
Mulranny to Achill Sound — 14km
The final section is the wildest. The land thins out, the Atlantic gets closer, and the trail runs along the northern shore of Clew Bay with very little between it and the water. On a clear evening the light here is the reason people photograph this coast for a living. On a westerly it will take the ears off you.
Achill Sound is the crossing point to Achill Island, Ireland's largest island and a proper destination in its own right — cliffs, deserted villages, blue-flag beaches and Slievemore standing over all of it. Since 2023 a further 5km of greenway continues from Achill Sound to Cashel, which makes a pleasant extra hour if you have the legs.
Walking it, when most people cycle it
We should be straight about this: the Great Western Greenway is used more by cyclists than by walkers. Most people ride the whole thing in a day. If you walk it, you will be sharing the path, and on a July weekend you will be sharing it with a good many people.
That is not a reason to avoid it. It is a reason to plan it differently:
Walk it in two or three days, not one. Nine and a half hours of continuous walking on a hard surface is a specific kind of tired. Westport to Newport, Newport to Mulranny, Mulranny to Achill Sound gives you three unhurried days and three villages to stop in.
Start early. The path is close to empty before ten in the morning, and the light across Clew Bay is better then anyway.
Mind your feet. Compacted gravel is kinder than bog but harder than a hill path, and a lot of walkers who never get blisters in the mountains get them here. Cushioned shoes, and take your boots off at lunch.
Walk east to west if you can. Prevailing winds come off the Atlantic, so Westport to Achill puts the weather at your back more often than not, and saves the best coastal views for last.
When to go
May, June and September are the best months. Long days, the lowest rainfall of the year, and the bay at its clearest. September in particular is lovely here — the crowds go home, the water is still warm from the summer, and the light starts going gold in the late afternoon.
July and August work perfectly well but are the busiest weeks on the path and the hardest for finding a bed at short notice in Westport or on Achill. April and October are quieter and often gorgeous, with the caveat that some seasonal cafés and bike-hire places will be shut.
Unlike most Irish long walks, the Greenway is genuinely walkable in winter. The surface drains, nothing floods badly, and there is no navigation to worry about in poor light. You will just have very few hours of daylight and very little open in the villages.
Getting there and getting back
Westport has a railway station with direct trains from Dublin Heuston, which makes this one of the easiest long walks in Ireland to reach without a car. Achill Sound at the far end is served by bus back to Westport, though the timetable is thin and worth checking rather than assuming.
Accommodation runs from hotels and townhouses in Westport through guesthouses and B&Bs in Newport and Mulranny to a good spread of options on Achill. Book ahead between June and August — Mulranny in particular has limited beds for the number of people passing through.
If you want the west of Ireland with more trail under you
The Greenway is a wonderful few days, but it is a rail trail. If what you are picturing is Atlantic coast with actual walking country underneath it, there are better fits.
The Burren Way in County Clare is the closest thing we run in spirit: the same western light and the same sea, but on limestone pavement and green roads, finishing on the Cliffs of Moher on foot rather than from a car park. And if what appeals about the Greenway is specifically the flat, easy, waterside walking — the ability to talk to your companion the whole way rather than watch your feet — the Barrow Way does that on a river towpath through the quietest countryside in Ireland.
Both are self-guided, with your beds booked, your bags moved on each morning and someone at the end of a phone. And if you have your heart set on Mayo, talk to us anyway — we would rather build you something tailor-made than sell you a trail that is not what you had in mind.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is the Great Western Greenway?
44km from Westport to Achill Sound, made up of three sections: Westport to Newport (12km), Newport to Mulranny (18km) and Mulranny to Achill Sound (14km). A further 5km extension from Achill Sound to Cashel opened in 2023, bringing the full route to 49km.
How many days does it take to walk the Great Western Greenway?
Two to three days at a comfortable walking pace. Three days lets you break the route naturally at Newport and Mulranny and enjoy each village. Strong walkers do it in two. Cyclists commonly do the whole thing in a single day.
Is the Great Western Greenway suitable for beginners?
Yes. It follows railway gradients, so there are no climbs of any consequence, the surface is firm the whole way and there is no navigation involved. It is one of the few multi-day walks in Ireland we would recommend to someone who has never done one before.
Is the Great Western Greenway wheelchair accessible?
Long stretches are, thanks to the firm surface and gentle gradients, though accessibility varies by section and the on-road stretch through Newport is the weak point. A cycle hub in Mulranny has offered adapted tricycles since 2024.
Can you walk the Great Western Greenway with a dog?
Yes, on a lead. The route crosses private farmland with livestock on either side of the fence for much of its length, so keeping your dog under close control is not optional here.
Do you have to share the Greenway with cyclists?
Yes, along the entire route — and cyclists outnumber walkers, particularly in July and August. Walk early in the day and keep left when you hear a bell.
How do I get to the Great Western Greenway without a car?
Take the train from Dublin Heuston to Westport and start from there. Bus services connect Achill Sound back towards Westport at the far end, but timetables are limited, so check them before you set out rather than on the day.
Is the Great Western Greenway a National Waymarked Way?
No. It is a greenway — a dedicated off-road walking and cycling route on a former railway line — rather than one of Ireland's National Waymarked Ways. The Western Way, which is a National Waymarked Way, runs through the same part of Mayo and shares the Greenway between Westport and Newport.
