WIND and rain look like ruining our family fitness break in the misty surrounds of Co Clare after a planned cycle ride is blown to the gale, and a boat trip sinks in the waves.

Luckily, Kate Sweeney, the sweet-natured local woman who runs the Wild Honey Inn in Lisdoonvarna, comes to the rescue and organises a guided family hike instead.

Kate, her husband Aidan and their children Levi (23) and Reece (12) bought the former hotel recently, and it’s an ideal base to explore this unique landscape.

The 14-bedroom inn lets you escape the throngs at the bigger hotels, and the food is amazing under Aidan’s understated touch.

If you detect a foodie fetish starting to colour our country trip, you might be right, because it’s soon clear why this north Clare inn has become the first pub in the country to win a prestigious Michelin Bib Gourmand award, as well as the Bridgestone inspectors’ approval.

But wait — this is a fitness column, and so far our aim of a ‘healthy holiday’ in the west is scoring high marks on the food front, but the planned 30km cycle ride is blown off course by gale-force winds.

So Kate kindly sets us up with a healthy hike.

The next morning, three generations of us — mother, daughter and young fella — are chaperoned up along the grey magnificence of the Burren, where history, wildlife and flora lures visitors from around the world.

DNA taken from bones discovered in one of the Burren’s Neolithic tombs was recently found to match that of local children living in a nearby village. How many places can trace their history back so closely to ancestors who lived 6,000 years ago and created passage tombs as old and as technically astonishing as the Egyptian pyramids?

We learn much of this and more from Mary Howard, a local walking guide who has given up her Sunday off to escort us around the craggy rocks.

Her infectious passion for the place means our steep walk upward flies by, despite the sometimes strenuous going.

“The great thing about walking is you don’t realise you’re actually getting fit as well as enjoying the view,” smiles Mary, who lives in the nearby town of Fanore.

All levels of fitness are catered for, and you’ll come away with a wealth of knowledge and hopefully remembering the names of the abundant flowers that peek out from the hidden limestone fissures.

So, despite the fantastic food and long sleeps at the inn, the family returns happy and red-cheeked — but possibly a couple of kilos heavier.

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