County Donegal - what is the best location to spend 12 days?
Jul 13th, 2007, 03:36 PM
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County Donegal - what is the best location to spend 12 days?
Hi All,
My husband and I are planning another trip to Ireland next May. This is our 4th trip, but we have never ventured further north than County Mayo. (I must thank those of you that helped me with the driving last time, as I had been quite worried about driving in the cities. It was MUCH easier than I had thought although I did make my share of mistakes!)
Anyway, I have heard that County Donegal is not to be missed, but I really know so little about the area. I read this forum regularly, but most of it is about the usual places in the west and southwest. Even the travel books focus on that area. Could anyone give me a bit of information about what there is to see up north. We love to drive and sightsee, villages and countryside, stop and chat with the local people, historical places are very important, as are the local pubs in the evening. We absolutely love seeing the odd and unusual sights! Planning on a two week self catering cottage in Co. Donegal-hopefully right on the coast, although I don't know where yet- then back to our usual Ardmore cottage for the last week. Thanks so much...
My husband and I are planning another trip to Ireland next May. This is our 4th trip, but we have never ventured further north than County Mayo. (I must thank those of you that helped me with the driving last time, as I had been quite worried about driving in the cities. It was MUCH easier than I had thought although I did make my share of mistakes!)
Anyway, I have heard that County Donegal is not to be missed, but I really know so little about the area. I read this forum regularly, but most of it is about the usual places in the west and southwest. Even the travel books focus on that area. Could anyone give me a bit of information about what there is to see up north. We love to drive and sightsee, villages and countryside, stop and chat with the local people, historical places are very important, as are the local pubs in the evening. We absolutely love seeing the odd and unusual sights! Planning on a two week self catering cottage in Co. Donegal-hopefully right on the coast, although I don't know where yet- then back to our usual Ardmore cottage for the last week. Thanks so much...
Jul 13th, 2007, 05:48 PM
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Hi lotty. My husband and I stayed in Portsalon in County Donegal in May of this year, and had a glorious time. The area is breathtakingly beautiful! We took day trips from there.
http://missoulanordic.org/rocky/gallery/album05
Highest cliffs in Europe! Amazing! As is the drive up! A shopkeeper in Donegal suggested this to us, an and it was worth it!
http://www.destinationletterkenny.com/touring.htm
We were about 45 minutes north of Donegal, so our day trips were closer, but we took all the ones listed above. Glenveigh National Park was beautiful, as was the alantic dr.
I'll post more as I remember it, or feel free to email me.
http://missoulanordic.org/rocky/gallery/album05
Highest cliffs in Europe! Amazing! As is the drive up! A shopkeeper in Donegal suggested this to us, an and it was worth it!
http://www.destinationletterkenny.com/touring.htm
We were about 45 minutes north of Donegal, so our day trips were closer, but we took all the ones listed above. Glenveigh National Park was beautiful, as was the alantic dr.
I'll post more as I remember it, or feel free to email me.
Jul 13th, 2007, 05:59 PM
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Thank you, Cindyldoe,
I know it's early, but I am always like this - planning way ahead of time. I so try to make the most of my time in Ireland - love it so. Our trips before were to the areas my family came from, west, southwest and southeast, but this is all different. I feel a little lost and certainly un-familiar with the northwest. Any info at all is so much appreciated!!
Lotty
I know it's early, but I am always like this - planning way ahead of time. I so try to make the most of my time in Ireland - love it so. Our trips before were to the areas my family came from, west, southwest and southeast, but this is all different. I feel a little lost and certainly un-familiar with the northwest. Any info at all is so much appreciated!!
Lotty
Jul 13th, 2007, 07:38 PM
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This was our first trip to Ireland. When we decided to go, we knew we wan ted to see rural Ireland, and not tourist spots or even cities. We wanted to see the Ireland of old. We did rent a car, a necessity! And just explored, it was wonderful. My last name is really "Doe" so we wanted to see Doe Castle, on about 18 miles from us. The driving got easier! I came to love round abouts! No more waiting at a stoplight. It was heaven! And to our delight, people actually let you in, with a smile. So refreshing!
Maybe someone else can give you advice on where to stay. Portsalon was very beautiful, but remote. In hindsight, we may have chosen somewhere more central.
Although we fell in love with the country, it was the kindness of the people that made it special.
We intentionally stayed away from tourist groups, we wanted Ireland, not tourists visiting Ireland.
We were sucessful!
Maybe someone else can give you advice on where to stay. Portsalon was very beautiful, but remote. In hindsight, we may have chosen somewhere more central.
Although we fell in love with the country, it was the kindness of the people that made it special.
We intentionally stayed away from tourist groups, we wanted Ireland, not tourists visiting Ireland.
We were sucessful!
Jul 13th, 2007, 09:38 PM
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Try one of the Crest of the Wave houses in Bundoran. On the ocean. About 1/2 hour from Donegal and Sligo. Good restaurants in town. And reasonably priced. We've enjoyed them 3 years in a row. I hope you would, too.
Jul 14th, 2007, 02:13 PM
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Lotty,
Just outside of Letterkenny is a delightful self catering cottage, Sara's Cottage, http://www.sarahscottagedonegal.com. It is like taking a trip back in time and bring all the modern amenities with you. Also just outside of Letterkenny and well suited for exploring t ehCounty is Fern Cottage, http://www.ferncottagedonegal.com/index.htm.
Naomh Conal, http://www.naomhconal.com/, is just outside of Anagaire and not far from the Resort town of Dungloe. It is a very restiful place without being too far off the beaten track. They have phenomal rates during most of the year. I think their highest rates occur in July.
You will fall in love with Co. Donegal. Make sure you check with Anchoress for markets days whilst you are there. The markets can be so much fun! Take home some delightful gifts and support a worthy cause by shopping the stall set-up by the sisters. Co. Donegal is spectacularin the spring so May is the perfect time to go.
On ething to keep in mind with self catering is that hey usuallylet from Saturday to Saturday in 7 day blocks. If you want to stay 12 days instead of seven, make sure you check with the proprietors to see what can be arranged. Otherwise, let the cottage for the seven days and take the remaining five days distributed on either side to explore other parts of the North, staying in B&Bs.
I hope this will be of some help!
Slan Beo,
Bit Devine
Just outside of Letterkenny is a delightful self catering cottage, Sara's Cottage, http://www.sarahscottagedonegal.com. It is like taking a trip back in time and bring all the modern amenities with you. Also just outside of Letterkenny and well suited for exploring t ehCounty is Fern Cottage, http://www.ferncottagedonegal.com/index.htm.
Naomh Conal, http://www.naomhconal.com/, is just outside of Anagaire and not far from the Resort town of Dungloe. It is a very restiful place without being too far off the beaten track. They have phenomal rates during most of the year. I think their highest rates occur in July.
You will fall in love with Co. Donegal. Make sure you check with Anchoress for markets days whilst you are there. The markets can be so much fun! Take home some delightful gifts and support a worthy cause by shopping the stall set-up by the sisters. Co. Donegal is spectacularin the spring so May is the perfect time to go.
On ething to keep in mind with self catering is that hey usuallylet from Saturday to Saturday in 7 day blocks. If you want to stay 12 days instead of seven, make sure you check with the proprietors to see what can be arranged. Otherwise, let the cottage for the seven days and take the remaining five days distributed on either side to explore other parts of the North, staying in B&Bs.
I hope this will be of some help!
Slan Beo,
Bit Devine
Jul 15th, 2007, 09:13 AM
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Please, mail me offlist for more info re Donegal; we are further south than Portsalon and we know this area, near Donegal Town and Glencolumcille, in great detail.
Just in from Donegal Town; we are now just free-lancing rather than setting up in regular markets. It means we can stay longer.....Just now every Sunday we set up near the anchor, by the pier, in Donegal Town. All day....
They have kindly given us the freedom of the Water Bus, but so far no time to enjoy that except the once.
It is where the tour buses come in.... I have met many of your charming countrymen and women this week, and our jams and rosaries and knitting will be heading "home" with many of them. It has been the big Music Festival this weekend so very busy. One week we tend to go to Letterkenny car boot sale, and sometimes to Sligo. This will change in September when the tourist season ends; just now we are out selling tow or three days a week. Blessings and thanks....
Just in from Donegal Town; we are now just free-lancing rather than setting up in regular markets. It means we can stay longer.....Just now every Sunday we set up near the anchor, by the pier, in Donegal Town. All day....
They have kindly given us the freedom of the Water Bus, but so far no time to enjoy that except the once.
It is where the tour buses come in.... I have met many of your charming countrymen and women this week, and our jams and rosaries and knitting will be heading "home" with many of them. It has been the big Music Festival this weekend so very busy. One week we tend to go to Letterkenny car boot sale, and sometimes to Sligo. This will change in September when the tourist season ends; just now we are out selling tow or three days a week. Blessings and thanks....
Jul 15th, 2007, 12:31 PM
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I live in Ireland and have travelled around Donegal a lot.
Donegal is a very big area and the roads out to the pennisulas are not always the best. Then there are great islands of the coast like Arranmore and Tory island that are worth visiting. The earliet suggestion of rental cottages near Letterkenny sounds like a good option from where you can explore the region to the south, west or the pennisulas north.
Donegal is a very big area and the roads out to the pennisulas are not always the best. Then there are great islands of the coast like Arranmore and Tory island that are worth visiting. The earliet suggestion of rental cottages near Letterkenny sounds like a good option from where you can explore the region to the south, west or the pennisulas north.
Jul 16th, 2007, 08:30 AM
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perhaps you could split between two cottages. We stayed at the Donegal Thatched cottages and as far as a view of the coast, you can hardly beat it. It is pretty remote, but there are some wonderful villages in the area and we had little trouble taking daytrips from there.
Here is a link to their website:
http://www.donegalthatchcottages.com/
Here is a link to my journal on our time there. It covers 5 separate pages so just keep hitting the "next" button.
http://www.geocities.com/obeirne_ire..._3/cruit_1.htm
Bill
Here is a link to their website:
http://www.donegalthatchcottages.com/
Here is a link to my journal on our time there. It covers 5 separate pages so just keep hitting the "next" button.
http://www.geocities.com/obeirne_ire..._3/cruit_1.htm
Bill
Jul 16th, 2007, 10:44 AM
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so many fans of donegal, what a great thing it is. we have a family cottage in Bruckless which is on the way from donegal town to killybegs we love the area there you should definitely see the Slieve League cliffs, the fishing boats of Killybegs, Glencolumcile, the strands and waterfall at Maghera(outside of Ardara) Donegal town is lovely too, our favorite place is the blueberry tearoom. You can also take a trip north around the coast and take a boat out to Tory Island which is wild and great. We love Donegal, it's the best of Ireland all in one county. PS you can also take a trip to Enniskillen which is great, my favorite artist Jo Tinney has a shop there in the ButterMarket.
Jul 17th, 2007, 05:50 PM
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hmmmm, well, I didn't see a sign marked private, but I also drove right by a round tower. Actually, there were lots of folks out that day as there was some scuba event on. The area was pretty busy actually and no one gave us a second look as we wandered along the rocks. I'm sure you're right that it's private, but no one seemed to either notice (in my case) or perhaps pay attention. There was a moment when an entire herd of cattle attacked a group near the fence which was amusing to watch from a distance. When we were there, there must have been 20 others, most of them involved in the scuba group.
Like you, (when I see them) I heed the private property signs.
Bill
Like you, (when I see them) I heed the private property signs.
Bill
Jul 17th, 2007, 09:57 PM
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Round tower? Out there? Maybe we are talking of different places..Hmmmm! The only round tower around there is at Bruckless?
When you get to the very end of the road at St John's Point, there is the beach on the left, then a stone gateway that is marked,private road, no parking or driving... the lighthouse is a long way down that raod. I always wanted to get closer to have a look.....
When you get to the very end of the road at St John's Point, there is the beach on the left, then a stone gateway that is marked,private road, no parking or driving... the lighthouse is a long way down that raod. I always wanted to get closer to have a look.....
Jul 18th, 2007, 05:56 AM
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Anchoress:
We are two "young" couples in our late 50's traveling in Donegal next month and are having difficulty finding a B&B. We need two rooms. Do you have a list you can recommend and would you stay the night in Killybeg or Donegal?
We are two "young" couples in our late 50's traveling in Donegal next month and are having difficulty finding a B&B. We need two rooms. Do you have a list you can recommend and would you stay the night in Killybeg or Donegal?
Jul 18th, 2007, 07:33 AM
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I have loved my stays at Drumcorroy House, http://www.drumcorroyhouse.com/. The views are fabulous and the breakfast absolutely delicious! It is just a few miles outside of Donegal Town. The rooms are comfortable, the beds are a welcome place to rest and the bathrooms are adequate in size.
Also a wonderful place to stay is Water's Edge, http://www.thewatersedge.ws/, which is a 5 - 10 minute walk to town centre.Marie will make sure you are comfortable and well fed. Her breakfasts are always fuel enough for a day of exploring.
Those would be my Donegal town suggestions.
Slan Beo,
Bit
Also a wonderful place to stay is Water's Edge, http://www.thewatersedge.ws/, which is a 5 - 10 minute walk to town centre.Marie will make sure you are comfortable and well fed. Her breakfasts are always fuel enough for a day of exploring.
Those would be my Donegal town suggestions.
Slan Beo,
Bit
