I am backpacking Ireland this summer with a friend, and my itinerary is complete except for this small section. We will be sleeping in Galway May 26, 27, and 28. I have then allotted 4 nights for the northern area before we take a ferry from Belfast to Stranraer in Scotland. I thought we would do 2 nights in Derry, leaving 2 nights for another place.

I’m really looking for somewhere between Galway and Derry: I have read magnificent things about Mayo, Sligo and Donegal, but am having an impossible time trying to pick a spot!

One important factor: we will not have a car. Therefore, any destination we pick must be accessible by bus.

So basically, where would you suggest for a 2 night stay? We are pretty open to anything: scenery, nice towns, etc.

I was leaning towards Sligo because I just spent a semester studying Yeats, but I think not having a car limits us: are there tours of any kind to significant sites?

Any and all suggestions are welcome!

Hi there,

I did basically the same thing you did on the last part of my two month trip to Ireland (NW - Derry - Ferry to Scotland). I stayed in both Sligo and Donegal town. I liked Donegal town best, personally. I thought the town was fun and I took a tour of the county that went to Slieve League and it was amaaazing. Way better than the Cliffs of Moher and much less touristy. That being said, Sligo was alright too. I did go visit Yeat's grave. It is not the easiest without a car. It may have changed now, but what I did was take a bus there and back. The problem is the bus only runs about every 3 hours, and it takes about...5 minutes to see Yeat's grave. The only other thing out there is the church, and there is not a whole lot to see there either. Then you had to wait another 2-3 hours for the bus to come back!! So it was cool...but involved a lot of waiting.

I didn't look into anymore Yeat's type activities, but there might be others in Sligo to do.

I apologize for the extremely late reply, but thanks so much for your input!
You've tipped the balance in favour of Donegal, so that is what we've decided on.

Agree that the Slieve league cliffs are worth a trip. There are some crazy and somewhat scary trails if you can get out to them that run along the cliffs. There is also a boat trip from Teelin (used to be anyway) that goes views the cliffs looking up.

Bill

BTW, Westport has the option of hiking Croagh Patrick which leaves you with a spectacular view of Clew Bay but it is only a short distance from Galway.

Bill