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Thinking of a holiday with the family, anyone been or hailing from there? Looks fantastic, any recommendations for outdoorsy stuff , bike and walking/climbing etc? Must see places?
Melly's chip shop in Killybegs (and Slieve League)
There's a place called Muff and they have a diving club.
Pretty and tons of beaches, probably expensive and no idea on "attractions".
Good road riding/sports driving
I'm local. Post how long your planning on staying, age of kids / difficulty level of activities / other interests etc and I can probably give you some ideas.
On my phone at the minute, probably tomorrow Eve or Thursday before I can give a proper reply.
Sailed around the Antrim and Donegal coast in the 80's - still had wind-up phones via an operator in far-flung places. Enquired at a pub about closing time, to which the reply was "October!" Keep meaning to go back....
go to Glenveagh national park, stay here:
http://anoige.ie/hostels/our-hostel-guide/errigal-youth-hostel/
climb Errigal.. awesome for families 🙂
Very picturesque but no matter what time of year, you WILL need decent waterproofs.
Donegal Craft Village on the southern outskirts of Donegal town is worth a visit, especially if you like silver jewellery with an Atlantic Irish theme.
not much in the way of supermarkets in /near Donegal town if you need a bulk amount of food and/or beer, but there’s a big Asda across the border in Enniskillen
I grew up in Glencolumbcille. It's not somewhere I would want to go on holiday.
The beaches are lovely but the lax planning laws have rather ruined many of the towns and villages.
My grandmother was from the blue stack mountains and I keep meaning to go back again. Absolutely beautiful place
Errigal and beaches as already mentioned are great, as are the numerous tiny pubs!
Cheers all, loads to be getting on with. Kids will be 10, 7 and 5, not looking for anything too adventurous, no sea kayaking or owt. Walks in the hills and good beaches are preferred, good food for lunch stops. We've found a place on Inch Island to stay so anywhere local would be good but we'll have the car and travelling further afield is not a problem. I wouldn't mind a good hill walk when I was there too.
yokaiser
Cheers all, loads to be getting on with. Kids will be 10, 7 and 5, not looking for anything too adventurous, no sea kayaking or owt. Walks in the hills and good beaches are preferred, good food for lunch stops. We’ve found a place on Inch Island to stay so anywhere local would be good but we’ll have the car and travelling further afield is not a problem. I wouldn’t mind a good hill walk when I was there too.
Okay on Inch Island there are a few little beaches, they can get packed in good weather though. Also be sure to check out Inch Castle / Doherty castle, it's a ruin with no health barriers or signage but along with Burt Castle, Elagh castle and the walls of Derry they really tell the story of the whole area. Grianan Aliagh is just over the road from you and there's a nice Aussie chap up there who does nice coffee. Grianan hotel has decent pub grub but can be very busy if there's a wedding on so maybe phone ahead.
Local to you on the Innishowed penisula my favourite beaches would be Kinnagoe bay and Tremone. Check out Malin Head too. There's a lidl, and Aldi and a Supervalue in Buncrana but apart from that it's a tourist trap town. If you do go there for a day avoid the main beach (it's busy and has a dangerous current), go for the coastal walk instead.
Beaches worth a look on the Fanad Pennisula - Portsalon/Ballymacstoker, Tra na Rossan . Mulroy, Isle of Doagh, and Fanad head. See if you can find the murder hole.
Do check out Glenveagh and the surrounding area for hiking. I wouldn't take young kids up Errigal, try Muckish instead or The Poisoned Glen which is stunning, but boggy. Alternatively there's a lovely walk near Errigal to Lough Altan, which is breathtaking with a completely deserted beach. If you're feeling advernturous come at it from the Muckish side over Alagh Mor.
If you can hike over the Poisoned Glen the views are amazing. You can cycle around Glenveagh National park but it's gravel tracks and old roads as opposed to MTB. You can get a bus from the visitors centre over to St. Columbas birthplace and cycle back to Glenveagh castle, phone ahead for times and bike space though. Gartan forest has some little trails and nice walks, check out Callaghans bar in Church Hill if you're there.
As above the Bluestacks are lovely and the Bluestack drive is a nice loop to cycle for adults. Check out Ard na Mona woods and Lough Eske walk. Check out Disert, the mass altar and the paupers graveyard and Biddy o Barnes for a pint of Guinness. There's a lovely hike from Croventa over Croaghgorm and down to Lough Eske. Not really suitable for the kids though.
On the west side of the county Slieve League is absolutely amazing, worth the trip. if I think of anything else I'll make another post. Any other questions ask away.
That'll be 11 Euros for a battered haddock please, was in Killybegs earlier this week.</span>
^^what jimjam said^^
Mum's family is all from there (Ramelton/Letterkenny). It's truly stunning.
Beaches:
Ballymastocker is a North East facing beach on the entrance to Lough Swilly. Gets some swell but is generally great for families as the lough water is clean and quite warm. There's fek all in Portsalon.
Downings beach is also really good as you've the village right next to it for lunch & services. You can drive right onto the beach.
For quiet beaches check out the little ones up near Ballyhoorisky, though beware of wind direction as it can blow in really badly from the atlantic. (we always take a shelter if we head up there)
Activities:
There's lots of sea based activity places springing up doing coasteering, sea kayaking & some jet boating. Leaflets in the tourist info in Lettterkenny <edit just seen that you don't need this>.
Biking can be a bit of problem as nobody seems clear on ROW offroad for bikes. I'm usually fine as I can go "I'm Kathleen's son, from this farm, so & so's cousin" and get away with it. You can also run into issues with the ground as there's loads of bogs up on the hills.
Climb Errigal. It is awesome, particularly on a sunny day.
If you're on the Atlantic coast drive, try and find the star wars filming locations. There are many.
Accommodation, Food, Drink:
We usually self cater as there's loads of places. Perhaps try the govisitdonegal site? Otherwise there are a few good hotels. The silver tassie near ramelton is good, Its also great for a decent steak.
Conway's in Ramelton is a proper genuine old school Irish bar. You WILL stand up when they play the national anthem at kick out time, no matter how many whiskey's you've imbibed. I usually go there for a few then walk down to the bridge as the music's better.
Cash / Fuel / Driving:
Buy euros from the exchange place at Whitehouse retail, on the Buncrana road outside Derry. You'd struggle to get a better rate anywhere else.
Fill up on the republic side of the border at either of the two garages in Bridge End for cheaps.
The "hard shoulder" on the N13 is nothing of the sort. It's an overtaking lane. You are expected to use it to let people past.
There's a car ferry from Buncrana across lough swilly. Saves miles of driving across to the peninsular. www.swillyferry.com
The place is beautifully green and fertile. Take good waterproofs.
sv
Member
That’ll be 11 Euros for a battered haddock please, was in Killybegs earlier this week.
No chips with that? Eating out in Ireland is an expensive business, at least the haddock should've been fresh
Thanks all for the tips, helped a lot. Beaches seemed to be the order of the day, got to Ballymastocker, Portnoo, Lisfannon and one of the ones on Inch. Errigal was awesome. Visited Dunree, Grinian of Aileach, Derry, Fanad head also went to the Giants Causeway and the Dark Hedges. Never got to Inch Castle though but we were staying in a place called Castleview cottage and saw it every morning. Wife even got the scampi at Killybegs but did say it was fantastic, actually food was probably the only let down, expensive and mediocre for the most part. Did get a really good roast beef sandwich in Donegal town all the same. But fantastic trip nonetheless, really hit the spot and no doubt we'll be back, we'd stayed in Skibbereen before and this reminded us of everything we loved about Ireland. If you asked the youngest though Smyth's toy superstore in Letterkenny was the highlight.