Doolin to Donegal!
This portion of the trip, the third week, promises a wonderful variety of new sights and exciting discoveries. With the exception of Galway (at Point D on the map above) and then further north, immediately around Westport (at Point F), this is one region of Ireland I have not explored very much at all yet! It will be fun to check out some new territory and roads not traveled.
Doolin is where we begin week 3 of our 5 week trip around Ireland.
Having never been even near Doolin, I’m relying heavily on guidebooks for suggestions and ideas.
I hear it’s a great spot and a major centre for traditional Irish music nightly in the local pubs – this sounds like a bit of fun waiting to happen!
We’ve booked a bed in the Aille River Hostel situated on the banks of the river. Nice! Always enjoy a water feature!
The Cliffs of Moher (a must see) are also close-by so a guided walk might just be in order to enjoy their magnificence to its fullest.
There’s also Doolin Cave, Doonagore Castle and the hostel we’re staying at even has free laundry services! We’ll probably need that after 3 weeks traveling – ya think?
The Aran Isles are just offshore so we’ll hop on the ferry at Doolin to explore Inishmore and spend the night at Aonghasa’s Walker’s Lodge.
The way to get around the island, other than walking or bicycling, is by pony carts. So many interesting sights to see on Inishmor and what a fun way to see them!
Course, it wouldn’t be complete without a stop at an Aran Sweater shop!
After we take the ferry back across to Doolin to gather our car, we’ll load up and drive to Galway to spend a couple of days.
Galway is a busy Gaelic city, with a vibrant historic old town bustling with the young and old alike.
We’ll be staying at a fun hostel that sits right in the heart of the old town called Sleepzone Galway. Its clean, has great service and a wonderful self-catering kitchen to cook in!
The road will take us further north after Galway into the Connemara National Park. We’ll be staying in a remote hostel within the park’s embrace as we work our way through the scenic wonderland to the town of Westport on the other side of Croagh Patrick.
Along the route we’ll pass Aasleagh Falls, the “Coffin Ship” monument to the great Famine and then the peaceful estuary of Clew Bay before arriving at our hostel, the Old Mill, in Westport!
We will end the week by traveling from Westport, through the town of Sligo (stopping to visit it along the way because my 3rd great grandmother, Mary Finnigan, was born there) before driving on to our last stop for the week – Donegal – where we will rest our heads at Donegal Town Independent Hostel.
That concludes week 3 of our adventures in Ireland. Until the next time… enjoy dreaming travel dreams of your own. Next time we’ll continue our travel plans by heading to Londonderry and Northern Ireland!
