Donegal County (Contae Dhún na nGall)
"This is my homeland, the place I was born in No matter where I go it's in my soul
My feet may wander a thousand places But my heart will lead me back home to my Donegal."
Daniel O'Donnell - Home to Donegal
This is a 3-day Road Trip for Donegal
County. It starts in Donegal Town and finish in Derry.
There are more incredible places in
Donegal that are not in the way of this trip, like Arranmore
Island or the Ards
Forest park, so if you have more time, you can follow these points in the map.
Remember
you can extend the map below to use it in your phone in your Google Maps app as a GPS during your travel.
Distances for the main roads are not too
long so if you need to rent a room or a house, do it in Letterkenny and the
surrounds, is the mid-place for all steps of the route. If you are traveling
in a Camper van, Motorhome or you have tour tent in your boot, you are gonna
enjoy this county!
you
have a lot of fantastic places where you can sleep in almost any corner.
About Donegal
Donegal is one of the most spectacular
counties in Ireland and strangely is not one of the most touristic places as
can be Galway, Cork or Kerry. It means Donegal doesn't have this typical
artificial feeling that have places like Cliff of Moher, Giant Causeway or Ring
of Kerry (Incredible places, of course, but ready to support large number of
tourists, so inevitably are less authentic...).
You are gonna find good roads to cross the county in no more than two hours, but t reach the most beautiful places you need to take very small roads so be patient and enjoy the travel!
You are gonna find good roads to cross the county in no more than two hours, but t reach the most beautiful places you need to take very small roads so be patient and enjoy the travel!
Following the coast, you will see very
big numbers made by white painted stones and the word "EIRE". Do you
know why they were made?
Well, these numbers are called the Eire
Markings, made during the Second World War, while Ireland remained neutral
between 1939 and 1942. It was a way to reduce the number of aircraft landing
because their crews had lost their bearings.
Another very common construction in
Donegal and all the Atlantic coast are the Napoleonic Signal Towers.
These towers were constructed around 1805 as a signalling system, referred to as an optical telegraph, required that each signal station be visible to its counterparts on either side There are around 13 of these towers along the Donegal coast, I'm sure you will see more than one.
Ok, Let's start the route!
These towers were constructed around 1805 as a signalling system, referred to as an optical telegraph, required that each signal station be visible to its counterparts on either side There are around 13 of these towers along the Donegal coast, I'm sure you will see more than one.
Ok, Let's start the route!
How to use the map
In this map you can see different colour flags, green flags means nature places, and grey/ black flags towns and villages. The intensity of the colour means if I think the place is more important to see (more intensity) or is more skip-able (less intensity).
Clicking in each flag you can see the name of the place, and maybe a small description and picture (I'm working in it ;-).
You can use the map as a GPS clicking the up-right button, or following this link:
Go to MyMaps Route 01
Donegal is a small but beautiful town, you can only walk for the streets and along the river and walk to the coast to see the harbour and the old cemetery & church besides the harbour.
Following the route and stopping in the next flags of the map you can see incredible places like:
Tullymore lighthouse, fantastic view with the cliffs behind.
Slieve League, the highest cliffs in Europe.
Maghera Adara, An amazing beach with caves and strange stones. (the valley you need to cross to reach this place is one of the most incredible places I have driven).
Assaranca waterfall, High waterfall near to the sea in a very nice area. After stop there, you can go to the upper peninsula to see the waterfall from another perspective, it's worth do it.
Next stops are near of Glenveagh Natural Park but if you have time, you can go to the Arranmore Island, that has fantastic landscapes.
Heading the way, the next area is the Errigal mountain surrounds, you are wanna stop every moment, and you can stop to reach the top of the mountain, the views are incredible.
Glenveagh Natural Park. There is a 5 km path beside the lake to go to the Glenveagh castle, it's worth the effort, the gardens and the surrounds are magic!!
Also, if you don't want to walk too much, there is a minibus line directly to the castle.
Again, if you have time, you can deviate from the route to the north to see the interest points are in the map.
Letterkenny, Is the biggest town in the area, good place to find different places to eat, to go shopping and to find places to sleep, hostels and airbnb houses. Is good choice to sleep because is good connected by roads with all other areas on this county.
Grianan of Aileach, An old stonefort (V - VI Century) in an amazing place with 360 degrees view.
Fort Dunree, A coastal defence fortification where you can see cannons and a lot of defence structures.
Derry, Yes, I know is not Donegal, Even is not Republic of Ireland, but you need to know this beautiful city and walk along the walls.
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