Is Donegal worth visiting?

Yes, and increasingly it is the region we recommend over Kerry for second trips to Ireland. Donegal has the highest accessible sea cliffs in the country at Slieve League, a national park at Glenveagh, the northernmost point of the island at Malin Head, championship links at Ballyliffin and Rosapenna, and a fraction of the coach traffic of the south west.

How many days do you need in Donegal?

Three days covers one end of the county. Four to five days lets you drive the south west coast and the northern peninsulas properly. Anything less than three nights and the driving times will eat the trip.

How do you get to Donegal from Dublin?

About three hours by car to Donegal Town via the N3 and Enniskillen, or three and a half hours to Letterkenny. Donegal Airport at Carrickfinn takes regional flights from Dublin and is one of the most scenic landings in Europe. There is no rail service into the county.

Is Donegal in Northern Ireland?

No. County Donegal is in the Republic of Ireland, in the province of Ulster. It borders Northern Ireland and sits north of most of it, which catches out a lot of first time visitors planning routes.

What is the best time of year to visit Donegal?

May, June and September. Long daylight, the fewest wet days of the year, and none of the July and August pressure on the good hotels. October is excellent for the red deer rut at Glenveagh if you accept shorter days.

Do you need a car in Donegal?

Effectively yes. Public transport within the county is sparse and the best of Donegal is on coastal roads that no bus serves. If nobody wants to drive, base in Donegal Town or Derry and use private day tours.

Where should affluent American travellers stay in Donegal?

Lough Eske Castle for the south west and the cliffs, Rathmullan House for the northern peninsulas, Harvey's Point for the largest rooms in the county, and Rosapenna if the trip is golf first. Book them by February for a summer trip.

Donegal Travel Guide: The Wild North, Properly Planned

The briefing

Donegal in one minute

Donegal is bigger than people plan for, and the roads are slower than the map admits. Pick one end and stay two nights, or split the week in half. What you get back is the version of Ireland the postcards are pretending to be.

It is also, quietly, the best value luxury week in the country. A castle hotel here costs what a mid-tier room costs in Killarney, and the championship links you cannot get near in Kerry will give you a Tuesday tee time in June.

Base: Donegal Town, then Rathmullan
Give it: Four nights, five for golf
Arrive: Dublin by car, or Carrickfinn
Best weeks: May, June, September

The Quick Answer

Donegal is Ireland's wildest county and quietly its best value luxury week. Base at Lough Eske Castle or Rathmullan House, give Slieve League an evening and Glenveagh a morning, and plan on slow roads: 60 miles here takes two hours. Five days is right. September brings empty beaches, soft light and the red deer rut in the glens.

Slieve League tops 601 metres, nearly three times the Cliffs of Moher
Castle hotels here start around USD 400 a night
Malin Head is the northernmost point on the island
Real drive times run about double the map estimate

Why Donegal

The county we send people to the second time

Kerry is the Ireland of the postcards. Donegal is the one you have to yourself. Here is the honest difference.

Aspect	The Ring of Kerry	County Donegal
Crowds	Coaches on the Ring all summer	Slieve League at nine in the evening, alone
Landscape	Curated viewpoints, set pieces	The highest cliffs in the country, no wall
Golf	Tee sheets you cannot get near	Championship links, a Tuesday in June
Stays	Grand hotels at grand prices	A castle for the price of a Killarney room
Best for	A first, iconic Ireland	The second trip, and the one after

Six places

The places, and the hour to be there

The two Donegals: the cliff country of the south west, and the long northern peninsulas. Each stop has a best hour and a better alternative for when the day goes wrong.

Slieve League, County Donegal. Photograph: Ardfern / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
01
Slieve League
The south west, above Teelin
Three times the height of Moher, a fraction of the coaches
Six hundred and one metres of sea cliff falling into the Atlantic. At Moher you look at a cliff from behind a wall. Here you stand on one.
Expat perspective
Do not stop at the lower visitor car park and photograph the cliff from there. Carry on up to the Bunglas gate and walk out along the edge, which is where the face actually reveals itself.
Best hour
After six in summer, once the coaches have gone
Do instead
If the cloud base is low, the cliff is simply not there. Swap to the Silver Strand at Malin Beg, ten minutes away, and come back in the evening.
From the Notebook: Donegal, when the light breaks The guide: Slieve League, properly
Glenveagh National Park, County Donegal. Photograph: Raphael Schön / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
02
Glenveagh National Park
The glen, north west interior
A Victorian castle at the end of a glacial valley
Sixteen thousand hectares of glen, lough and high bog, with a castellated house nobody expects and walled gardens that have no business thriving this far north. In October the red deer rut echoes across the valley.
Expat perspective
Skip the queue for the castle rooms. Walk the lakeside path and go straight up into the high walled gardens, which are the part of the estate worth the morning.
Best hour
The first shuttle of the morning
Do instead
Short on time? The gardens and the lakeside walk are the visit. The castle interior tour is the part you can drop.
The guide: Glenveagh, season by season
03
Malin Head and the Inishowen 100
The top of the island
Nothing north of you until the Arctic
The northernmost point of Ireland, a Star Wars location, and a hundred mile coastal loop that first trips never make room for. Banba's Crown, the raised beaches, and headland after empty headland.
Expat perspective
The Inishowen 100 is the reason to come this far north. Give it the whole day, fuel up before you start, and do not promise anyone dinner south of Letterkenny.
Best hour
A full day for the loop, not an afternoon
Do instead
If the day is short, drive out to Fanad Head lighthouse instead and stand at the end of that peninsula. Same feeling, half the distance.
From the Notebook: Inishowen and the northern headlands The guide: Malin Head and Inishowen
04
The Glengesh Pass
Between Ardara and Glencolmcille
The hairpin descent through empty upland
The drive people remember. A slow, switchbacking pass through high empty country between Ardara and the folk village at Glencolmcille.
Expat perspective
Drive it southbound from Ardara towards Glencolmcille, not the other way. You get the descent into the valley in front of you rather than a blind climb behind a line of traffic.
Best hour
Mid-morning, before the caravans reach the hairpins
Do instead
Add forty per cent to whatever the map tells you for any Donegal road. If the day is already long, the coast road direct to Glencolmcille is the kinder option.
The guide: Driving the Donegal coast
Tranarossann Bay, Rosguill Peninsula, County Donegal. Photograph: Patrice78500 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
05
Rosguill and Fanad
The northern peninsulas
Two fingers of duneland and lighthouse rock
The two peninsulas that hold the county's golf and its best beaches: Rosapenna's links above Tramore and Downings, Fanad Head lighthouse at the end of its own road, and Tranarossann Bay in between.
Expat perspective
Ballyliffin hosted the Irish Open and Rosapenna built the most interesting new links in Ireland. Both cost a fraction of the south west, and you can get a tee time. First tee at seven, and nobody in front of you.
Best hour
Early, with the beaches to yourself
Do instead
Not a golfer? The beaches are the point anyway. Tranarossann on a bright morning is the equal of anything in Kerry, with a car park you can count on one hand.
From the Notebook: Fanad Head, the last lighthouse The guide: Donegal golf, course by course
06
Killybegs and Donegal Town
The south coast
A working fishing port, and a castle town for dinner
Killybegs is Ireland's largest fishing port, and the shellfish landed that morning is cooked plainly within sight of the boats. Donegal Town, twenty minutes east, is the castle, the abbey ruins and the county's best choice of dinner tables.
Expat perspective
This is the sociable end of the county. Base here for Slieve League and the south west, and eat in Killybegs at least once: the catch is the menu.
Best hour
Lunch in Killybegs, evening in Donegal Town
Do instead
If you want the harbour without the working port, drive on to the Silver Strand at Malin Beg for the evening instead.
From the Notebook: Silver Strand, Malin Beg The guide: Where to eat in Donegal

The sea cliffs of Slieve League, County Donegal — Slieve League, County Donegal. Photograph: Ardfern / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

An interlude

We changed our mind about the golf

We used to file Donegal golf under value. After a week at Rosapenna and Ballyliffin we stopped hedging. It is the best links week in Ireland for the money, and the tee sheets are still open.

Ballyliffin hosted the Irish Open. Rosapenna built the most interesting new links in the country. Both cost a fraction of the south west.

Donegal golf, course by course

Where to stay

A castle in the south, a country house in the north

Four hotels hold the whole top tier of the county. Pick by coast, not by room.

Donegal Town, the south west

Lough Eske Castle

For the cliffs, the south west, and a fire lit by four

The county's only true castle hotel, in the woods outside Donegal Town, with a spa that earns its keep. The right base for Slieve League, Killybegs and the Glengesh Pass.

For June to August, book by February. Four hotels hold the whole top tier of the county, and they do not expand for demand.

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Lough Swilly, the northern peninsulas

Rathmullan House

For the north: Fanad, Rosguill and the Inishowen loop

A country house on Lough Swilly with a beach at the end of the lawn. The right base for the northern peninsulas, and the drive to Malin Head starts at the gate.

Split the week: two nights here, two at Lough Eske. Running the whole county from one hotel costs you two hours every single day.

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Orientation

Where to base yourself in County Donegal

Four bases, and the trip each one is quietly designed for. The wrong base costs you two hours a day.

Where to base yourself in County Donegal
Base	Drive from Dublin	Best for	Give it
Donegal TownThe south coast	3 hr	Slieve League, Killybegs, first nights	2 nights
ArdaraThe south west	3 hr 30 min	The Glengesh Pass, Glencolmcille, tweed	1 to 2 nights
RathmullanLough Swilly	3 hr 45 min	Fanad, Rosguill, the northern peninsulas	2 nights
BallyliffinInishowen	4 hr	Golf first, Malin Head at the door	1 to 2 nights

If you only have three nights, take the south west and leave Inishowen for next time. Splitting four bases means you spend the trip in the car.

The shape of it

Four days we would drive ourselves

Day one
Donegal Town and Killybegs
Arrive via the N3. The castle and abbey in town, then shellfish in Killybegs within sight of the boats.
Day two
Slieve League, late
The Glengesh Pass southbound, Glencolmcille, the Silver Strand, then the cliff at Bunglas after six when the coaches have gone.
Day three
North to the peninsulas
Move base to Rathmullan. Glenveagh on the first shuttle, the walled gardens before lunch, the lake path after.
Day four
The Inishowen 100
The full loop: Fanad Head, Rosguill, Malin Head. A whole day, fuel in the tank, dinner back on Lough Swilly.

Want the fixed route? Read Donegal in five days, our set itinerary through the county.

Want this shaped around your dates?

Tell us who is travelling and when. We will set the stays, the tee times and the bookings that sell out first.

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Field notes

More Donegal from the Notebook

Deciding between north and south? Read Donegal or Kerry. Continuing down the coast? The Mayo Edit picks up where Donegal leaves off, or see where Lough Eske ranks.

The Donegal Edit

Donegal in one minute

The county we send people to the second time

The places, and the hour to be there

Slieve League

Glenveagh National Park

Malin Head and the Inishowen 100

The Glengesh Pass

Rosguill and Fanad

Killybegs and Donegal Town

We changed our mind about the golf

A castle in the south, a country house in the north

Lough Eske Castle

Rathmullan House

Where to base yourself in County Donegal

Four days we would drive ourselves

Donegal Town and Killybegs

Slieve League, late

North to the peninsulas

The Inishowen 100

More Donegal from the Notebook

A Georgian house on Lough Swilly, and a castle with nine room tiers.

The room we would ask for

Rathmullan House

Lough Eske Castle

The table, and when it actually opens

The Cook & Gardener, Rathmullan House

Cedars Restaurant, Lough Eske Castle

Ground truths

Being honest about it

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Planning Donegal, answered

Where to go next