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.

The Atlantic coastline of County Donegal in the north west of Ireland

The Donegal Edit

Higher cliffs.
Emptier roads.

Ireland's wildest county, and the one almost every first trip skips. Six collections, each driven again before it was published.

Open the collections

Volume IIISix Collections. One County.MMXXVI

Reported from DonegalLast driven · July 2026Light until eleven. Take the cliff after dinner.

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

A Note From The Editors

Not the road less travelled. The road nobody told you about.

We moved here from the States and spent two years doing what everybody does, which is Kerry, Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. Then somebody sent us north. Donegal was the first place in Ireland where we stood somewhere genuinely spectacular and had it entirely to ourselves.

It is not a soft county. The roads are slow, the weather is unreasonable, and the good places are an hour apart. What you get back is the version of Ireland the postcards are pretending to be: Slieve League at 601 metres, red deer roaring across Glenveagh in October, and the top of the island at Malin Head with nothing north of you until the Arctic.

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.

Silver Strand at Malin Beg, a horseshoe beach in south west Donegal — Fig. 01Silver Strand, Malin Beg, 19:20

Start Here

Five decisions make this county work.

Sleep, stand, drive, play, time. Answer them in this order and Donegal stops being a long transfer and starts being the best week of the trip.

Weekly Refresh · Wk 38

ISleepSouth coast, or northern peninsulas?
Lough Eske, 16:40
Donegal is bigger than people plan for. Pick one end and stay two nights, or split the week in half. Trying to run the whole county from one hotel costs you two hours every single day.
Lough Eske Castle review
The shortlist
- The luxury collection
- Every stay we would book
Decision 1 of 5
IIStandWhich cliff, and at what hour?
Bunglas, 18:05
Slieve League is 601 metres. Moher is 214. Go late in the afternoon, when the light comes across the face and the coaches have gone.
Slieve League, properly
The shortlist
- The gate at BunglasWhether you drive up or take the shuttle decides the whole visit.
- Malin HeadThe top of the island, and a hundred mile loop almost nobody drives.
- Donegal or Kerry?
Decision 2 of 5
IIIDriveHow long does it really take?
Errigal, 09:15
Add forty per cent to whatever the map tells you. The Glengesh Pass, Fanad and Rosguill are the reason to be here and none of them are quick.
Driving the Donegal coast
The shortlist
- The Glengesh PassA hairpin descent through empty upland. The drive people remember.
- The Inishowen 100Give it a full day, not an afternoon.
- More scenic drives
Decision 3 of 5
IVPlayIs the golf worth the transfer?
Ballyliffin, 07:30
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.
Donegal golf, course by course
The shortlist
- Ballyliffin and RosapennaNinety minutes apart across the top of the county. Book both.
- The golf collectionsWhere Donegal sits against Portrush, Portmarnock and Adare.
- Build your golf trip
Decision 4 of 5
VTimeWhich month?
Rossnowlagh, 20:50
June for daylight until eleven at night. September for price and calm. November to February for the fire, not the coast.
The best time to visit Donegal
The shortlist
- Month by monthWhat each part of the Donegal year actually delivers.
- The October rutRed deer roaring across the glen, and short days to plan around.
- All Ireland itineraries
Decision 5 of 5

And by place

Slieve League601 metres, and usually yours alone.GlenveaghA castle at the end of a glacial valley.Malin HeadNothing north of you until the Arctic.The Glengesh PassThe hairpins between Ardara and Glencolmcille.BallyliffinChampionship links, and a tee time you can actually get.KillybegsShellfish landed that morning, cooked plainly.

The Collections

Six ways into the county.

Each collection stands alone. Read them in order if you are planning from scratch, or go straight to the one you need.

The Slieve League cliffs above the Atlantic in south west Donegal

“At Moher you look at a cliff. Here you stand on one.”

Collection 0106

Collection · The Cliff

Slieve League, three times higher than Moher

Which car park, which gate, what the shuttle costs, and why the last two hours of light are the only ones that matter here.

Stand on the cliff The road that gets you there

Glenveagh Castle beside the lough in Glenveagh National Park

“The quietest beautiful hour in the county.”

Collection 0206

Collection · The Glen

Glenveagh, castle at the end of the valley

Sixteen thousand hectares, a Victorian castle nobody expected, and a garden that has no business thriving this far north.

Walk the glen When the deer are roaring

Fanad Head lighthouse on the northern Donegal coast

“Nothing north of here until the ice.”

Collection 0306

Collection · The Top

Malin Head and the Inishowen loop

The northernmost point of the island, a Star Wars location, and a hundred mile drive that first trips never make room for.

Drive to the top Ballyliffin is thirty minutes away

Links duneland and Atlantic surf on the Inishowen Peninsula

“First tee at seven, and nobody in front of you.”

Collection 0406

Collection · The Links

The best value serious golf in Ireland

Ballyliffin, Rosapenna, Portsalon and Narin & Portnoo. Green fees, booking windows, caddies, and how to structure the week around the driving.

Book the golf The full golf collections

Rathmullan House country hotel above Lough Swilly

“The wrong base costs you two hours a day.”

Collection 0506

Collection · The Bed

Where to stay, and which coast it serves

Four bases, and the honest geography behind each one. A castle in the south, a country house in the north, a beach hotel and a lakeside room.

Choose the base And where to eat

Evening light on the Donegal coast in late summer

“June gives you until eleven at night to be lucky.”

Collection 0606

Collection · The Calendar

When to come, month by month

Five reliable months and one perfect one. Daylight, cloud base, hotel pricing, and the single date change that saves forty per cent.

Pick the month Book the room before the flight

The Donegal Week

What we would do about it now.

Reported from Donegal

Book now

Four hotels hold the whole county.

Lough Eske, Harvey's Point, Rathmullan House and Rosapenna are effectively the entire top tier in Donegal, and they do not expand for demand. For June to August, book by February.

Where to stay

This season

Light until nearly eleven.

Midsummer in the north west means Slieve League at nine in the evening with the coaches long gone, and thirty six holes at Rosapenna without rushing either round.

Best time to visit

We changed our mind

Golf is now the reason to come, not a bonus.

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

Donegal golf

Index

The rest of Donegal.

The fixed route and the practical guides. Two of them do most of the work. The rest are listed as they should be: names, one line, nothing more.

Start hereDonegal in Five DaysOur fixed route through the county. Castle hotel in the south, country house in the north, the Glengesh Pass in between.Read it

The bedWhere to Stay in DonegalThe four bases we actually book, and an honest note on which coast each one serves.Read it

In the county

Planning and booking

All Ireland itineraries

The sea cliffs of Slieve League, County Donegal — Slieve League, 601 metres of Atlantic cliff. Go late, when the light comes across the face and the coaches have gone south.Photograph: Ardfern / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Experiences in Donegal

Tours we'd actually book here

Curated by us, booked through Viator. Small groups, sensible departures, and the local knowledge that turns a checklist day into a memorable one.

Where to stay near Donegal

Rooms we'd book ourselves

Real bases for visiting Donegal, vetted by us and bookable through Hotels.com. We earn a small commission if you book through these links, at no cost to you.

Common questions

Planning Donegal, answered

The Ireland Edit

A Donegal publication for travellers who would rather have the best cliff in Ireland to themselves than share a smaller one with four thousand people.

How we choose: every room is booked, every road is driven, every course is played. Nothing here is paid placement. If we would not send our own visiting family, it is not on the page.

Higher cliffs. Emptier roads.