Memory Lane: Donegal Road Trips

Hello there Beastie friends! And hey, look at this – we’re nearly halfway through January already. That HAS to be worth celebrating! Now normally at this time of year, my brother and I (often with a certain small blue and yellow woolly monster in tow) would spend a day driving around beautiful Co Donegal, in the extreme north-west of Ireland. For obvious reasons, we haven’t managed a Donegal road trip in a good few months – possibly since last Christmas. Yikes!

So, I thought I would use today’s post to take a virtual road trip instead. Quick, put on the kettle for a nice cup of tea, or grab a can of the black stuff… Ready? Okay, let’s go!

First of all, it’s never advisable to start a road trip on an empty stomach. How about we kick off with a nice healthy Full Irish Breakfast?
Explorer Beastie, Eyeing up my Breakfast - CrawCrafts BeastiesDon’t worry, we’ll have plenty of opportunities to walk this off later.

Now that we’re properly fuelled up, let’s go and enjoy some scenery.
Explorer Beastie at Glengesh Pass, Donegal - CrawCrafts BeastiesGlengesh Pass is pretty spectacular at any time of the year. The last time we were there it was late summer – look at those rolling green hills! It’s also on the way to Glencolmcille, where a Beastie can dip his paws in the Atlantic if the mood takes him.
Paddling on Glencolmcille Beach - CrawCrafts BeastiesMind you, it’s not all sunshine and sand dunes here. Sometimes it can be a bit on the breezy side…
Windy Out Today! CrawCrafts Beasties… And the traffic is terrible.
Rush Hour, Glencolmcille - CrawCrafts BeastiesAll this would really give you an appetite. Lunchtime! Conveniently enough, we’re just passing through Ardara… Nancy’s Bar here does a cracking lunch, and a very tasty homemade cider.

Also, you feel like you’re hanging out in someone’s cosy living room.
Nancy's Dresser - Spot the Beastie! CrawCrafts BeastiesAlright, time to head north! And because we’re travelling by blog, we can enjoy two sunsets at two different locations. First, Fanad Head, where there’s a beautiful lighthouse to admire…
Can we reach the Lighthouse? CrawCrafts Beasties… And rocks to scramble over.
Explorer Beastie by the Sea, Fanad Head - CrawCrafts BeastiesNext, we can journey to the northernmost point of the island of Ireland – Malin Head.
Malin Head Viewpoint - CrawCrafts BeastiesThen we can cruise by the wide sandy beach at Five Finger Strand…
Explorer Beastie on Five Finger Strand - CrawCrafts Beasties… Before catching the last of the daylight on our way home.
Explorer Beastie at Sunset - CrawCrafts BeastiesDon’t forget to leave a rock monster behind to show we were here!
Rock Monster in Donegal - CrawCrafts BeastiesAnd once we get home, we can warm up by the fire and swap adventuring stories.
Warming up by the fire - CrawCrafts BeastiesAaaaah! Toasty.

So, where would you next like to take a road trip to? Be sure to share your travelling daydreams with us in the comments!

22 thoughts on “Memory Lane: Donegal Road Trips

    1. Oooh, Paris sounds good! I haven’t been there since I was a student… That’s a good while ago now 😂 Thanks for stopping in!

    1. Thanks, Mariss! I hope you enjoyed revisiting Donegal as much as I did 😊 Cheers for hopping in the Beastiewagon for our road trip!

  1. Oooh, I don’t remember those sunset photos. Nice!!! I could definitely use a vacation at this point…as well as a full Irish breakfast. I can’t believe how much I miss going to breakfast. One day. One day….

    1. One day soon! Hey, your country is out of the grip of the Orange One so at least you’re headed in the right direction. Now grab some assorted pig meats, fry ’em up and enjoy the full Irish effect! Thanks for travelling with us, Tammie 😊

    1. Oh yes, we do enjoy a nice hearty breakfast here at Beastie Towers! Thanks for travelling with us, Simon 😊

    1. Yes, it’s almost perfect camouflage… We’re lucky we were able to find him again before hopping in the car to go home 😆 Thanks for coming along with us, Queen Bee!

    1. Ooooh, I just looked up Ynyslas and I can see why you’d be missing it – what a beautiful beach! The shoreline remains tantalisingly just outside my 5km travel limit too, but hopefully a breath of sea air will be on the cards again soon. Thanks for popping in, Dr Snail!

  2. Thanks for sharing this virtual road trip, Helen. Your trips feature the most wonderful landscapes! (always) Glengesh Pass reminds me of some of the places visited in Switzerland where herds and herders are a regular part of traffic. Nancy’s Bar looks like the perfect place to rest and re-energize (all that cute crockery would certainly lift my spirits). I’m sure your rock monster, too, is still delighting travelers and passersby. 🙂 Wouldn’t it be neat to return and find it still there? And there is nothing like a toasty fire after a long day. I find myself dreaming (planning?) a future trip to Japan/Korea/East Asia when travel becomes possible again. Hoping that this virtual trip with your brother will turn back into the real thing soon!

    1. Oooh, Switzerland! I’ve never been but I can almost hear the gentle sound of cowbells – that has to be the best “traffic noise” around! And every time I’ve seen Japan on TV or in films recently I’ve been mentally planning a revisit… So many places to go, so little time! I reckon half the world will be on holiday when travel starts again 😂 So maybe I will start locally, and go looking for my rock monster in Donegal as you suggest. It will have done well to survive the winter storms, but maybe… Thanks for travelling with us, Shirley! Hopefully you’ll be able to hit the road yourself sometime soon 😊

  3. Thanks for sharing, this is exactly what I need 😀 I miss travelling so much I love to go on a trip like this in Ireland ( my partner is Irish ☘️ and his family is there) and I love to go back to East Asia ( I went on one long trip last year) I also love to go to France again. But we have to wait and kip dreaming.

    1. Hello! I’m glad you enjoyed our road trip… Hopefully it helped remind you of fun times with your partner’s family! With any luck it won’t be too long before we’re all able to revisit our favourite places – now you mention it, I’d love to get back to France. It’s been ages! Thanks for stopping in and sharing your travel dreams 😊

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