Dingle and Donegal: Travel Notes ...

Places to see, best ways to travel in the hard-to-get-around wild coast of Ireland...

One of the great travel maxims we know is this: the places that are hardest to get to are often the very best because of it.

A perfect example in the US is Martha’s Vineyard. It was such and idyllic island when I lived there, I never wanted to leave—gorgeous empty winters, paradise summers, surrounded by gorgeous coasts and beaches.

But build a bridge there allowing easy access for cars, and the place would be transformed for the worst.

So to it is with western Ireland, a part of the world we’ve come to love and will return to again next year.

We began in Donegal, which Ann has always wanted to see—but whether to stay in Donegal Town, its center, and use that as a base for day trips, or chose a more beautiful, if out of the way, location. Ann opted for the latter and found a lovely spot on the western coast called The Bee Pods, which bills itself as luxury glamping. But it’s more luxury and comfort than glamping.

A series of pods the size of trailers have been fitted out with all the amenities. Each pod has a fire pit and a komodo-style grill. This was our base and acclimating spot for three nights.

Getting around …

Taxis are too expensive to rely on. You’ll either need to rent a car or hire a driver. I won’t attempt driving on the left (too many potential dangers and I hear the roundabouts are treacherous) but, happily, one of The Bee Pod owners offered to be our driver.

Siobhan and William McGuckin

William picked us up from Donegal airport (we’d connected in Dublin) and drove us straight away to the Croithli Distillery, which gave us a splendid tour and tasting, and allowed us to pick up a bottle to take back to our digs.

There we grilled, and ate overlooking Rossnowlagh beach, and had a whiskey after, roasting homemade marshmallows over the fire pit.

Each morning, a breakfast by Siobhan was delivered to our deck for the perfect beginning to the day, especially in weather so fine.

William joined us on our first full day for a 1.5 hour boat trip to see the extraordinary Sliabh Liag Cliffs. Awesome, the original, all-but-lost, meaning of the word. Awe-inspiring. That we’d arrived during an uncommon stretch of blue skies and sun and warmth made it particularly grand.