COUNTY DONEGAL - A Drive Through the Countryside and Pub Lunch in Town

After we visited the Slieve League Cliffs, we drove back to the town of Donegal and I absolutely loved the countryside of Donegal. Donegal is one of the more remote counties in Ireland, tucked away in the Northwest corner, the northern end of the Wild Atlantic Way.

It felt so remote and untouched, windswept and ruggedly beautiful. It is one of the remaining Gaeltacht areas (Irish speaking areas) and is a land of towering rocky green mountains with sheep surrounding quaint solitary white farm houses.

We ate lunch at O’Donnells which is on the diamond area in the centre of Donegal town. It has a fantastic cost feel and a delicious menu, we could have stayed all afternoon listening to their classic rock playlist.

Afterwards we stopped in at Donegal Castle, which is located in the centre of town, which is worth a look.

We only spent 3 nights in County Donegal, one day visiting Slieve League and the other visiting the sights of Northern Ireland, but if I was to return to Ireland (and I certainly hope I do) I would dedicated a lot more time to exploring County Donegal.

We also did a drive one day from Galway to Westport in County Mayo, through the Connemara area and the scenery was absolutely stunning. Rocky peaks rising above lakes and remote valleys dotted with farmhouses. I would definitely prfioritize seeing more of County Mayo and County Sligo too.

COUNTY DONEGAL - Visiting the Slieve League Cliffs with Kids

The rugged, soaring cliffs of Slieve League (or Sliabh Liag in Irish) are located in County Donegal in the far north west corner of the Republic of Ireland, near the town of Teelin. These magnificent cliffs are nearly three times as high as the Cliff of Moher and are much less touristy, although we found that the infrastructure that is in place for visitors makes them easily and safely accessible for families.

We parked in at the Sliabh Liag Cliff Experience & Visitor Centre where we then caught a shuttle bus up to the viewing platform on the edge of the cliffs. The bus trip is around 10 minutes and leaves every 20 minutes, no advanced bookings were required. There is also a cafe, toilets and information display located in the visitor centre. Alternatively, next door is the Slieve League Cliff Centre which offers similar facilities. \

The shuttle bus was 6 Euros per adult and 4 euro per child or 20 euros for families.

The other options are to walk from the visitor centres in Teelin to the viewing platform. This takes around 50 minutes and you’d be walking along the narrow windy roads that the cars and shuttle buses are driving along - definitely not ideal for kids.

There is a car park about 5 minutes past Teelin along Sliabh Liag Road, the same road that the shuttle buses travel along, but the car parks were limited and I believe it’s 5 euro to park there. If you were arriving very early in the morning it may be a good option. But it’s still about a 25 min walk to the viewing platform.

We were happy we opted for the shuttle bus, it’s definitely the most convenient and safest option for kids.

The panoramic views of the sea cliffs from the viewing platform are astonishing! And we felt quite safe with the basic fencing along the edge. We did decide to hike a little further up the stone steps that lead higher up the mountainside and the views became even more phenomenal. We could see people high up on the ridge of the nearby peak of the cliffs and the girls would have happily kept going higher but we got caught in the misty raincloud that swept in off the Atlantic Ocean. We made it back to the viewing platform where our shuttle bus was waiting to take a number of drenched sight-seers back to the visitor centres.

I would recommend wearing warm waterproof jackets and good walking shoes (although the girls were just wearing their crocs and they were fine, the girls pretty much love in them ). The wind was pretty wild and chilly and the rain clouds came over quite quickly. I’d suggest even bringing a change of clothes to keep in the car. Funnily enough, I left the accommodation without my rain jacket, thinking it was already in the car but thankfully Braino had his two jumpers / jackets in the car so I was able to wear one of his.

Slieve League would be an incredible location to do more of the extensive hikes (you can read more about hiking trails here) but taking the shuttle bus to the viewing point is certainly enough of an adventure with kids in tow.