We love having visitors because we use it as an excuse to explore more of this beautiful country. This summer, some wonderful friends of ours brought their two little boys from the US to Ireland for a visit. This particular family is very special to us. When we lived in the US, even though we lived a few hours apart, we would spend weekends together about three times a year, weekends we always looked forward to, full of fun and lots of laughter. Moving abroad, we were sad knowing we might not get to have weekends with these friends for a long time. So when they asked about coming for a visit we very emphatically begged them to pull the trigger and book the flights.
We planned an itinerary full of things that our family has done before and we knew would be great for an American family to see, including quite a few Irish playgrounds, because kids. However, we wanted to include at least a few new experiences for all of us. This meant a weekend getaway to Co. Donegal in the nothern part of the Republic of Ireland. A new county for us, our 17th out of 32 (if you include the counties in Northern Ireland). The Republic of Ireland has 26 counties.
Co. Donegal is a more remote part of the country that doesn’t see a ton of foreign tourists, it’s a place where Irish people go on holidays. It’s not really near any airports which is why I think foreign tourists don’t often make it there, but let me tell you, it is an incredible place with some of the most amazing scenery Ireland has to offer.
We rented a beautifully decorated 4 bedroom home that was formerly a Garda station in the village of Doocharry. It was a bit far from the sights we wanted to see, but we couldn’t pass up the chance to stay in such a gorgeous space. Think clawfoot soaker tub and rooms that could be in magazines at a bargain price point. The home sleeps 8 comfortably (there is one bathroom) and the total price for the whole weekend was 340 euros, 170 per family. The ower had a bottle wine for us and snacks and even a puppet toy for each child which was incredibly thoughtful. The village itself didn’t have much to offer besides a tiny shop and a pub. There was a food truck that appeared quite busy selling burgers and fries, but we brought our own food.
The airbnb from the front, link to the listing is highlighted above. 
The boys playing Guard in the back garden of the airbnb (these actually used to be cells!)
On Saturday morning, we hopped in the cars and headed straight for Slieve League Cliffs. From Doocharry the drive was about an hour and a half. We arrived around 10:30am which seemed to be ahead of the crowds. Now when I saw crowds, this place doesn’t get even a quarter as crowded as the Cliffs of Moher, but it does get a bit busy. We parked in the first lot which requires about a 12-15 minute walk to the cliffs, you can drive closer if needed, but we’d definitely recommend the walk, it was stunning. Parking is free and there are clean public toilets at the car park. The walk is gorgeous, and we got lucky with a lovely sunny day for our visit. At the cliffs we took in the magnificent views, ate a lobster roll out of a food truck (random but tasty) and took a little walk.
I feel like this one looks like a fake background!
Once back at the cars we headed to our next stop which was The Silver Strand Beach in Malin Beg. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and we spent a few hours eating a picnic, playing in the water, building sandcastles and playing frisbee. It was a fab beach day, I think our favorite of the whole summer. There are about 100 stairs you need to walk down to access this beach, just so you know. There are toilets available in the car park and a food truck, but I’m pretty sure there was only ice pops, ice cream and cold and hot drinks for sale, no food. I can’t even quite describe how beautiful and enjoyable this beach was, it is definitely a place we would return to if we were in the area again.
Just driving back to the airbnb that evening was an experience. Everywhere you look is incredible scenery, it would actually kind of be a pain to be the driver as the roads are quite challening so you can’t enjoy the scenery! They might be called R (regional) roads, but they look and feel much more like L (link) roads where you have to pull to the left to let other cars pass and there my be grass growing right down the middle, or sheep crossing at a leisurely pace! We actually put our American friend behind the wheel of our automatic car, (our insurance company was happy to cover him during his stay in Ireland) sorry Aric! He did great and quickly adjusted to driving on the left after one near tip in Galway City that took about 10 years off my life.
On our final day in Donegal we went to Glenveagh National Park. The day dawned cool, misty and foggy, but we were prepared with rain gear and wellies. We arrived around 10:30 again and headed straight to the playground. The kids needed to move bodies after the hour plus long car ride from the airbnb. The Parking here was free as well. There is a visitor center which has a restaurant and toilets, so the adults enjoyed a coffee. After the kids played a bit, we started walking towards the castle. We brought scooters for the kids and thought we were so smart, but it turns out that the path is gravel and they scooters were useless. Ha! The path is fine for buggies with good tires and for bicycles. Next time we might rent bicycles which were available in the car park, or we’ll bring our own.
Before we realized we couldn’t use scooters. 
After we realized we couldn’t use scooters.
So the kids walked and the adults carried the scooters for 4km. We stopped for a snack break once or twice along the way. The scenery was really beautiful, the fog gave it kind of an eery qualtiy. When we arrived at the castle we opted to not go on the tour, it is guided and lasts for 45 minutes. We instead roamed the grounds of the castle for free and enjoyed the scenery and took a few photos. The kids loved this and ran around like the crazy little animals that they are. We took the shuttle back to the car park (a one way ride on the shuttle is €1.50/adult, kids were free).
Co. Donegal is such a large county with so many family friendly sights to see, we honestly can’t wait to get back here to experience more of it. We’re active on instagram sharing posts and stories of all of our adventures, follow @transatlantic_leonards. I have a saved story highlight with more photos and videos from our time in Donegal, check it out!
Transatlantic Leonards 