Ballyliffin to Dunfanaghy via Fanad Head

I think today's post will be mostly visual, because words cannot adequately describe the beauty on offer today.

I was humming and haa-ing a bit whether I would do the Fanad Head drive again today because I did it last time I was here. But I did remember vividly its beauty!
And there were places I didn't get to visit last time that I did today, so it was definitely worth the effort.

Today's journey

Had a lovely breakfast at the B&B and was packed up and ready to go by about 9.30am

Made my way down the coast via Buncrana, picked up some petrol (very expensive here!) then found my way to the Tourism office at Letterkenny. I had been there on my last visit and found them very helpful. Which they were again.... and I came out with an armful of WAW maps and lots of advice.

I was also asking them about tonight's accommodation because I don't have anything booked from now on, and they once again gave me a whole heap of suggestions, depending how far I got on the journey.

Views on the way to Letterkenny

Views on the way to Letterkenny

Miss Gaby Garmin was of no use to me today, because I know it would only cause her consternation when I kept choosing the WAW options. I actually left the map on,  so I could see where we were, but didn't put a destination into her. Many times I looked at her map, and we were in the middle of a blank space, so I don't think Garmin has kept up with all the latest roads along this journey.

As I said before, I'm just going to add mostly pics today because there's not much to say about the actual journey. The roads were quite good compared with the Scottish equivalent... there were very few places where 2 cars could not pass, and we often even had white lines to guide us!

On the way up to Fanad Head

On the way up to Fanad Head

The scenery was just superb the whole way, and of course, it was yet another bright sunshiney day!

As I headed North to Fanad Head, I kept Lough Swilly on my right...

Views of Lough Swilly

Views of Lough Swilly

Views of Lough Swilly

At one stage we wound our way around the mountain and then looked down on these lovely beaches. People were in their bathers and swimming there!

Beaches on the way

Beaches on the way - shows the road

Looking the other way

Eventually arrived at Fanad Head - or at least where I could see the lighthouse from up on the cliff. I decided not to go down there, because I had seen it before.
Here's some info from the boards though about the place..

Info about Fanad Head

Info about Fanad Head

Fanad Head Lighthouse

View from same point

After I left there, I was conscious that I really did need to choose the road less travelled... Last time I seem to come back to civilization quite quickly by going down the mainstream road, so this time I wanted to make sure that I followed the WAW.

And what a magnificent drive it was...

The road ebbed and flowed between the loughs and the sea and the drive around the Rosguill Peninsula was just stunning.

Loughs

The Isle

Info about the Isle

Info about the Isle

You may have noticed how everything is written in Irish as well. Up in the top of Donegal it's called The Gaeltacht, which is an Irish speaking area. Of course, English is also spoken but the native language of choice is Irish. It's good to see that it's not dying out.

Here's the bridge referred to the information above on The Isle

I passed through this lovely little town - I think it was called Rospenna, but all the signs were in Gaelic.

Rospenna

Rospenna

Then the road went back and wound around the coast...

Rosguill Peninsula

Rosguill Peninsula

Some info about the area and the language...

Must be the Gaelic spelling - maps spell it Rosguill

Beautiful scenery on this part of the drive

Then one last stop for a point marked as a WAW Discovery Point...
Sad tale about an Irish Romeo and Juliet... and yet another castle on the journey!!!

Doe Castle

I continued on a bit further, but I had 2 considerations in mind.... I didn't have any accommodation  booked and I was starting to get a bit weary. I'm still not firing on all cylinders, but today's journey was so worth the effort.

After the chat with the Tourist Info people at Letterkenny, I had Dunfanaghy in mind as a possible destination for the night and as I drove in I saw this hotel "Arnolds" and I thought that will do for the day!!!

So, I have a lovely room and I have my wifi, so it's been a good choice I think...

View across the road from hotel

My hotel and main street of Dunfanaghy

Just looked back up the post and there's a heap of pics to get through, but I think each one adds to the story of the day and the beauty of the place. Ireland is obviously very different to Scotland, but I'm loving it just as much. It has it's own beauty and charm.

I'm just a very lucky person to have had all these magical experiences.