Errigal
Errigal

Open All Hours (Maybe)

We departed The Singing Inn on Sunday morning with the intention of using the Motorhome Parking offered at the Dunlewey Activity Centre. The centre sits close to the foot of Errigal, an iconic mountain that is supposedly an easy walk. I really fancied giving it a go.

One of the views with a layby attached, Doe Castle

It was a wonderful drive with some amazing scenery.  Unfortunately there is a paucity of parking areas from which to enjoy the views and take photographs.

Another view with a lay-by, which we made use of to regroup when Dunlewey was found closed. Errigal in the background

Our reference material indicated that the Dunlewey centre is open all year round but when we arrived it was signed as “Opening April 1st”. We pondered what to do over a late brunch in a lay-by and decided to carry on driving to our following day’s intended destination, Bundoran.

“Bundoran is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. The town is located on the N15 road near Ballyshannon, and is the most southerly town in Donegal. The town is a popular seaside resort, and tourism has been at the heart of the local economy since 1777.” (Wikipedia)

Bundoran is proper “seaside” – a popular resort apparently. As with all such places out of season it was not looking at its best but we were both raised on out of season resorts and are veterans of wet and chilly holidays in Skegness, Cleethorpes and Scarborough etc. … how bad could it be? We knew that Bundoran has two beaches and that Nell at least would be satisfied.

We took two nights, Sunday and Monday, at the Travers Holiday Park, which is situated right in the town centre. The site is adjacent to the town’s Retail Park so has plenty of facilities close by, including a 6 screen cinema, Lidl, an Indian restaurant and a laundrette. This latter was a good thing as the one thing which took us to this particular site was that it advertises a laundry room – which does not actually exist!

Vincent at Travers Holiday Park

The site is neat and tidy and the touring “super” pitches are very new indeed. €25 with EHU, water and waste dump on pitch. Showers are a whopping €3 extra for 6 minutes. On the plus side, the showers are controllable. Toilet block very clean and neat. There is good free Wi-fi and good telephone signal.

The proprietor, Neil, is friendly and helpful.

At the Wishing Chair

The promenade is a short walk away and the town offers a circular sea front walk in both directions. We took the Rougey Cliff Walk in order to view The Fairy Bridges and The Wishing Chair as tourists have done for two centuries or more.

We took advantage of the Monsoon Valley for dinner on Sunday and had a Chinese Takeaway on Monday night. Shopping at Lidl and the SuperValu supermarket opposite was quick and convenient

on the Bundoran sculpture trail – part of a work called “Dry”