Why Donegal Should Be Your First Stop in Ireland (Not Dublin)

Everyone lands in Dublin. That’s the formula: fly into Dublin, maybe see Galway, definitely do the Ring of Kerry. But here’s what I learned spending 8 days in Donegal: you’re starting in the wrong place.

I flew into Dublin, walked around the city for a day, and spent a few hours at Trinity College Library for the Book of Kells experience. It was incredible! The smell of old books hit me like stepping into a different century.

At the time of my visit (Sept 2025), only a few shelves had books because they were in the middle of restorations, but it didn’t matter. The atmosphere alone was worth it.

But Dublin felt like a city. A beautiful one, sure. But at the end of the day, Dublin felt like a crowded afternoon in Atlanta.

It was just so fast-paced. I was still able to take a good glance at the Ha’Penny Bridge and other iconic places I had been longing to see, like The Temple Bar.

Somewhere along the way, I told myself: This is not the Ireland I had been dreaming about.

So…that same night, I got on a bus. And that’s when the trip actually started.

That’s when it really hit me…Dublin will show you Ireland. But Donegal will make you feel it.

DONEGAL AT A GLANCE

Dramatic sea cliffs, trad sessions and incredible experiences. Here’s what you actually need to know before you go.

🏨 Where to stay: McGettigan’s Hotel, Letterkenny – Central location on Main Street, modern rooms, great food, and walkable to everything. Best pick if you’re coming by bus.
Dillon’s Hotel, Letterkenny – Right in the Cathedral Quarter, warm Irish hospitality, locally sourced menu. A solid mid-range choice with personality.
Rockhill House Estate – A restored 17th-century manor on 100 acres of woodland above Letterkenny. Full spa, gourmet dining, and the kind of quiet that’s hard to find anywhere else.
The Abbey Hotel, Donegal Town – Right on the Diamond in the heart of Donegal Town, steps from Donegal Castle, the waterbus, and the best local pubs. A solid base if you want to be closer to Slieve League.

🍴 Where to eat: The Lemon Tree – Top-rated restaurant in town; fresh seafood, local produce, and worth booking ahead.
Yellow Pepper – Long-standing local favorite set inside a converted shirt factory with original stone walls. Classic Irish comfort done right.
The Brewery Bar – Market Square spot famous for its locally sourced haddock and hand-cut chips. Casual, consistent, and genuinely good.

🎟️ Best things to do: Donegal Highlights Day Tour – The easiest way to reach Slieve League without a car. A private driver-guide takes you through south Donegal’s best scenery.
Slieve League Cliffs Boat Cruise – See the highest accessible sea cliffs in Ireland from the water. Dolphins, caves, and views you can’t get from the top.
Slieve League on Foot – If you have your own transport, park at the Slieve League Cliffs Centre and take the shuttle up. One Man’s Pass is for experienced hikers only & the lower viewpoints are stunning on their own.
Trad Session at The Cottage Bar, Letterkenny – Live, spontaneous community-led music sessions. Show up, order a pint of Guinness, and let the music find you.

Travel Tip: You don’t need a car to get to Donegal – take the Expressway Bus Route 32 from Dublin Airport directly to Letterkenny (about 4.5 hours). From there, book your favorite guided day tours to reach Slieve League and other highlights in Donegal.

Why Donegal Instead of Dublin

Let me be clear: Dublin isn’t bad. It’s just not where Ireland *feels* like Ireland.

Also, Dublin is expensive. A hotel room in the city center runs €180-250/night. The same money in Letterkenny gets you a comfortable room at McGettigan’s for €130/night, and the food is better.

Dublin is crowded. Temple Bar is packed with tourists taking the same photos. Trinity College has timed entry tickets because so many people want in. You’re competing with everyone.

Donegal gives you Ireland before the tourism boom. The pubs aren’t performing for an audience, they’re just pubs. The locals aren’t tired of visitors because there aren’t that many. You’re a welcome guest, not another transaction.

However, you can do Donegal first, then Dublin. Fly into Dublin, take the bus north that same day, spend a week in Donegal, then bus back to Dublin for a day or two before your flight home.

You get the best of both, but you start with the soul of the country instead of the surface.

Getting to Donegal Without a Car

I took Bus Éireann Expressway Route 32 from Dublin to Letterkenny, and the ride was about 4 1/2 hours.

I didn’t rent a car. Primarily, because I didn’t want to deal with driving on the left side of the road while also trying to take in the scenery. The bus handled that for me.

And the scenery on that drive? Already worth the trip. Rolling green hills, small towns, and stone walls lining the roads. This was the Ireland I came for.

The further north we went, the more the landscape opened up. Fewer cars. Fewer people. Just green stretching in every direction, dotted with sheep and old farmhouses. By the time we crossed into Donegal, something in me had already started to settle.

Why Letterkenny is the Perfect Home Base

I stayed at McGettigan’s Hotel in Letterkenny for the entire week, and it was the perfect choice.

The hotel is a 15-minute walk from the bus stop, which makes it ideal if you’re relying on public transportation like I was. The bed was incredibly comfortable, and the room service comes from their on-site restaurant, where you can also dine in. The food was delicious. So was the coffee.

It’s a nice-looking hotel without being over-the-top luxury, which is exactly what I wanted.

Within walking distance of the hotel, you’ll find the Cathedral Quarter with its beautiful murals and the stunning St. Eunan’s Cathedral. The cathedral is a Gothic Revival church built in the late 1800s, and it’s gorgeous both during the day and lit up at night.

Letterkenny itself is peaceful and laid-back, but it’s not boring. The town has a rhythm to it that feels authentically Irish.

People move more slowly here.

The biggest difference from Dublin? People actually talk to you – like full-blown conversations. In Dublin, you’re a tourist in a crowd. In Letterkenny, you’re a person. Shop owners remember your face by day two and strangers will tell you their life story in just a few minutes.

This reminded me of my home island – Puerto Rico, where you’ll say hello to someone and immediately feel like you’ve known them forever after they’ve told you their whole purpose in life while standing in line at the grocery store.

And I love that. It’s these little things that make you understand why people fall in love with Ireland and never leave.

Head up to Market Square, and you’ll see a statue called the Hiring Fair (also known as “Rabble Children”) by sculptor Maurice Harron. It commemorates the hiring fairs that took place here from the 1700s through the 1900s, where children as young as eight were hired out for seasonal farm labor.

It’s a sobering piece of history, but an important one, and you’ll enjoy photographing it.

Right across from this statue is the Brewery Bar, which has the best fish and chips I had in Ireland.

For trad sessions, the Cottage Bar was my favorite. Whether you’re alone or with friends, you can grab a Guinness and listen to live traditional Irish music in a pub that feels exactly how you imagine an Irish pub should feel.

This was my first international solo trip, and I never once felt unsafe. People in Letterkenny were genuinely kind and the area is beautiful and quiet.

The Day Trips You Shouldn’t Miss

Donegal is full of places that take your breath away. These are the ones I’d tell you not to skip:

Slieve League

I had been dreaming about Slieve League for over 20 years. Standing at the edge of those cliffs, looking out at the Atlantic, was surreal. It lived up to every expectation I had and then some. If you only do one thing in Donegal, make it this.

These cliffs are nearly three times higher than the Cliffs of Moher, but without the crowds. You can stand at the edge in near silence, just you and the wind and the ocean crashing hundreds of meters below.

On your way to the cliffs, stop at the Rusty Mackerel, which Lonely Planet named one of the 20 best pubs in Ireland. It’s cozy, the food is great, and it’s the kind of place where you want to stay longer than you planned.

Malin Head

Ireland’s northernmost point. I did an alpaca hiking experience with Wild Alpaca Way, and it was one of the most memorable parts of the entire trip. The landscape is wild and dramatic, and walking through it with alpacas made it even more surreal.

But even without the alpacas, Malin Head is worth the trip. The coastline here feels like the edge of the world and if you decide to rent a car in Donegal, this would be an incredible drive.

One thing I noticed is that the wind never stops. It’s VERY windy up here. And on a clear day, you can see all the way out to Scotland.

There’s a reason Star Wars filmed here. It looks like another planet!

Fort Dunree

This caught me off guard. Fort Dunree was built in 1813 as a Napoleonic-era coastal defense fort to guard Lough Swilly. It’s been a military installation ever since, through both World Wars, with bunkers and naval guns still in place.

The military museum inside walks you through Ireland’s complicated relationship with Britain during WWI and WWII, and includes interesting stories I hadn’t heard before.

But the real draw is the setting. The fort overlooks Lough Swilly from a dramatic headland, and there’s a small cafe on site with what might be the best view in Ireland. I sat there longer than I planned.

If you’re planning on visiting the Inishowen Peninsula anyway (and you should be), this is worth at least an hour.

Grianan of Aileach

This ancient stone ringfort sits atop Greenan Mountain and dates back to before AD800. It served as the royal seat of the Northern Uí Néill dynasty from the 5th to the 12th century.

The walls are about 5 meters high and 4 meters thick, and you can climb up to walk along the top.

But the real draw is the view. On a clear day, you can see across County Donegal, County Derry, and County Tyrone. Standing inside a structure that’s been there for thousands of years, looking out at that landscape, is quite impressive.

If you’re interested in ancient history, this is a must. It’s free to visit, easy to access, and rarely crowded. You’ll likely have the whole place to yourself.

Wild Ireland

Yes, there are bears in Ireland. Brown bears, actually, rescued from a facility in Lithuania and brought here to live out their lives in something closer to a natural habitat.

Wild Ireland is a Celtic rainforest sanctuary focused on animals that once roamed Ireland or are part of its mythology. There are wolves here for the first time in over 200 years. Lynx. Wild boar.

It’s part conservation project, part living history lesson. If you’re traveling with kids, this is an easy yes. But even solo, it’s a unique stop where you’ll enjoy seeing these animals in a setting that feels genuinely wild rather than zoo-like.

Lough Derg / St. Patrick’s Purgatory

This one surprised me the most.

Lough Derg is a pilgrimage site on Station Island, accessible only by ferry. The copper-roofed basilica rises from the middle of the lake, and pilgrims have been coming here since the 5th century, over 1,500 years of continuous spiritual retreat.

This place appeared on medieval world maps and it’s been called “the toughest pilgrimage in the world.”

I’m not particularly religious, but standing in a place that has meant something sacred to people for that long does something to you. The energy is hard to describe. I left feeling lighter.

You don’t have to do the full three-day pilgrimage. They offer one-day retreats if you want the experience without the intensity. Either way, it’s unlike anything else you’ll do in Ireland.

What Solo Travel in Ireland Actually Feels Like

This was my first international solo trip, and I couldn’t have picked a better place.

I never felt unsafe. Not once. The people were welcoming, the pace was relaxed, and there was no pressure to be anywhere or do anything on anyone else’s schedule.

But what really got me was the magic of Donegal itself. That sounds dramatic, but I don’t know how else to say it.

You really do feel it.

The different shades of green fill your soul with something out of this world and there’s a quiet power to the place that takes over if you let it.

Donegal makes you feel alive in ways you’ve most likely never experienced and welcomes you in a way that’s hard to put into words but impossible to forget.

This is what most people imagine Ireland to be like when they dream about it. But most of them never find it because they stay in Dublin or head straight to the Ring of Kerry.

I say…go north instead.

Should You Really Skip Dublin

Honest answer: no. But visit it last.

Trinity College Library is worth seeing. The Book of Kells experience costs €25 and includes the Long Room of the Old Library, where you’ll marvel at long rows of ancient books. The smell alone is worth it. Only a few shelves had books when I visited because they were mid-restoration, but the atmosphere doesn’t need a full library to work its magic.

But here’s why Donegal first matters: after a week in the northwest, Dublin makes sense in a different way. You’re not comparing Ireland to what you imagined; you’ve already lived it.

And so, in a very good way, Dublin becomes the bookend, not the introduction.

Fly in, get on a bus north. Spend your week in Donegal. Then come back to Dublin for a day or two before you fly home. You’ll appreciate it more, and you won’t leave thinking Dublin *was* Ireland.

Practical Info

Where to stay: McGettigan’s Hotel in Letterkenny. Around €130 per night. Comfortable, great restaurant, and walkable to the bus station and town center.

What things cost:

• Book of Kells + Old Library experience: Starting at €25
• Bus from Dublin to Letterkenny: €27 (may vary)
• Hotel: great hotels starting at €130/night (€910 for 7 nights)
• Day tours: Expect €50-100 per tour, depending on the experience
• Meals: €40-60 per day for one person if you’re eating out

Budget estimate: Ireland is not a budget destination. For an 8-day solo trip, expect to spend around €2,000-2,500, including accommodations, transportation, tours, food, and activities. You can save money by skipping the pricier tours, but don’t expect it to be cheap.

Sample Ireland itinerary without Dublin: Fly into Dublin Airport, bus to Donegal same day (or fly into Donegal Airport from Dublin), 7 days exploring the northwest, return to Dublin for 1-2 days before flying home.

Packing tips: The weather in Donegal is unpredictable. I went in September and it rained sporadically almost every day, with one day of full rain from morning to night. It was always windy and cold. Pack layers, a solid waterproof jacket, and comfortable walking shoes that can handle wet conditions. My feet paid the price for not being fully prepared.

Final Thoughts

Should you skip Dublin and go straight to Donegal? No. But visit Dublin LAST. Dublin is worth a day. Maybe two if you want to dig deeper into the museums and experiences like the Guinness Storehouse and the Old Library/Book of Kells at Trinity College, which is 100% worth it.

But Donegal? Donegal is worth a week.

This is where Ireland stops being a checklist and starts being an experience. The cliffs, the ancient forts, the pubs with live trad sessions, the people who treat you like a neighbor instead of a tourist.

It’s all here, and it’s an incredible experience for solo travelers and those who love authentic travel experiences. It’s also a great destination for travelers who don’t want to rush.

If you only have one trip to Ireland, skip the tourist trail. Rent a car or get on a bus heading north, find a cozy hotel in Letterkenny, and let the northwest show you what Ireland actually feels like.

You won’t regret it.

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Yanitza Ninett

Hey, I’m Yanitza 👋 Adventure Travel & U.S. Destination Specialist, travel writer, and hidden-gem hunter with over 8 years of experience helping travelers explore deeper and travel slower. I specialize in crafting authentic, stress-free adventures from small towns to scenic hikes and scuba dives. I’m a firm believer that the best stories happen when you venture beyond tourist hotspots. When I’m not planning getaways or writing travel guides, I’ll probably be home rewatching The Vampire Diaries like it’s my job and daydreaming about future adventures in Spain.