Donegal Bike Tour

This is debatably Ireland's loveliest corner. Gorgeous sand beaches interrupt heather-clad sea cliffs, and quiet pathways carry you between places of outstanding beauty. County Donegal is sandwiched between the border with Northern Ireland and the surf-ringed headlands of the open Atlantic.

You will begin riding south from the Donegal airport along quiet peninsular roads, past beaches and dunelands preserved as a migratory bird sanctuary. You will spend two nights in Ardara, with a foray to the Slieve League - the highest seacliffs in Europe, near the folk village of Glencolmcille. You will climb into Glenveagh, and descend to a formerly-private majestic castle and gardens of the same name. The northern reaches of Donegal boast more fantastic beaches, and impressive headlands. Fanad Lighthouse adorns one of these, as a stark and beautiful beacon to mankind's habitation of the land/sea boundary.

The ride from there to the similarly imposing headlands near Dunfanaghy takes you to the wonderful village of the same name, where, again, the interface provides fabulous active exploration. If you prefer, you can replace the heady hikes we have planned with golfing on truly remarkable links, surfing, sea-kayaking, horse-riding, fishing, or shopping and simply basking in the appealing ambience of another remote, beautiful seafront village.

The hardest part of this not-too-challenging ride will be leaving all of the wildly sublime beauty behind.