Days 1 to 9 : Friday 23rd May to Saturday 31st May 2025
May half term and all of us were booked into a Gite in Beg Meil, near Fouesnant in southern Brittany for the week. The house was amazing, with four bedrooms and an enormous living kitchen area, we had plenty of room to spread out, share meals and most importantly gather round the table to play rummy each evening!
The crowning glory of the house was the indoor pool, which at 30 degrees, was a delight to use, either for quiet grown up swims, which Maddie and I enjoyed every morning, or more rowdy fun family play swims, which the boys and Sophie loved.
We had trips out every day to our favourite haunts of yesteryear: La Foret Fouesnant, Concarneau, Mousterlin, Pont l’Abbe, Benodet and Quimper and on the last morning we spent an hour on Botconan Plage, swimming, paddle boarding and eating croissants!
We all had a fabulous time, and whilst the weather was not perfect, we walked, cycled, played and relaxed, in varying combinations every day.
Jon and Maddie went home on Friday morning, Jenni, Graham and family left on Saturday to travel to Roscoff and we moved on to our next gite for another week in France, this time on the outskirts of the village of Landunvez in north west Brittany.
Day 10: Sunday 1st June 2025
We woke to nothing …. it is so quiet here that we literally couldn’t hear a thing, so we stayed in bed and appreciated the lie in. We had planned a quiet day today to recover so were in no rush. After a leisurely breakfast we drove into Ploudalmezaeau, first to buy a baguette (still warm) from the boulangerie in the town and then to check out the L’Eclerc where we are thinking of shopping tomorrow for our guests. We were surprised to find that it was closed, so we were forced to return to Super U to buy the few things we wanted today, which included toilet rolls (!) and a fly swat! We had a few flies in our last house, but there are loads here, so we acquired said swat and some fly spray.
We took a longer drive home, first driving to Sant Pabu, with a quay on the river very reminiscent of Cornwall, then further on to Plage de Korn ar Gazel where we walked around the coast finding several wartime fortifications, part of the Atlantic Wall. Further on into Porsguen, we stopped to view the beach, which was so like parts of Scilly, we felt really at home. Just a mile or so down the road we stopped again near Portsall, which was a delightful little port and somewhere we will definitely come back to later in the week on our bikes.
It would have been good to have a longer walk, but quite honestly we were both tired, so we decided to head back to our little house and have some lunch sat in the garden. We both nodded off in the sun. Later on I rang Sue to catch up on news from home then we went for a walk from the house where we met some very pretty cows, and went to have a look at Madame Conq’s strawberries, the greenhouses were full of them, and they looked amazing.
Home for supper, and I made a quiche with bits and pieces left over from last week including the Saint Agur – delicious.
Day 11: Monday 2nd June 2025
We were up early this morning as we wanted to go and do some shopping. Francoise, Tony, Anne and Terry were coming for lunch so we had planned to buy crevettes and langoustines as well as other bits and pieces and cakes from the patisserie.
Anne and Terry arrived first in their motorhome and parked quite easily by the house. We showed them around and decided to start on the aperitifs as Tony and Francoise arrived. We all sat outside in the warm sunshine, the girls and I enjoying Kir Royale with my blackberry liqueur and the boys being good, as they were the drivers!
We had asked Madame Conq if we could buy some more of her wonderful strawberries to offer to our guests and she presented us with a large tray, all exactly the same size and colour, they were a work of art. It turned out that they were Tony and Francoise’s favourite strawberry brand!
Before we knew it, it was nearly 4pm and we decided to go for a walk on the coast nearby. Tony and Francoise knew the area very well and became our tour guides for the afternoon. We stopped first near to the beach at Penfoul, where we had a short walk, then we drove on to the Chapelle de Saint Samson (patron saint of mariners), photos of which are on the walls in our gite, then on to the Plage de Tremazan where we girls all had a paddle in a rather warm sea. It was a perfect afternoon, bright blue sky which accentuated the contrasting colours of land and sea.
We said goodbye then, but not for too long as Francoise invited us all to join them for lunch at their home on Thursday, when the weather forecast is set to be heavy rain.
We returned home via the route touristique, the other way, and continued around the coast south to Gonvel, where we enjoyed another walk, to top up our step tally for the day, in the early evening sunshine, the headland reminded us of Wingletang on St Agnes.
Home to finish tidying up. Geoff popped next door to pay for our strawberries, only to discover that Madame Conq gave them to us as another Cadeau! We also explained that our internet wasn’t working and she very kindly gave us another router, much stronger than the one left in the house, and we finally were able to log on to strong reliable wifi.
Day 12: Tuesday 3rd June 2025
The weather forecast was not good for today, so we had planned a day out to see trams! A leisurely breakfast and a later start were called for after the busy ness of yesterday. We headed south on the coast road to Le Conquet, stopping to photograph on the way as the tide was high.
Our principal first destination was the lighthouse of Saint Mathieu, right on the most south westerly point beyond Brest. It was huge at 37m tall (164 steps), but we were not in the mood to climb it today! We couldn’t find a café or a bar for a coffee, so pressed on to Brest and the park and ride site at Fort Montberey. We had bought day m-tickets so had no need to battle with the ticket machine, just boarded the first tram which came along. There was supposed to be a tram strike today, but they still operated at one every 5 minutes. There is only one main route at the moment, albeit it splits at one end to serve two places. Another line is in the process of being built, the chaos of that we experienced first hand last Saturday when our route to Landunvez took us right through the centre of the city. Indeed we recognised exactly which part of the centre we drove through as we crossed it in the tram! We stopped in the centre and feeling hungry by this point, enjoyed a gallette complet in a small creperie.
The tourist information office was just around the corner, so we went and asked for a map showing a walking route around the city. This took us on a great walk around the old walls of the city above the marina and docks via the Chateau, which I think looked like a Citadel, and back to Pont de Recouvrance, the main bridge for the tram, buses and cars to cross the Penfeld river. We walked over the bridge, then caught another tram through the centre to Place de Strasbourg, which was in no way as attractive as the name implied! We returned to the bridge on another tram and then caught the telepherique (cable car) across to Les Capucines, which turned out to be an old factory which had been refurbished, it put us in mind of Battersea Power Station!
After a refreshment break we caught a very busy tram back to the car and home via L’Eclerc for bread and milk. We were out for nearly nine hours today, and whilst it had rained quite a lot, it didn’t bother us very much and we still enjoyed the day. The weather cleared when we got back and the sun forced its way out for the evening.
Day 13: Wednesday 4th June 2025
A lazier morning which included a load of washing – has to be done! We breakfasted outside today, which is not something we have done very much thus far. We waited till the washing was done and hung up (sadly, no tumble drier here!) before setting off on our bikes for a day out.
We had discovered the cycle track earlier in the week, so followed that to Portsall. It was a delight to cycle on either cycle tracks, designated cycle lanes or quiet roads, with no threat of cars rushing by. At one point we went over an old viaduct, which we assumed used to be for a train, but that avoided a huge hill, down and up, which we had driven. Portsall itself was very nice, but having seen it on Sunday when it was buzzing with life, many of the hostelries were closed and it was not so attractive. However, we did find an excellent creperie, and had a superb light lunch, which fortunately coincided with a heavy bout of rain.
Returning to the cycle trail, we followed the route touristique which we had driven a few times already, but for some reason, on a bike, seemed infinitely better. We stopped again at the Chapelle Saint Samson and walked a little along the coast and sat and watched the waves which crashed on the rocks below us.
On the last stage of our ride, we opted to cut across to the cycle track from the main road and ended up cycling down a footpath which was becoming more overgrown the further we went. Just as we were starting to think we had made a massive mistake we rejoined the track and were home in no time. We cycled about 15km and thoroughly enjoyed it – just enough for us!
Supper consisted of eating up Mondays left overs again!
Day 14: Thursday 5th June 2025
Very little to report today, but it was an excellent one!
The weather was, as predicted, dull and occasionally wet, but we had something good to offset that. Francoise and Tony had invited us for lunch, along with Anne and Terry again. We had an excellent meal, even better chat and 4 hours flew by as we were enjoying ourselves so much. It wasn’t till we were leaving that I realised I had not taken any photos. Having said that, I definitely took more than enough of all of us on Monday.
Therefore, I have added a photograph of the painting we acquired from Tony a couple of years ago. We were thrilled with it, and there were many more similar paintings on show in their home, which we all enjoyed this afternoon. This one is of the coast near Kerlouan.
Day 15: Friday 6th June 2025
Our last day in Brittany today, but we had a whole day to play with so no rush to get up early! We enjoyed our last Breton breakfast accompanied by even more strawberries, donated by Madame before packing up and cleaning through. The house looked just as we found it, when we eventually left at 12.30.
Our first stop was a picnic seat overlooking the sea on the route touristique with which we have become very familiar over the past week. The views were spectacular and we enjoyed our coffee and cake appreciating them.
We took our time driving to Roscoff. Our second port of call was Kerlouan, and the beach which featured in the painting by Tony. We found it, albeit we were stopped short by yet another infermal route barree! We walked along the coast path and stood pretty much where Tony had, the tide was a little higher than when the picture was set, but it was quite beautiful. Unfortunately it started to rain while we were stood on the headland, so we beat a retreat to the car. We continued on to Brignogan where we found a café for a coffee, before walking out to a quay at the other end of the bay, where we remembered walking with Jean and John years ago, ending up in the restaurant on the edge of the bay.
From here we headed to Roscoff stopping at an intermarche to fill up with petrol, and then parking on the promenade. We had an aperitif in Ty Pierre, coincidentally where we had breakfast en famille two weeks ago, before our dinner at Les Arcades Hotel which was just perfect.
Just managed to post this whilst in the queue for the Pont Aven!
Day 16: Saturday 7th June 2025
We had been a little worried about the crossing from Brittany to Cork, as the weather forecast was a little erratic, but we needn’t have been as it was a relatively smooth crossing. We left Roscoff half an hour early and arrived in Cork 10 minutes early. We were quite excited to see Cobh from the water and the motorhome park alongside, as we were there just two years ago. We were off the ferry quite quickly and through passport control and customs very smoothly, no real inspection or stamping here.
Once we got used to driving on the left again we were soon comfortable and heading towards Cork. We recognised the centre of the city alongside the river from our last visit but this time we were on the lookout for signs to Blarney. We had decided to visit Blarney Castle en route to Limerick and it was only a few miles outside Cork. The gardens were lovely and laid out in a variety of ‘rooms’, the rock garden, the poison garden, the pinetum, the jungle …. to name a few! The castle itself was the crowning glory, but neither of us were inclined to climb the “arduous” steps, so described on the notices, and even less inclined to want to kiss the blarney stone, so we left that to the many young tourists around us, while we enjoyed the gardens and views, and in particular the aspect of Blarney House, which looked like a Scottish Baronial castle.
After a couple of hours we carried on to Mallow, where we stopped for a quick late lunch before continuing to Limerick. It was late afternoon by now, and as we approached the town centre, we were stuck in a queue which did not bode well. We opted to turn around and head for Bunratty instead. We can at least say we kissed the outskirts of Limerick!
Just a few miles up the road, having gone through the Limerick Tunnel, which incurred a toll, much to Geoff’s disgust, we found Bunratty castle alongside some pubs and a shopping outlet. We enjoyed a couple of drinks with the castle as background accompanied by some Irish music. This is when we discovered that a Munster senior hurling final, Limerick against Cork, playing in Limerick was about to start, hence all that traffic and the reason for all the flags of varying colours being sported by houses and cars all the way up here.
We arrived at our B&B for the night, the Avarest, where we were glad to stop and have a cup of tea and Geoff was able to watch said hurling match on the TV!
Day 17: Sunday 8th June 2025
Geoff was pleased because he got his first cooked (Irish) breakfast of the holiday this morning! I had pancakes so I was happy too. We left the B&B, which was OK but maybe not the best we have stayed in, just after 9.15am and rejoined the motorway to head to Galway. We wanted to complete a section of the WAW (Wild Atlantic Way) that we had missed last time we were here, between Galway and Clifden.
After coffee on the prom in Salthill, we headed west and were amazed at the volume of cars in both directions. We think there must have been some grand event on in Galway that we didn’t know anything about. Fortunately, the volume abated the further west we drove into Connemara and the scenery ramped up at the same time. We love the barren landscape that we encountered, albeit that it was populated with lots of houses, strung out along the road. The area was cris crossed with granite stone walls, as well as rocky outcrops all around us, but reasonably flat.
We diverted off the WAW onto a narrow road which wound over the hills, cutting off a long loop around the coast, this was the sort of road we would never have attempted in Colin, and we loved it! We stopped at several places en route to Clifden to photograph views and to take a breath. On reaching Clifden we had a walk around the town, the number of tourist shops and local facilities were impressive, which included the coffee shop we sampled.
From Clifden we took the direct route to Westport, much of which we had driven the opposite way in 2023. We passed Kylemore Abbey, which we had visited and Letterfrack before arriving at our hotel for the night, the Castlecourt Hotel. This was one we had often included in our Truronian Holiday programme, and we were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was! It has recently been refurbished, and we were impressed with our room and all the facilities, especially the pool which we sampled as soon as we checked in.
After a swim and a short rest in our room, we set off to explore the town which we failed to do on our last visit as we couldn’t find anywhere to park the motorhome! The shops were shut, but there was still a quiet buzz about the place and we liked it very much. We returned to our hotel for a pre dinner drink and then dinner in the restaurant which was very good, before retiring for the night. All in all a great day, driving 164 miles and ending up in a lovely place to spend the night.
Day 18: Monday 9th June 2025
After a good nights rest we were ready for another cooked breakfast this morning, but unfortunately the very nice waiter we had last night let us down and forgot our order! We watched all those around us receive their platefuls of food but none arrived for us. We complained but by the time we finished, it was an hour after we walked into the dining room, and we had hoped to be away long before then. It was a shame that had happened because until then we would have given the hotel a glowing reference, at least we would have if we could ever be bothered to do so!
We headed north from Westport to rejoin the WAW at Ballina. We drove along the edge of the Moy estuary and could spy some lovely views. We emerged onto the main coast at Enniscrone where we parked up and went for a walk, looking for some coffee. We found a coffee shop which was full, so we carried on and then couldn’t find another until several miles along the WAW at Dromore West, a small supermarket with a coffee machine was the answer!
Our next intended stop was Sligo, but the weather, which waspretty dull to start with, deteriorated rapidly and we could see no point in getting soaked walking about the town. We drove through the middle and reckon we had seen all we needed to! Beyond the town, we should have had a stunning view of Benbulbin, a distinctive flat topped mountain, and a key point on the WAW, but we could hardly see it in the driving rain!
Continuing on, we diverted into Bundoran where I managed to take a photo of the beach, but other than that there was little of note to report. The tone of this diary entry reflects the weather, we were pretty fed up by this point and decided all we could really do was press on to our Cosy Cottage (that is its real name!), our base for the next 4 nights. We stopped at Euro Spar in Donegal to pick up provisions and arrived bang on 4pm. The door was open and we were delighted to find it lived up to its name, with the heating on, thank goodness as it was quite cold. The internet is excellent, provided by Starlink (sadly a Musk special) so we are happy bunnies, especially as we are now sat with a glass of Cremant – cheers!
Day 19: Tuesday 10th June 2025
It is wonderfully quiet here in the hamlet of Laconnell, the only sound I could hear when I woke was the clock in the living room! The sun was shining and we were energised to get out and make the absolute most of it today, because it does not look as though we will get many days like this in the next week or so.
After breakfast and having hung a load of washing on the line, we set off up the road, along the estuary for our first stop at Assaranca waterfall. This amazing body of water, right next to the road was in full flowing force following the abundance of rain yesterday. We were rather dismayed to find two motorhomes parked next to it as the road here is very narrow and we were amazed that they had negotiated it.
We continued on a steep road up an incredible valley above the estuary. The views up and down took our breath away and that set the pattern for the whole day. The narrow roads continued on the Sliege peninsula (in Irish, Sliabh Liag) where we were lucky to find a coffee at Kelly’s corner café in Glencolumbkille, and the very friendly waitress planned our day out for us, including an excursion on Paddy’s boat, more of that later.
The WAW took us on to the end of the road to Malin Beg, where the beach, Silver Strand, was laid out before us at the bottom of a million steps! It probably wasn’t that many, but we decided not to walk down to count them, preferring to photograph from the top and sit and admire from afar.
Checking the time, we opted to drive straight to Teelin Pier and the departure point for the Sliege League boat tours. We found Paddy and signed up for the 2pm trip and we are very glad as there were three boatloads. It lasted one and three quarter hours and it flew by as the views and the commentary were so interesting, enhanced by the most wonderful weather, clear blue skies and warm sunshine. One fact that surprised us was that these cliffs are three times the height of the Cliffs of Moher!
I took loads of photos, including some amazing shots of some friendly dolphins who played with our boat on the way back to the quay. We met a lovely couple from Nova Scotia who got a different boat to us, but we had a great conversation in the queue and they gave us some excellent tips for our trip in September. This spontaneous decision will probably prove to be the highlight of the whole trip!
After leaving the quay we stopped first at Slieve Cliffs Centre for an ice cream. We couldn’t drive up to the viewing platform as the road was closed due to being resurfaced, but we couldn’t have had a better view of them than we did from the boat. We pressed on along the coast to Muckross head, which again had a lovely beach located in the curve of the headland.
By this time we were feeling peckish and in desperate need of a walk as our steps tally was well down on where it should be, so we parked up by Killybegs fishing port, and walked through the town, stopping for supper at the Tara hotel where the restaurant had a fabulous view over the port.
Home to our Cosy Cottage via a Supermarket for a few more provisions. We had been out for 9 hours today, and loved every minute of it.
Day 20: Wednesday 11th June 2025
The weather forecast was not brilliant for today, so we had planned a walk from the house to a beach. We ought to know by now that Ireland is a law unto itself when it comes to weather and we ended up with a beautiful sunny, very warm day.
We didn’t set off from the house till late morning, enjoying our breakfast outside. On our way to the waterfall, we passed a small bridge connecting the shore with an island in the estuary, we didn’t realise immediately but there were bags of what looked like oysters as well as a couple of open crates of quite large oysters. Just around the corner we saw a large building with more of the same sort of bags and crates outside. Geoff started to get very excited thinking it must be an oyster production centre of some kind. When he went in, hoping to buy some, he saw around 8 men hand sorting oysters into different sizes on conveyor belts. The boss said he couldn’t sell any because the recent heavy rainfall had affected the water quality and they needed purifying before they could be eaten. He said they would be ready after the weekend, but of course we will have moved on by then.
After that excitement we walked on to the waterfall, and found it to be very busy with more motorhomes and a touring group having their barbeque picnic lunch there. We carried on to Maghera beach, which apart from a car park, bore no signs or any evidence of cafes or other commercial enterprise. It simply had a boardwalk leading down to sand dunes and then onto the most beautiful beach we have seen for a long time. It reminded us of Sandwood Bay on the north west coast of Scotland, that too was approached over sand dunes and like that, this beach was almost empty. It did have several large caves, one of which Geoff braved, but I was worried that the bear might be asleep in it!
After our picnic lunch I went for a paddle in surprisingly warm water, it must have warmed over the hot sand as the tide turned and started to come in. After signing our names in the sand as we are want to do, we headed back home in extremely warm conditions, we were very glad for shady trees on our route. Sat outside with a cup of tea watching the comings and goings of the locals passed some time this afternoon before we decided to go out for an hour and drive down our wonderful valley from the top again, although sadly the sun disappeared so we didn’t see it at its best.
A quieter but equally lovely day again today.
Day 21: Thursday 12th June 2025
We woke to rain and it stayed with us all day. We are not complaining though, as we have enjoyed amazing sunshine as evidenced by all the blue skies in the photos for the last two days!
Today we planned to visit Donegal town. We parked alongside the river and walked around what proved to be a very small town, but with some rather smart shops aimed at tourists, and probably American tourists, of which there seem to be rather a lot. Our first stop was the Blueberry tea room for coffee and scones, whilst I have been advised by friends not to dwell on what we eat, I feel duty bound to report that raspberry and white chocolate scones are a revelation! Never had them before but will definitely seek them out again!
We walked down to the tourist information office and spied an enormous heron in the river. It was so still for so long that I felt sure it must be a sculpture, but then it moved, it clearly owned that part of the river!
Next door to the tea room was a pub called the The Olde Castle bar, so named as it was opposite Donegal Castle. Outside was an advert for oysters and Guinness, Geoff was tempted, so we decided to go in, what else can one do in the pouring rain!
Next on our wet day agenda was a mini tour to the Finn railway. The road took us up the Barnesmoor Gap to Ballybofey and then on to Finntown. This railway is the only remaining section of the 220 miles of narrow guage railway operating across Donegal. We were surprised when it arrived in the makeshift station to see that it had a bus one end, at least it looked like a bus, but Geoff assures me it was a railcar, originally powered by petrol and then converted to diesel. The other end looked like a small railway engine. The rain was relentless still so we decided not to travel on it but to chase it along the edge of Lough Finn, photographing it en route, we even got a wave from the engine driver!
On our way back to the cottage we decided to drive down the road on the opposite side of the estuary and discovered that we could drive right to the very end, and had we chosen to – right into the sea! The views were amazing, even in the rain, and we could see the waterfall and the beach in all its glory.
Home for our last supper here.
Day 23: Friday 13th June 2025
Neither of us slept very well last night and we were awake early so decided to get up, have breakfast, clean and pack the car all before 9am. We were driving away from our Cosy Cottage much earlier than we expected.
The weather was poor, low cloud and low visibility combined with rain, so we thought we would drive straight to Londonderry. However, within minutes we noticed some blue sky and changed our minds, choosing to follow the WAW all the way to Horn Head. Whilst not the most northerly point of southern Ireland, it was not far off and quite spectacular in morning sunshine, albeit it was very windy. The road up to it was very narrow and we were surprised yet again to discover several large motorhomes parked at the end.
We carried on to Londonderry and still the rain held off as we drove in to the city along the edge of the River Foyle. We hadn’t realised until David told us that Londonderry has a complete city wall. It was a very impressive one, although built in the 17th century it had a wide walkway all the way round and numerous canons defending the gates. The siege of Derry in 1689 was the first major event in the war in Ireland. We walked all the way round and were moved at the view on the northern edge over Bogside, the site of Bloody Sunday back in 1972.
After a picnic lunch ate overlooking the river and an unusual double decker road bridge to our left and the Peace bridge to our right, we did some provisions shopping at M&S Simply Food (such a treat!) before arriving in Portstewart for the next four nights.
After the Cosy Cottage, this modern, well appointed apartment was a complete contrast but we were delighted with it, especially the view of the bay out of the floor to ceiling windows in the living room. We unpacked and then went for walk around the headland and promenade. It is a lovely little seaside town, with more ice cream shops than bars! Home for a Chinese feast for supper and to watch a film on an enormous TV!
Day 24: Saturday 14th June 2025
A very lazy start to a wet and dull day. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with the view of the sea and the Portstewart golf course, this is a lovely apartment and we did not feel guilty for staying home and enjoying our very comfortable temporary home. My favourite bit is the large sofa with individual automatic reclining seats – sheer indulgent bliss!
We eventually did emerge at midday to catch a bus to Portrush, which is just a few miles along the coast. Sadly, we had to pay for our fares but for those of us who enjoy riding on buses, needs must! All of the buses around here are electric and brand new. On arriving in Portrush we walked first to the station and considered catching the train later to Coleraine so made a note of the times before finding a very nice café overlooking the beach for a coffee and a scone. We then explored a little of Portrush, namely the beach and the harbour but we were not as impressed with this resort as we are with Portstewart. However, we did notice that it’s claim to fame is that it is hosting the next Open Golf Tournament in July this year!
We went to catch the train but oh dear, I did it again – misread the timetable and we watched the train leave the station as we arrived, expecting to be at least 15 minutes early! Undaunted, and not wishing to wait another hour for the next train, we went to catch a bus instead.
We were surprised at how much we liked Coleraine. On arrival at the Bus and Train Centre, which in itself was very grand and very new, we walked into town, through what we later realised was the less salubrious part into the main street. This was clearly much better, a craft and local produce market was just starting to pack up for the day, arranged around the Town Hall, and there was a very smart local department store for us to peruse, in between the showers!
We walked to the river and wandered around Dunnes, which is clearly Ireland’s own Primark, before catching the bus back to Portrush and on to Portstewart. There is a triangular bus route between the three centres, which operates very like that in Canterbury to Whitstable and Herne Bay, but we missed one bus which went the short way home, so went the long way instead! (sounds complicated but it gave us a more scenic journey!).
We enjoyed an ice cream at Morellis in Portstewart before returning home for the evening.
Day 25: Sunday 15th June 2025
Belfast day on Fathers Day!
Up earlyish this morning as we planned to drive to Coleraine to catch the 10.19 train to Belfast. We parked up at the park and ride car park next to the station which presumably is packed during the week, collected a take away coffee and waited on a very smart station platform for our train. We had purchased £10 day tracker tickets for a Sunday which were excellent value, our modern comfortable train arrived, bang on time on which we managed to get a table.
The journey itself was uneventful, except we stopped at Ballymena en route where we understand there was some unrest earlier this week. As we approached Belfast the train route was alongside the river, the other side of which we could see the tall cranes of Harland & Wolff, the ship builders of Titanic and the iconic museum itself. The train wound its way all around the south of Belfast before ending up in Grand Central Station, very aptly named we thought as it has recently undergone a full makeover and looks like an international airport!
We collected a map from an unsually offhand Irish tourist information lady, and found our way via the Grand Opera House to City Hall. We then walked down Donegall Place to the Cathedral, and by chance we came across Commercial place with its colourful upside down umbrellas. Checking the time we realised we needed to get a wiggle on to get to the Titanic museum for 1.30pm, which was our ticket time. We walked over the river bridge, by the Prince Albert memorial clock and the blue fish, a ceramic mosaic sculpture, which was commissioned in 1999 to celebrate the regeneration of the River Lagan and the return of the salmon. The pathway wound along by the river to the museum and the SS Nomadic which was moored in a dry dock.
The actual museum itself was an amazing architectural structure. We went up one floor on an escalator then, another in a lift, which appeared to be going up inside the construction gantry. Then there was a ‘ride’ which took us into the heart of the gantry where we could hear all the noise of the furnaces and hammering of rivets. Emerging from that we then saw all the soft construction elements, like the furnishings, the crockery, the linen, and had a visual experience of what it was like to be on board ship.
The next sections were the harrowing ones, the missed messages, the errors and incompetency which resulted in disaster. Strangely, there was little reference to the iceberg, rather the way in which the crew reacted to it, and then, of course, the personal tragedies, which were hard to read. Interestingly, many of the bodies recovered from the sea were taken to Halifax in Nova Scotia for burial in Fairview cemetery, so we will make a point of going there in September. The final section of the experience was to do with how lessons have been learnt since in relation to safety and procedures.
We thought it was an excellent experience, well worth the money. It was rather crowded as unfortunately we went in just after a group of youngsters so that meant we probably missed some elements, but combined with Titanic exhibitions we have visited in Cobh and Perth (WA) we know a fair bit about what happened on 15th April 1912.
Feeling tired we opted to catch the Glider bus, which looked as though it was pretending to be a tram, back to City Hall. It should have been called Bumpy Bendy bus really as it hurtled through the city and clearly had very springy suspension. After popping into M&S we then went next door to the Ivy for a late Fathers Day Sunday lunch at 4.15pm. We had managed to book online after we were told in the restaurant earlier, that they were fully booked until 7.45pm. We received excellent service and a superb meal in rather splendid, typically Ivy, surroundings.
Home by train again, after an excellent day out, stopping for a few minutes to view the Strand, a 1.3 mile long stretch of sand to the west of Portstewart adjacent to which was an incredibly posh Golf Clubhouse.
Day 26: Monday 16th June 2025
We woke to sunshine this morning! Our view across the bay from the living room looked so different and so appealing. We were away by 10am heading east and our first stop on the cliff tops near Portrush gave us a fabulous view back to the site of the venue for the Open and a view of the ruined Dunluce Castle to the east.
Our first destination was to the Dark Trees, apparently this avenue of old trees featured in Game of Thrones, and we have been looking at a fabulous large photo of the same on the wall in our current living room. We found them, but on checking the time, we realised we wouldn’t have time to walk and appreciate them and still achieve our pre booked attractions today, so I managed a quick photo on a drive by instead.
Our coffee stop was in Ballycastle. Here we found a picnic table overlooking the harbour and a beach with Rathlin island visible in the distance. Unfortunately, a young crow took a fancy to a biscuit I was eating and tried to take it from me! It was a bit scary, but he didn’t hurt me. We then walked around the harbour to the ferry port, a rather grand title and a grand building for a rather old looking ferry which we watched arrive very noisily. A crowd of school children were off for a day on the island by the looks of things, and they were very excited.
Our first booking was at the National Trust Carrick a Rede, a rope bridge connecting the mainland to the Island of Rede. This involved a 1km walk along the cliff top followed by 162 steps down to the rope bridge. Several times I checked with Geoff that he was OK to do it, thinking we would both struggle, but he insisted we did it, and we are so glad that we did – it was great fun, a bit wobbly, but worth it for the views. An ice cream back at the car park was our reward!
Then on to the principal destination for the day – the Giants Causeway. This was also National Trust, so we were able to benefit from free admission to the Visitor Experience, which was really good, as well as a free bus ride back up the hill! We walked down, and that was indeed the best way to approach the causeway to appreciate the scale of it against the surrounding cliffs. It was very impressive and we sat in a couple of places on very comfortable basalt rocks, to watch literally hundreds of visitors, mostly foreign, clambering over the rocks. It would have been lovely to see it without all these people but that would probably have required us to be here at daybreak! We had a cuppa with a yummy piece of cake back in the centre, followed by a short film documenting the myth of the giants and the geological reason for the causeway before heading back home, we counted 15 coaches on our way out of the car park!
We have had a busy three days in Portstewart and really enjoyed our time here. There is so much more to see and do in this area, but we think we have done as much as we could have in the time allowed.
Day 27: Tuesday 17th June 2025
Happy Anniversary Jon and Madz!
Moving day today so after breakfast we packed up, cleaned up and left before 10am to head first to Coleraine to do our provisions shopping at M&S Simply Food, we are going to get used to this!
We then followed a scenic route following the River Bann all the way to Toome where it flowed out of the Lough Beg. There is a canal that connects Lough Beg with Lough Neagh, so after enjoying our coffee at the point where a scene from Game of Thrones was filmed, we walked down the canal path to view the Lough from a spiral stone construction which enabled a higher view. The Lough is the largest freshwater lake in Ireland, famous for its eels!
Our next port of call was Whitehead. We had watched a youtube video citing the top 10 places to visit in Northern Ireland and it featured Belfast, Giants Causeway, Portrush, Londonderry, Whitehead, Carrickfergus, Newcastle, Hillsborough Castle, Enniskillin and Hollywood. So today we opted to drive to Whitehead and then on to our next home via Carrickfergus, to tick those off the list! Whitehead was definitely worth the detour. We parked up overlooking Blackhead lighthouse in the distance and walked back along the promenade with its distinctive coloured houses. There was a section of brightly coloured ones, and another of more subtle pastel tones, all of which looked stunning in the afternoon sunshine. We enjoyed a snack lunch in a coffee shop on the front before returning to the car to drive just a few minutes down the road to Carrickfergus.
We were very impressed with this seaside town, dominated by its stunning castle, right on the seafront next to the harbour. Clearly a lot of money has been spent to show the promenade and environs off to its best advantage, and we were sorry not to have more time or energy to explore further, but we still had another 60 miles to go.
The last leg of our journey today took us back along the river Lagan into Belfast, with the view of the Harland and Wolff gantries again on the far side. We took the motorway and were surprised that there was a roundabout in the middle of the city which caused a big traffic jam and must do all the time. Once we were on the next motorway we had a clear run all the way down to Newry and then a few miles further on, on a narrow and very picturesque road which suddenly revealed an amazing view down the Carlingford Lough.
Our next home for four nights is a converted garage! I have been quite worried about this one, but we are delighted with it. It is the size of a double garage and is one space with a living/bedroom, a kitchen area and a separate shower room. It has a private outdoor terrace with fabulous views to the lough in one direction and to the mountains in another. After unpacking and putting the kettle on we could relax!
Day 28: Wednesday 18th June 2025
We planned a more relaxing day today and it started well with a late breakfast and a sit outside on our terrace, me listening to my audio book and Geoff checking his phone for the news and working out how to get to Dublin tomorrow. We booked our train tickets, had a coffee and then eventually left home at midday.
Our first port of call was literally down the road at Victoria Lock. This was on the canalised part of the Newry River, along which a brand new cycle pathway was being developed, a large part of it on brand new raised track. It was a special project funded in part, as ever, by the EU!
We drove down the edge of the Lough to Carlingford, after which the Lough was named. Here we visited the tourist information office before walking around the harbour for the best view of Carlingford Castle. I also spotted a memorial to a Thomas D’Arcy McGee, a former resident of the town who was a founding father of the Canadian nation!
Geoff wanted to travel on the Carlingford Lough ferry which crossed from the end of this peninsula to Greencastle and the Mourne area of outstanding beauty. We were a little early so we drove further up the coast a little so we could see the ferry. We passed a sign for oysters and we could see huge oyster beds spread out along the edge of the estuary. I rang the supplier and asked if we could pop in and buy 6, we did so and the owner, called Donal, was a splendid chap who invited us to come and have a closer look at the operation. We did so, but only briefly as we wanted to catch the next ferry.
The ferry was fabulous, giving us far reaching views in every direction for 20 minutes. We hadn’t really planned to do this today, but we made up a new plan and headed for Newcastle following the coast road. What a brilliant decision that was as the seaside town of Newcastle was a delight, bustling with visitors and locals, and clearly having had a lot of money spent on all the infrastructure. We enjoyed a rather posh ice cream in Mauds before heading home via a scenic route across the Mourne mountains.
We were watching the time as we had decided to return on the ferry, but the road across the mountains, via a reservoir at the top was superb, looking at its best in the late afternoon sunshine. We made it to the last ferry of the day with a few minutes to spare and then home. Not quite the restful day we had planned, but infinitely more interesting, Newcastle being a highlight.
Day 29: Thursday 19th June 2025
A relatively early start for us this morning as we were off to Dublin. We had booked the train at 1013 from Dundalk Clarke station, named after Thomas J Clarke, one of the key signatories of the 1916 Irish Republic proclamation. The train was on time from Belfast, and an American couple from Nashville were in our reserved seats, but it didn’t matter as we sat opposite them and proceeded to chat some of the way to Dublin, including discovering that he liked Chuck Berry too!
We walked to O’Connell street to buy our Leap day travel ticket and it was buzzing, with its new Spire, a stainless steel 121 metre high pointy thing right in the middle (which replaced Nelson’s pillar) and the General Post Office, site of the Easter Uprising in 1916. We passed the Custom House which faced the River, along which we walked to find the refurbished and rather handsome Ha’penny Bridge. After crossing this, we walked through Temple Bar on our way to Trinity College, where we had booked a visit to the Book of Kells and the Long Library.
Walking through the Arch into the College grounds was worth the admission alone. The vista which greeted us, in the quiet after the noisy square outside was amazing. Students and visitors were sat on the grass enjoying the sunshine encircled by stunning buildings and a centrepiece of the Campanile of the College.
There was no queue, so we went straight into the Book of Kells exhibition, it is a precious 9th century manuscript containing the four Gospels of the New Testament and was beautifully illustrated. What we were really interested in though was the library and the sight of the Gaia greeted us as we walked in, it was stunning. We missed seeing it when it was on display in Truro Cathedral, so to see it here was an added bonus. Sadly, a lot of the books were being refurbished, so only a small part of the library actually had anything on the shelves, however it did have a copy of the Irish Republic proclamation, as printed on a poster in 1916.
A visit to the College Shop and then we were feeling very hungry. We had passed a restaurant called The Bank on our way to the College so we retraced our steps, stopping to photograph the sculpture of Molly Malone. It was very similar inside to the Bank we had visited in London and we had an excellent late lunch there. The toilets were sited next to the safes!
Time to do some tram travelling, we boarded a red tram and journeyed to the end of the line at The Point, through the Docklands area, not dissimilar to London with lots of high rise offices and trendy cafes. Returning to the centre, we then caught a green tram and went south, getting off and walking back through Iveagh Gardens and Stephens Green, both of which were full of people enjoying the gorgeous weather. An ice cream was called for, which we found while walking back through Grafton street.
The only thing left on our wish list for the day was a ride on the DART railway. We boarded at Tara station and the train was absolutely packed, we were really lucky to get a couple of seats. Even more people boarded at the next few stops to go south towards Bray. We decided to get off at Blackrock, which was referred to as a village but was a small town, a suburb really of Dublin, right next to the sea. We enjoyed a drink sat outside a pub in the main street and watched the world go by for a while before catching the train back to Dublin and to change onto our train to Dunkeld.
We had reserved seats again, and these were free and on the right side of the train to enjoy the seaside views. From Dunkeld we drove around the south of our peninsula and then over the top of the mountain, appreciating fabulous views across Carlingford Lough as we descended to our home, a fitting end to another fabulous day.
Day 30: Friday 20th June 2025
After all the excitement of the last few days and with the prospect of two long travelling days in front of us we decided to shelve our plan to go to Hillsborough Castle and have a quiet day instead. We will have to save that for another visit!
We took the car out for a wander round the Cooley mountains, the beginning of which we had discovered was within a mile of our little home and enjoyed the vistas in several directions. We then found a road which wound around the edge of the coastline into Carlingford Lough, and finding a beach with absolutely no one in sight, we plonked down our chairs and enjoyed coffee with a view, sitting still for a change, just watching the birds and soaking up some warm sunshine.
We drove back to Omeath for a little walk, nothing onerous after our 18000 steps yesterday, and stopped for a light lunch which was very welcome. We continued into Newry, ie back into the UK, to top up the fuel tank before returning home to carry on doing very little. Jon rang on his way home from work so we enjoyed catching up with him.
Day 31: Saturday 21st June 2025
The longest day and it is our last day in Ireland. We left our garage which was actually really good, just after 9.30 having left it clean and tidy. Whilst it was dry, it was very hazy this morning, so we wondered if we might see the sun but not to worry it reappeared by the time we arrived in Balbriggan on the coast just an hour or so on.
We had seen this pretty seaside town from the train on our trip to Dublin and it was lovely. We walked around the edge of the beach and back stopping for our coffee with a view of the trains and the sea. Moving on from here we opted to go by motorway south and around Dublin to Bray and then south on ordinary roads to Greystones, Kilcoole and Newcastle (yes, another one!). We called into a Tesco and bought a meal deal for a picnic lunch but then we couldn’t find anywhere suitable to eat our picnic, typical, when you don’t want a picnic there are suitable places everywhere!
We pressed on to Wicklow and parked on the quay opposite the working harbour. We found a seat overlooking the harbour and it was perfect for our picnic. We watched the very efficient unloading of a large ship called Mark D, not sure what it was, some sort of building material being lifted onto large lorries for onward distribution.
A walk was next on the agenda, first to the harbour, then up on to the cliff to view the ruined Black Castle and Travelahawk Beach where St Patrick is reputed to have landed (seems he landed at a multitude of Irish seaside towns) before finding the town centre and a café for a cup of tea and, in Geoffs case, a cream bun!
From Wicklow, we followed the coast road which appeared to fringe a very long sandy beach, not that we could see it from the road, nor were there any suitable places to park that didn’t warrant paying, which we were not inclined to do, nor did we really have the time. We received a telephone call from the B&B asking what time we would arrive so we pressed on arriving at the Ferryport B&B at 6.30pm. The room is nice so we are quite happy.
Our last dinner of the holiday was at the Dock restaurant just a few minutes walk from our B&B. We were glad we had booked because it was very busy and lots of people were having to wait for tables. We had a lovely meal, a great way to end, and then to top it all, the first sunset in Ireland!
Day 32: Sunday 22nd June 2025
We are home! A long day today, started with boarding the ferry in Rosslare at 7.40am for the crossing to Pembroke. We had a cabin on board so Geoff could sleep his way back to the UK and I wandered around a lot to make up my steps tally.
We arrived in Pembroke bang on time, but we were literally the last car off the ferry, having been parked in an odd corner! We were meeting Jean and John for lunch in Pontarddulais near Swansea and despite being stuck in a traffic jam around Carmarthen (a regular occurrence so we were told) we made it and enjoyed an hour and a half with them catching up on news. It was lovely to see them both, but in all the excitement I forgot to take a photo!
We had a pretty good run home, arriving at 9pm. What an amazing four weeks away we have had. In total we did 2124 miles, 587 in Brittany and 1537 in Ireland. We stayed in 1 hotel, 2 B&B’s and 5 homes: 3 houses, 1 apartment and 1 garage! As there are no other photos from today, here are images of those.
