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Getting around Donegal without a car

Posted by on

My best friend and I are planning a trip to Ireland in April and we plan on spending two days in Donegal. We are 24 and 25 so we really can't rent a car. We plan to fly into Donegal airport and potentially stay in Gweedore and do a trip down to slieve league but i'm having trouble finding any bus or train routes, even just tourist bus trips between the two areas. Even if we decided to stay in Donegal Town it is very unclear to me how we would even get from the airport down there...

If anyone could provide me with the bus station names for these cities or further information that would be great!

Posted by
135 posts

Hi
I'm afraid you're pretty much out of luck for public transport in Co. Donegal, other than the occasional public bus (run by licensed private operators) that connect the main towns, but often far less than hourly. There are no public service trains (or tracks) in the county of Donegal, at all.

Donegal Airport (I've been to it, many times - I've been holidaying in Dungloe for 30 years) is literally in the sand-dunes at the edge of the Atlantic - a beautiful spot, but entirely reliant on local taxis or self-drive. The only direct flights to Donegal are from Dublin and Glasgow - currently, the Dublin flights arrive Donegal at 1450 and 1955,meaning you don't get much of Day 1 in Donegal. Unless you plan on doing short-distance cycling in the Rosses area (close to the airport), a car or taxi is the only effective way to get around.

Sorry!

Posted by
16893 posts

Are you sure you can't rent a car? Rick's Ireland book says, "Rental companies require you to be at least 21 years old and to have held your license for two years. Drivers under 25 may incur a young-driver surcharge (if that describes you, try STA Travel, which seeks young renters; www.statravel.com, tel. 800-781-4040)."

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