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Ireland: South-West (south of Galway Bay)
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15-05-2011 8:30pm#1
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Ok, so first weekend out this weekend (may bank holiday weekend) and I thought I'd ramble a bit about how I got on.
We headed off from Sligo down as far as Doolin. On advice from people here, we went to Nagles in Doolin.
We headed through lisdoonvarna and there were some serious hills to get up, and climb. hard work for the van and it chewed it up no problem.
It was a lovely park, everything was really clean, and the grass was kept short. Each bay had water, waste and electricity. The main toilet block was spotless and really big. Even the 24 hr toilets were very clean. Showers were token use, as were the gas hobs in the campers kitchen. Two cooking hobs and three sinks. There was also a proper chemical toilet in the place too. It wasn't overly expensive to stay there, and with the weather it was amazing. There was also a watering bay for the campers to fill up on water as you were leaving.
First thing i noticed was those damn bugs on my nice clean van.
It was a nice place....
So we stayed there on Saturday night and headed for the Cliffs of Moher. At the bottom of the road there was a sign saying no Caravans and no Buses. Figured out why when we went up the road. Man there were some hills and the van had to work getting up them.
The Cliffs
We headed down to Lehinch from there and stayed in Ocean View Park. To be honest it was a bit of a kip.
The whole park was on a slope, and no attempt to have the bays level at all. Even the guys with the ramps weren't high enough. There were only two toilets and two showers and they were smelly. The chemical toilet was an AJ into the sewer line. The bins were locked with hours between 9 and 6. Even during that time we couldn't get to dump our rubbish. I wouldn't recommend this park at all.
Anyway, gotta say Hi to Jimmy if he reads this. Met a guy who couldn't get his van started. It was a 96 Ducato. We swopped batteries from my van to his and away he went. I figured I'd help, as I would like to think that if I was in the same boat someone would help me out too. Anyway, he offered that if we were ever in his neck of the woods he would give us a plug in and use of showers etc.. which was really nice of him. I felt part of a community.....
Anyway, we decided that it would be a fun exercise to count the number of campers on the road, not including caravans or campers in parks. In total we counted 75 vans on the road, which was a lot.
I thought there was a code amongst campervanners where you'd wave..... I only got 6 waves, most people never bothered. Wonder is it because its not easily recognizable as a camper, as its certainly distinctive.
We also learned that the skylight needs something inside the van to cover it so it blocks the light in the early mornings, and you can sleep in a little past 7
All in all it was a great weekend, and we enjoyed it immensely. Will be hitting the roads again sometime soon0 -
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Hey there,
Just back from a week in Wavecrest in Caherdaniel.
A long drive from Sligo last Sat so we didn't get there until about 6:30 so most of the good sites had been taken .. we ended up putting the tent (Vango 8 man) just outside the toilet block .. even before we had the tent out of the boot a guy from a campervan came over and warned us that not only was this the toilet block but also the campervans emptied their waste just beside us. There was a bit of a smell.
I had a look around and couldn't find anywhere else .. so we pitched there, Mrs S. didn't get smell (!) .. we stayed there for two nights .. it was quite open and I was thinking of leaving as I actually found it a bit depressing and didn't want to stay there any longer.
On Monday a lot of the weekenders started to head off and we spotted a new site .. and what a site! Right at the top of the campsite .. overlooking the sea and the rest of the campsite.
We packed everything up and carried the tent over .. took nearly an hour.. there was a few rocks . so weren't to sure if the tent would fit, we had a few inches spare.. it wasn't as sheltered as the other site and the wind was a bit rough .. had images of us ending up in Kenmare Bay in the middle of the night. The wind died down and we got the tent up no probs.
the view was stunning, we have 3yr and 5yr old kids to keep us on our toes so we had to be very careful with them at the edge .. there wasn't a huge drop as there was ledges just under the edge.
we had three fantastic days up on this edge .. the wind wasn't too bad .. i think there was one night where the tent got a good testing!
Wavecrest is very well maintained .. everytime I was in the toilet block there was someone cleaning it, the shop on site was well stocked with everything you could need, there was also a cafe.
My only disappointment was the childrens play area .. in the brochures and on the website it mentions "a fully equipped play area for children" .. this was two swings and a slide in a sandy area, beside a bank of rubbish bins not far from the toilet block, on two occasions I saw kids running across the tops of the rubbish bins, the site seemed to be full of family so its a pity about the play area.
It seemed very good for watersports as there was lots of Canoes there, we went on a rib tour one day which was great
Overall we enjoyed our stay but I'm not sure if I would go back.
Sean0 -
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We stayed in "The Hungry Hill Lodge" in Adrigole on the Beara Peninsula a few years ago. We had a very enjoyable stay there. I don't really know much about the facilities there though as we went there for a St Patrick's weekend and the camping's toilet blocks wasn't open yet - we used the Lodge's which were nice.
Fantastic area - Enjoy !
Valerie0 -
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Hi Folks,
We spent the first two weeks of September in the kingdom. Figured I take 5 minutes to write it up
We were travelling with our two kids, the eldest was 2 and a half and the youngest at 3 months in our van, a ’01 Knaus Sun-Traveller. “Energy-Management” was the one of the main requirements of the trip, any parent of a toddler will know why! Unfortunately I didn’t factor us getting the remnants of two hurricanes during the time away so good weather was at a minimum, ah well, the joys of stay-cactioning.
We started off in Ballybunion, visiting relatives so no campsites. It was windy and wet for the weekend there so pretty nasty. It does have a good kids playground up from the beach and a decent amusement arcade (well, decent in that it was dry and provided shelter from the rain!). The beach is lovely there when the sun is out, ah well.
Then off down to Tralee where we stayed at Kingdom Camping: ( http://www.kingdomcamping.com/website/ ). These guys were 21 euros a night for the lot of us, which was excellent, good facilities also. It was pretty quiet as the weather was super nasty. We got through the night though, the English gang in the tent across from us didn’t fair so well. I felt sorry for them looking out from the relative comfort of the van. I brought my eldest to the Aqua-dome for the morning, which at 15 euros for me (he was free) is pretty pricey (considering it was off-peak) but I guess good for teenagers. We also visited Toby World (http://www.tobyworld.ie/ ) a great new play centre in Tralee which was excellent. With the forecast starting to look better we hit the road to Dingle.
Dingle, which was pretty busy (I guess it always is), has heaps to do and see. There is a pay car park at the dock there, a euro an hour with plenty of vans parked up. We headed to the aquarium for an afternoon, plus the new seal sanctuary (http://www.dinglesanctuary.com/DWSS/Welcome.html) which also has a great playground (although it was misty/rainy my son enjoyed it). The sanctuary also has a lovely café with nice food, recommended.
While down there we stayed at Gallarus (http://www.dingleactivities.com/camp&caravan.html), which was 25 euros a night. Facilities are a little bit dated but it’s a nice site and only 10 minutes from Dingle (driving that is). We visited Wine Strand and got to witness a beached dolphin getting rescued, fair play to the rescue crew, and we enjoyed the beach, although it was still raining!
After a few days in Dingle we hit the road to Killarney. We stayed at two different park there, White Bridge (http://www.killarneycamping.com/) which was the most expensive campsite of the trip at 33 euros a night, but a good well maintained site and close to Killarney town. We also stayed at White Villa farm (http://www.killarneycaravanpark.com/content/) which was 31 euros a night, a bit further out than White Bridge but also a decent site.
Killarney has heaps to see and do with the kids, we visited buddies (http://www.buddies.ie) a great play center, Muckross Pet Farm (http://www.familyfun.ie/muckross-pet-farm-kilarney/) which was good, although a bit small, its family run and they were engaging to chat with. There’s also Coolwood Wildlife Park (http://www.coolwoodwildlifepark.com/) which has loads of small animals for the kids to view, plus the people working there were sound out and when out of their way to chat with us and show us the animals.
From Killarney we cruised through Jackie Healy Rae country to Kenmare. The remnants of Hurricane Katia was forecast so very windy for a couple of days. On that basis we bailed out of the van and got a good deal in the Kenmare Bay Hotel (http://www.kenmarebayhotel.com/) for two nights. They were well set up for the kids so we had fun in the pool and had a sit down meal for a change. I also timed it well with the rugby so caught the highlights of Irelands first game in the Hotel bar. The van was safely parked up out back out of the wind
Finally the forecast was showing some sun on the way so we headed south on the Ring of Kerry to Caherdaniel. I drove against the buses but to be honest we only encountered a couple where I needed to pull in to let them pass. The road from Kenmare out is a nightmare but once you get to Castlecove it starts to improve. We stayed at Wave Crest (http://www.wavecrestcamping.com/) at 27 euros a night and worth every penny for the spectacular views and great location. The weather was still bad when we pulled in and it was pretty quiet but we gladly awoke to sunshine the next morning and a beautiful view to cheer our soggy souls. A lovely day was spent down at Derrynane beach which was badly needed.
After a couple of days there we hit the road again, starting the journey home. We didn’t go too far though and stayed a night at Mannix point campsite (http://www.campinginkerry.com/), again another lovely campsite, 27 euros again I think. Cahirciveen wouldn’t be the most modern of Kerry towns but its unique and a good location for walks, visiting Valentia, etc. It also has a good playground which is opposite the Garda station. While my young lad played I got to watch guards leading men down to the courthouse in handcuffs, not something you see everyday I suppose!
Finally the rain was back to so hit the road back to Galway. We stopped along the way at Crag Cave (http://www.cragcave.com/). We didn’t get down into the cave but my son had a ball at the play center, which is a savage setup for the kids. We also enjoyed a lovely lunch there, overall quite impressed. Its only 2 minutes off the main roads also which is handy.
Just as well we got out of Kerry when we did, I wouldn’t have fancied driving down there (I’ve a –D- reg) the day after the All-Ireland Final
OB.0 -
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"Green Acres" campsite, Doonaha, Co. Clare ?We camped there last year..it's ok..the camping area wasn't all that best, the toilet block was looked after very well..it's a bit out of the way..sort of in the middle of nowhere...there was no shop nearby..or pub..but there was a lovely were beach about ten . If I was going back that way I would look for something more central
Sean
We did go to the "Green Acres" campsite on the 29/30th of August. The campsite wasn't very busy (Mon/Tue) and it was just perfect.
Most of the site is occupied by statics but the area for travelling holiday makers is quite nice. The few hard stands are made of concrete, the site greenery is very well kept, the toilet block might be a little old fashioned but perfectly clean. The owners were very helpful as I ran into a little electric problem). They are renovating an outbuilding and once finished, it will include a campers' kitchen. The nearby beach is also nice, to my dog's greatest delight!
It is indeed quite remote but highly recommended; Carrigaholt is the closest village - the 'big' shops are in Kilrush (easy to gather up provisions for a few days on your way). It's a perfect place to set up base and explore the peninsula. From there, we went to explore Kilkee, Kilrush, took the boat out with Carrigaholt Dolphinwatch and also visited the Loop Head lighthouse.
Valerie 0 -
Hi OB,
Glad you enjoyed your visit to 'the kingdom' but I cringed when I read that you had to pay €30 plus for some of your nights, 'off season', this is serious rip off territory :mad:
Off season you should be able to get an overnight stop in a campsite for a price in the region of €15.
For next year why not do the sums for a trip to France, for a start the ferry should be in the region of €315 (Celtic Link with club discount) and overnights at Aires for free or from €11 at selected ACSI camp sites plus cheaper diesel and booze to bring home for Christmas 0 -
Thanks Niloc,
I have done the sums and have already been to France 6 times, done more milage in my van on French roads than Irish ones! This year we have a new addition to the family and my wife wanted to stay close to home, so no trip to France,
, ah well, we got pretty skanked with the weather so already planning a early season trip to France for next year 
I agree entirely with your criticism of the campsite prices but I don't want my post to turn into another discussion on rip-off Ireland. I only posted the prices so people have an idea on the costings of the trip.
Hoping to get the van on the road again this weekend, please let the weather stay good :cool:0 -
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