Lonely Planet View of Athlone

martin1

Bohemian Athlone is a confident, booming town of historical importance, stuffed with history and gourmet restaurants where you can gorge mind and body in one pretty town, according to the controversial new Ireland edition of the Lonely Planet guide book.

It is described as a town of split personality; its eastern side has a hard-edged, no-nonsense feel - but cross the river and you enter a world of painted houses, interesting antique and knick-knack shops, tempting restaurants and twisting streets, all hiding behind the mighty bulk of the castle.

The new guide - a bible among those tourists who trek off the beaten path - has already drawn massive attention after calling for a shake-up of Ireland’s image as the Emerald Isle, but Westmeath as a whole fares particularly well, described at the outset as a county of scenic splendour with loads to distract the visitor.
And among Athlone’s highlights are the Castle, Viking Tours, Sean’s Bar, the Dean Crowe and - in its prestigious Something Special class - the Wineport in Glasson.

This outstanding restaurant, in a sweet-smelling cedar lodge on the lake’s edge, showcases chef Feargal O’Donnell’s award-winning modern Irish cuisine and carefully chosen wines.

The atmosphere is surprisingly relaxed and it’s a family-friendly place with a decent children’s menu, say the Lonely Planet critics.

But little gems include the Bastion B&B - described by the authors as the most fantastic B&B with twisting wooden staircases, cactus collections, eclectic bits of artwork and odd curios, so you literally don’t know what to expect around the next corner.

The town’s culinary reputation is also acknowledged, with the Left Bank - probably the town’s best restaurant - Le Chateau, the Olive Grove, Kin Khao and cafes at the Slice of Life and Foodies.

foleypio

thats good to hear, no disrespect to Athlone but I never thought it would have gotten such glowing reviews from Lonely Planet.

Maybe the relatively bad reputation Athlone within Ireland wont matter a toss so for tourism

Pin_Cushion

foleypio wrote: »

thats good to hear, no disrespect to Athlone but I never thought it would have gotten such glowing reviews from Lonely Planet.

Maybe the relatively bad reputation Athlone within Ireland wont matter a toss so for tourism

Athlone is a lovely place. I grew up here, lived all over Ireland and came back because it compares very favourably to Irish other towns/cities of a similar size. The west side is developing nicely and has become much more relaxed so I can see what they're saying in the Lonley Planet guide.

Whatever bad reputation you're talking about I haven't heard about since the 80s or early 90s and that was just with neighbouring towns that Athlone has traditionally jostled for position with.

tubos

Great to see Athlone getting such a good write-up. Lets hope the town can use that and build up Athlone as a real tourist destination. With the great natural amenity that is the River Shannon and Lough Ree, Athlone has got such great potential.

Zubeneschamali

martin1 wrote: »

The town’s culinary reputation is also acknowledged, with the Left Bank - probably the town’s best restaurant - Le Chateau, the Olive Grove, Kin Khao and cafes at the Slice of Life and Foodies.

Le Chateau closed, what, 5 years ago?

Onikage

Is Foodies still in business?

mr_edge_to_you

Is the Cookhouse in it? If it is there'll be a lot of disappointed tourists who can't get their chips with everything.

cherryghost

That article was written Feb 2009.

walrusgumble

martin1 wrote: »

Bohemian Athlone is a confident, booming town of historical importance, stuffed with history and gourmet restaurants where you can gorge mind and body in one pretty town, according to the controversial new Ireland edition of the Lonely Planet guide book.

It is described as a town of split personality; its eastern side has a hard-edged, no-nonsense feel - but cross the river and you enter a world of painted houses, interesting antique and knick-knack shops, tempting restaurants and twisting streets, all hiding behind the mighty bulk of the castle.

The new guide - a bible among those tourists who trek off the beaten path - has already drawn massive attention after calling for a shake-up of Ireland’s image as the Emerald Isle, but Westmeath as a whole fares particularly well, described at the outset as a county of scenic splendour with loads to distract the visitor.
And among Athlone’s highlights are the Castle, Viking Tours, Sean’s Bar, the Dean Crowe and - in its prestigious Something Special class - the Wineport in Glasson.

This outstanding restaurant, in a sweet-smelling cedar lodge on the lake’s edge, showcases chef Feargal O’Donnell’s award-winning modern Irish cuisine and carefully chosen wines.

The atmosphere is surprisingly relaxed and it’s a family-friendly place with a decent children’s menu, say the Lonely Planet critics.

But little gems include the Bastion B&B - described by the authors as the most fantastic B&B with twisting wooden staircases, cactus collections, eclectic bits of artwork and odd curios, so you literally don’t know what to expect around the next corner.

The town’s culinary reputation is also acknowledged, with the Left Bank - probably the town’s best restaurant - Le Chateau, the Olive Grove, Kin Khao and cafes at the Slice of Life and Foodies.

Pleasant enough review,(for once someone saying something nice about da town) better than Letterkenny (which was partly true) Bohemian, eh? I know Athlone is grand, but was this flattering?

Interesting someone noted the "Westside" - "Eastside" divide.

walrusgumble

mr_edge_to_you wrote: »

Is the Cookhouse in it? If it is there'll be a lot of disappointed tourists who can't get their chips with everything.

I think both shops, one in Tormey Villas and one near the Grove, are gone!!!

whyulittle

walrusgumble wrote: »

Interesting someone noted the "Westside" - "Eastside" divide.

I think everyone notices that, there's a big river down the middle of it.

SilverScreen

It's always nice to see Athlone getting good reviews. The west bank always has a nice touristy feel to it and is generally well-kept. But over the past year or so the town as a whole seems very depressing to me. Walking around town over the past few months nearly everywhere I look there's empty shops and run-down buildings, particularly on the east side around Irishtown. And the burnt-out remains of O'Neil's Pub/Finley's Auctioneers in the centre of town certainly isn't going to impress many tourists. I still think the town needs plenty of sprucing up if it wants to continue to get reviews like this.

walrusgumble

whyulittle wrote: »

I think everyone notices that, there's a big river down the middle of it.

I know the locals knew it, but anytime I tried to explain it to people and the Westmeath - Roscommon issue, without dramatizing it, someone would be laughing thinking it was some rapping west side - east side craic

A mate of mine came to Athlone for a few days, and thought it was great craic (childish) to see a sign near the Station that said "West Side". Ali G, has alot to answer for.

Just because there is a river , does not always mean that there would be two different atmospheres in a relatively small - medium sized town, as there is in Athlone

walrusgumble

Zero1986 wrote: »

It's always nice to see Athlone getting good reviews. The west bank always has a nice touristy feel to it and is generally well-kept. But over the past year or so the town as a whole seems very depressing to me. Walking around town over the past few months nearly everywhere I look there's empty shops and run-down buildings, particularly on the east side around Irishtown. And the burnt-out remains of O'Neil's Pub/Finley's Auctioneers in the centre of town certainly isn't going to impress many tourists. I still think the town needs plenty of sprucing up if it wants to continue to get reviews like this.

A bit of a role reversal from Connacht Street then.

Amazing what a few flowers and a lick of paint could do. At least O'Neill's lark will not always be like that. I thought they were planning more building in the Irish Town or Diskin area

What the hell are they planning to do with the Old Bower site? It is almost 10 years, its a bloody disgrace

THe little round about at the station, nice touch, nice and simple too. THey could really clean up the Battery Heights entrance on the Magazine Road. It is not a good first impression when people are coming in from the Roscommon / Galway Roads.

SilverScreen

walrusgumble wrote: »

A bit of a role reversal from Connacht Street then.

Amazing what a few flowers and a lick of paint could do. At least O'Neill's lark will not always be like that. I thought they were planning more building in the Irish Town or Diskin area

What the hell are they planning to do with the Old Bower site? It is almost 10 years, its a bloody disgrace

THe little round about at the station, nice touch, nice and simple too. THey could really clean up the Battery Heights entrance on the Magazine Road. It is not a good first impression when people are coming in from the Roscommon / Galway Roads.

The area around the site of the Old Bower National School and St. Mel's Terrace is like a wasteland now. It's a disgrace. I really don't know what they're going to do with that area, you could build more houses or apartments but is there any point?