Charming cottage: Ardara Walking Festival 18/3/22

Ardara Walking Festival March 18-20, 2022! (Website hidden by Airbnb) Located in National Geo Traveller's No. 1 cool places to visit in the WORLD (of 17) in 2017. Authentic, rustic, charming: this cottage takes you back in time, yet has simple modern comforts (central heat, shower, electricity); peace and quietude: NO Wifi or TV; cell phones To quote a repeat guest, this cozy cottage is the real thing. Main room (for eating); sitting room w/ turf fireplace; 2 bedrooms (1 small w/ double bed; 1 large w/ 2 double beds); separate kitchen and 1 bathroom, with shower. Authentic traditional cottage snuggled on mountain; views of the sea from the driveway. Perfect , as it feels totally remote and tranquil, only occasionally hearing sheep. Yet, a mile and a half away is the town of Ardara, a heritage town with pubs, traditional music, friendly locals, and good "craic". Available for weekly rentals; or 4 night minimum. Co-owners of cottage live nearby; they will either meet you and open cottage or if unable, will leave you the key. On the side of mountain, with views from driveway of Blue Stack mountain ridge and 3 bays: Loughros Beg, Loughros More and Gwebarra. Stunning! Take a sunset walk on driveway. (See photo with view of rainbow from driveway.) Car needed to get to cottage, and to incredible nearby sites. Be forewarned: the roads are narrow and windy. Good walk down mountain to town; trek back up is work. There are taxis in town to bring you back up. Our packing list: good books, rain gear, and good waterproof hiking or trekking shoes for visiting amazing sights nearby: caves, ruins, beaches, cliffs, and more. Narin & Portnoo Golf is 6 miles away. The wide flat beach here is lovely for walks and picnics. Trad music in Ardara, nightly in the summer, weekends and special gigs during the rest of the year. Don't miss Whatchamccollums chip van!! ***Lastly, we are happily sharing our family cottage with AirBnB guests. Please tell us a little about you and your family when you book reservation - thank you! Go slowly up the driveway to take in the view, sky, moon and stars. Parking space is just beyond the cottage door on the right. Co-owners of live nearby cottage and will greet you upon arrival. They will show you a few key items: how to light turf fire, use the shower, and light the stove. Catherine, of Swooped, LLC, (Washington, DC) handles all bookings, questions, concerns and travel suggestions. Cousin Janet & Brian, are local hosts to greet you and manage property for our family. Located in National Geo Traveller's No. 1 cool places to visit (of 17) for 2017: Donegal! Town of Ardara is 1.5 miles away: Here, there’s a grocer called Centra, a pharmacy, Heritage Center (with cafe for tea & pastries); Nesbitt Arms Hotel (w/ Ramblers, good ground floor pub style restaurant), and a number of other pubs. Our faves: - Nancy’s (best food in town; serves yummy seafood and other options). Great pub as well. Family owned by Charlie, and much of his family works here, including the chef. Authentic pub enjoyed by all. - Mickalene’s: “Gastropub” good bar food, drinks and company. Let owners Michael and Sharlene know you are guests of ours at Ardlougher. - Corner House, best pub for traditional (trad) music. Nightly in the summer; weekends the rest of the year. Owner Stephen welcomes musicians to join session (ceili) each night so lots of variety. Like the farmers, we make hay when the sun shines. When the day is dry, sunny, we pack a picnic and go - here are highlights! Area sites to be sure to see nearby, divided by suggested itinerary: 1. Assaranca Falls and Caves of Maghera (check for low tide and go at low tide only). Fantastic. To access, park and walk thru high sand dunes. 2. Glengesh Pass Then Glencolmcille, Silver Strand Possibly Port on return. This is half-day + trip. Bring a picnic! 3. Slieve League/Cliffs of Bunglass (On weekends, local sells Lobster Rolls in inner car park. Delish!) 4. Kilclooney Dolmen Narin & Portnoo (beach and golf) Rosbeg 5. Donegal town: - Donegal Castle - Blueberry Cafe - Four Masters Bookstore *Largely grocery store (Aldi and Super Valu), Simple Simon Natural Food, bakery; fresh fish truck on Friday’s, opposite vegetable stand. Highly recommend a day trip to the Giant’s Causeway in Antrim, NI and nearby sites. Titanic Museum in Belfast is a world class museum. The beauty of this cottage is its remote and rural location. So a car IS needed to get to cottage, to town and to incredible nearby sites: beaches, caves, ruins, and more. Be forewarned: the roads are narrow and windy. On dry summer evenings, possible to walk down mountain to town on narrow lane, but trek back up is steep. There are taxis in town to bring you back up. We recommend Brennan's Taxi. The bartender at pubs will help you contact taxi. Again, a car is an essential for this location. Wellies (waterproof boots) provided in most sizes. They are in the heated closet (aka hot press) by the bathroom. Help yourself, and please return here. [Note: under reviews of me (not cottage), it states I cancelled 2 reservations. This was not for this listing -- we have never cancelled a rental of the cottage. We listed my parents' house in RI and it unexpectedly had a year long tenant. So regrettably we had to cancel 2 short-term ABB rentals.]