Day 25 (Louth, Cavan and more Louth) – Slieve Foye, a forest walk and Ireland’s oldest town
Day 25 takes us on another great hike to kick start our day.
We’ll then be heading on to explore some of Meath.
Get a lie in after your night out in Carlingford and get a decent breakfast.
1 – Slieve Foye
// Start the hike at 10:00 //
Photo © The Irish Road Trip
Today, we’re going to hike up Slieve Foye, which should take around 3 hours depending on fitness levels.
I’d recommend a pair of hiking boots or runners with really good grip – we weren’t prepared when we climbed Slieve Foye back in 2018 and we ended up on our arses many times as we made our way back down it.
Park near the village and take a right turn when you come to Ma Baker’s Pub. From there, we quite literally walked straight the whole way to the top.
Photo © The Irish Road Trip
Now, I’m not recommending that you do what we did, as we definitely made our own trail to the top.
The folks at Discover Ireland have a thorough guide on the various walks that you can do.
The view from the top is absolutely magnificent. When you get back to the bottom, grab a quick bit of lunch somewhere in the town.
2 – Dún a Rí Forest Park
// Carlingford to Dún a Rí Forest Park – 1-hour drive (arrive for 15:00) //
Photo © The Irish Road Trip
I visited Dún a Rí Forest Park in April of 2019.
It’s been a few days since we visited, and we’ve brought it back up in conversation and recommended it to friends time and time again.
Dún a Rí Forest Park really is excellent.
It’s a roughly 600-acre park near the town of Kingscourt in County Cavan.
When we visited, we headed off on the river walk which took around an hour to complete.
It’s €5 into the park and you can expect dense forest, the remains of a Castle, a holy well, lots of lovely, clear rivers and more.
Well worth the visit.
3 – Drogheda for the evening
// Dún a Rí Forest Park to Drogheda – 45-minute drive (arrive for 18:00) //
We’re going to spend night 26 in the medieval town of Drogheda in Louth.
When you arrive, get checked in to wherever you’re staying.
I can recommend the D Hotel based on personal experience, but stay wherever suits.
When you’re feeling peckish, head to the Eastern Seaboard restaurant for a bite to eat.
4 – Polish off the day with a velvety pint in Clarkes
Photo via Clarke’s
Clarke’s was built back in 1850.
Today, it’s is a no-nonsense pub that serves some of the finest Guinness for miles around.
Chill here for a bit and then go and grab a decent kip.
We’ve a busy day ahead.
Lorraine
Monday 13th of March 2023
Keith, this is an extraordinary itinerary and so detailed. Thank you
jean
Thursday 9th of March 2023
the link to the mailing list sign up isnt working...can I have you send me the document by email? it sounds amazing through quick page hopping! thought this morning that we might go this late Sept/early October for 3ish weeks.
Denise
Monday 6th of March 2023
Hi Keith, we’re looking at visiting Ireland September 2023, for four weeks, coming from Canada. Thankfully I found your guide, it is fantastic, you put in a great deal of work organizing this. Thank you. I have a couple tours books to cipher through as well, but it is painstaking slow. I need to get an itinerary put together fast, I see accommodations are filling up quickly for September. One question I have is, is it possible or wise to do your road trip in reverse? We’re not used to driving on the left side, haha, will it be safer doing the trip in reverse?
Suzanne Sullivan
Saturday 18th of February 2023
Do you have a PDF of the whole list that we could buy/download with links? We were planning to do the reverse of this in October 2023 (34 days)---but, rethinking after seeing yours!
David Ward
Wednesday 18th of January 2023
This itinerary will be the basis of our upcoming trip this year. We prefer to base ourselves in a place for maybe a week and explore the surrounding areas. We will be picking up a car in Belfast on 26 May and have it for almost 6 weeks. We are unsure of our direction of travel, but leaning towards anti-clockwise. Excluding Dublin, can you suggest 5 or 6 "bases" for exploration. Small towns with a bit of character ideally.
Keep up the good work.