Ardara, the short version

We keep a running list of places in Co. Donegal worth the detour. This is the Ardara entry, with the practical bits up front.

Ardara sits on the N56 and R261, roughly twenty-five kilometres north-west of Donegal town. The 2022 census counted 785 people living there, up from 731 in 2011. That jump represents about a thirty per cent increase since 2006, which is significant for a place this size. In 2012, The Irish Times named it the best village in which to live in Ireland. The label has stuck. It is an easy town to read. Shops, fuel, the pub, and the school all fall within a ten-minute walk of the centre.

The Bluestack Mountains rise directly behind the town. This range is the other reason Ardara exists. Day walks into the peaks are short enough to complete in one go, yet wild enough to justify the drive. The west coast offers the other half of the day. Bays, headlands, and small settlements dot the shoreline. Because the N56 runs straight through the middle, Ardara is on the way rather than out of the way. That distinction changes a stop into a base.

The census figures and the 2012 title point to the same fact: residents move here and remain. The town is quiet enough to rest but large enough for daily needs. The landscape around it, with the Bluestacks to the east and the coast to the west, requires little alteration. It stands as the practical choice for anyone touring south-west Donegal.

Practical. The town and the walks are free; there are no ticketed sites, as last known. Best time: may to September for the walks and the longest light; the coast is best before midday. The town is free and open. The Bluestack walks are open mountain — the weather on the range changes fast, and the tracks are unmade in places. Getting there: from Donegal town, the N56 north-west — about twenty-five kilometres. From Sligo, the N59 west to the N56 and then north-west to Ardara. The town centre is on the N56, with the R261 to the coast

Where to stay. Ardara (in the town) — The town itself — B&Bs, a guesthouse and self-catering, at the foot of the Bluestacks. Donegal town (30 min by car) — The larger base, twenty-five kilometres to the south-east, for the whole western circuit.

Nearby, if the day runs long. Buncrana (Buncrana is Donegal’s second-largest town, sitting on the Inishowen shore of Lough Swilly.); Bundoran (Bundoran, County Donegal’s most southerly town, is a historic seaside resort named after the Doran River.); Carndonagh (Carndonagh is the central hub for Inishowen's north coast, combining a 2,768-person village with easy access to Trawbreaga Bay, Atlantic beaches, and inland glens.);

That is the honest version. The full page has the map, the access notes and the source list; this post is the version to read on the drive there.

Checked 18 October 2026. Full details, map and sources: Ardara on the places pages.