Blanemore Wild Camping

For history-themed days, you could start with the archaeological site by Blanemore Forest (20 minutes' drive) before progressing on to check out the Céide Fields (20 minutes), a Stone Age site on the coast. If you find yourself further south, make sure to explore the Croagh Patrick Visitor Centre (an hour and 25 minutes), which tells the story of Saint Patrick's pilgrimage to the summit of a nearby mountain. The surrounding area has lots of quiet lanes for walking or cycling. Watersports enthusiasts will also find themselves with plenty of good options nearby, including sandy beaches at Lacken Strand (20 minutes) and Ballycastle (10 minutes) and Lough Conn's Gortnor Abbey pier, where you can launch small boats or paddleboards and take in views over Nephin mountain in the distance. For outdoor pursuits a little further afield, there's also the spectacular Great Western Greenway (45 minutes), a 40-kilometre cycling and walking route that traverses the west coast between Westport and Achill Island – and the whole thing's free of cars. Also well worth visiting for rambles is the area around the scenic village of Cong down on the border with Galway (an hour and 35 minutes) where Oscar-winning movie 'The Quiet Man' was shot.