Blanemore Wild Camping

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 and Ballycastle (both 20 minutes' drive) 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 20 minutes) where Oscar-winning movie 'The Quiet Man' was shot. For history-themed days, you could start with the archeological site by Blanemore Forest (within a short walk of the site) before progressing on to check out the Céide Fields (half an hour), a Stone Age site on the coast. If you find yourself further to the south, make sure to explore the Croagh Patrick Visitor Centre (an hour and five minutes), which tells the story of Saint Patrick's pilgrimage to the summit of a nearby mountain.