Inver

The village

Inver is a small village in County Donegal, on the N56 national secondary road midway between Donegal town to the east and Killybegs to the west. It is also a civil parish in the barony of Banagh, and the village sits at the point where the coast road turns from the bay into the open Atlantic coast. It is the kind of place that exists to be passed through and stopped in: the shops, the fuel, the pub, and the coast all inside the same short walk.

The coast road

The N56 through the village is the south-west coast road in its proper form: the bay on one side, the Bluestack country on the other, and the villages and the headlands between them. The drive from Inver to Killybegs is the best stretch of the road — the water, the headlands, the small settlements, and the light on the coast in the late afternoon. The village is the base that makes the drive easy, and the stop that does not need a reason.

The country behind it

Behind the village, the country rises into the Bluestack Mountains, and the walks from the village into that country are the other half of the day: short enough for a morning, long enough to be worth the drive, and better before the wind builds. The village is the natural start for anyone who wants the coast and the mountain in the same day.

Practical

Allow a day: the coast road in the morning, a Bluestack walk in the afternoon. Pair it with Ardara to the south-east for a full touring day.