Letterkenny's long, sloping main street is graced by a cute little market square halfway down. This is the most attractive part of the town, with a terrace of red-brick Georgian houses at the top, one of which was a holiday retreat of Maud Gonne, actress, revolutionary and lover of poet WB Yeats.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
25.67 MILES
In the 18th and 19th centuries more than two million Ulster people left their homes to forge a new life across the Atlantic. Their story is told here at…
25.15 MILES
Guarding a picturesque bend of the River Eske, well-preserved 15th-century Donegal Castle is an imperious monument to Irish and English might. The castle…
16.79 MILES
The 12 murals that decorate the gable ends of houses along Rossville St, near Free Derry Corner, are popularly referred to as the People's Gallery. They…
21.53 MILES
The towering headland of Horn Head has some of the Wild Atlantic Way's most spectacular scenery, with dramatic quartzite cliffs, topped with bog and…
18.22 MILES
Once named the second-most beautiful beach in the world by British newspaper the Observer, this tawny-coloured Blue Flag beach is a supremely fine place…
16.98 MILES
The best way to get a feel for Derry's layout and history is to walk the 1.5km circumference of the city's walls. Completed in 1619, Derry's city walls…
17 MILES
Standing just outside the city walls, the neo-Gothic Guildhall was originally built in 1890, then rebuilt after a fire in 1908. Its fine stained-glass…
7.68 MILES
The English painter Derrick Hill bought this 1828 mansion in 1953, providing him with a mainland base close to his beloved Tory Island. Sumptuously…
Nearby County Donegal attractions
0.52 MILES
Letterkenny's 19th-century workhouse, built to provide Famine relief, now houses the local museum. The permanent collection offers 8000-plus artefacts…
3.09 MILES
Parts of this complex date back four centuries to a time when water was the main source of power for multiple tasks, such as grinding grain. One of…
7.14 MILES
The roofless ruins of 17th-century Old Tullyaugnish Church are special because of the Romanesque carvings in the eastern wall, taken from a far older…
7.25 MILES
Colmcille's Hall of Fame is this comprehensive heritage centre on the shore of Lough Gartan in a wooded grove, with a lavish display on the production of…
7.68 MILES
The English painter Derrick Hill bought this 1828 mansion in 1953, providing him with a mainland base close to his beloved Tory Island. Sumptuously…
6. St Colmcille's Abbey & Birthplace
8.21 MILES
The 10th-century ruins of Colmcille's abbey lie on a hillside to the north of Lough Gartan and northwest of Lough Nacally, beside a 16th-century chapel…
10.89 MILES
Lakes shimmer like dew in the mountainous valley of Glenveagh National Park. Alternating between great knuckles of rock, green-gold swaths of bog and…
11 MILES
This castle was modelled on Scotland's Balmoral Castle. Henry McIlhenny made it a characterful home with liberal reminders of his passion for deer…