Lugnaquilla, where to stay?

doniem

Hey everybody, a few friends and I are heading up to climb Lug in a few weeks and are looking for advice on where to stay. The Glenmalure lodge was the first result on Google but unfortunately is fully booked the night we will be there.

I tried a few others but they didn't suit as they are very isolated (ie. no pub nearby), basically what we are looking for is somewhere for 6 people to sleep either in a town or village within 30 minutes drive of lug or even a bnb/hostel out in the sticks if its near a pub.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I know very little about Wicklow. We will be coming from Cork if that makes any difference to recommendations.

Alun

If you're planning on walking up from the Glenmalure side, then think of Laragh or Glendalough. Laragh has a pub, Lynhams, which also does accommodation, otherwise there's a couple of B&B's there. Also a restaurant, the Wicklow Heather, great food and massive portions, but make sure you book as it is very popular. In Glendalough there's the Glendalough Hotel which also has a bar.

EDIT: Rathdrum might be another option, but I don't really know the place that well.

doniem

Thanks very much, that's exactly the kind of info I was looking for.

born2bwild

Pity you can't get the Glenmalure - if you're coming form Cork I guess you'll be doing M7-M9_M50-M11-Roundwood-Laragh? In that case Laragh is ok. Still a 1/2 hour drive south to Glenmalure after though...

There is a tiny hostel in Glenmalure valley, too: http://www.uniqueirishhostels.com/http%3A__www.uniqueirishhostels.com/Glenmalure_Hostel.html
Have you checked that out?

doniem

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm a bit put off by the lack of running water and electric. We haven't settled on a route up yet but do we need to get to glenmalure to begin, is it not possible/practical to go up from glendalough?

Alun

Don't worry about getting from Laragh / Glendalough to Glenmalure, or the Baravore car park. It's probably only a 20min drive. There are routes that you could do from Glendalough but you'd be looking at a very long day over some fairly inhospitable terrain. There's a few possible routes up from Glenmalure, maybe ask over on the Outdoor Pursuits forum as it's a bit off-topic for this forum. I'll probably answer you over there too

doniem

Will do, thanks for taking the time to respond

Annasopra

doniem wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm a bit put off by the lack of running water and electric. We haven't settled on a route up yet but do we need to get to glenmalure to begin, is it not possible/practical to go up from glendalough?

I've stayed there before. They have a chemical toilet but you would need lots of candles and a gas cooker

loobylou

If you're travelling up from Cork it will probably be much quicker to approach Lug from the western side, ie Donard/Glen of Imaal area.
Theres a nice hostel run by Aaron of Mountain Ventures, http://www.uniqueirishhostels.com/http%3A__www.uniqueirishhostels.com/Mountain_Ventures_Hostel.html
Enjoy.

Thargor

Dont make a big expedition of it and find yourself disappointed either, its only the Lug, up/down in 3 hours from the Glen of Imall/Fentons pub, maybe research one of the longer walks that include the Lug aswell so you dont feel like it was a lot of effort for a quick walk up and down? Dont get me wrong its well worth seeing the area but Carrantuohill might be more convenient and interesting for cork people.

doniem

Thargor wrote: »

Dont make a big expedition of it and find yourself disappointed either, its only the Lug, up/down in 3 hours from the Glen of Imall/Fentons pub, maybe research one of the longer walks that include the Lug aswell so you dont feel like it was a lot of effort for a quick walk up and down? Dont get me wrong its well worth seeing the area but Carrantuohill might be more convenient and interesting for cork people.

Thanks for the advice but its actually a case that we are looking for something different, in the last year I'd say we have all been up Carrauntoohil, Benkeeragh, Caher, Brandon, Mangerton and a few of the smaller local ones 3 or 4 times each. I was hoping to do something outside of Munster and reading a lot of the posts on the outdoor pursuits forum here Lug seems to be the best option for us. The plan is to drive up in the morning, hike for 6 or 7 hours then make a night out of it. From the replies I've had here I think I'll give Lynhams in Laragh a ring as there seems a bit livelier than the glen of imaal. That's based purely on the respective websites though.

Stroke My Trout

I'm possibly too late, but the Glenmalure lodge is great at weekend, nice accommodation and good food. Live between Lynams and the Glenmalure, and would always choose the Glen. To drive from Laragh to Glenmalure takes 10-15 minutes and the same to the Glen of Imaal.

Hope you have a good one:)

doniem

Stroke My Trout wrote: »

I'm possibly too late, but the Glenmalure lodge is great at weekend, nice accommodation and good food. Live between Lynams and the Glenmalure, and would always choose the Glen. To drive from Laragh to Glenmalure takes 10-15 minutes and the same to the Glen of Imaal.

Hope you have a good one:)

Thanks for taking the time to reply but it was the 1st place I tried and it was fully booked for the weekend we are going. I've booked Lynhams since.