Hello! Some of you may have seen that I recently took a trip up to Fermanagh to visit Lusty Beg Island * with my boyfriend, Dara. This trip was something I'd been looking forward to for weeks and it certainly didn't disappoint! Today I wanted to share with you our experience and be warned, I took a lot of photos!
The Location:
Lusty Beg Island is located in Lough Erne and covers 75 acres. It's about a two and a half hour drive from Dublin and as you can see above, there's a little car ferry that takes you from the mainland over to the island. Now some of you may read that and think "That's too far away", but trust me, the journey is worth it, and the fact you're on an actual island makes it feel like you're somewhere other else entirely.
With a lot of getaways, you're still close to a city and I find that the temptation of a few hours in that city, shopping and getting food, is too much to resist the majority of the time. Whereas with Lusty Beg, you're on an island and have to get a ferry back to the mainland, so it kind of forces you to just stay put and relax, which I loved!
Lusty Beg Island is located in Lough Erne and covers 75 acres. It's about a two and a half hour drive from Dublin and as you can see above, there's a little car ferry that takes you from the mainland over to the island. Now some of you may read that and think "That's too far away", but trust me, the journey is worth it, and the fact you're on an actual island makes it feel like you're somewhere other else entirely.
With a lot of getaways, you're still close to a city and I find that the temptation of a few hours in that city, shopping and getting food, is too much to resist the majority of the time. Whereas with Lusty Beg, you're on an island and have to get a ferry back to the mainland, so it kind of forces you to just stay put and relax, which I loved!
The Accommodation:
We stayed in one of the brand new apartments on the island. There are two of them, the Heron apartment and the Fovar apartment and they're just gorgeous! They have a kitchen, a sitting room, a bedroom and a huge bathroom and feature the most beautiful view of the loch. I loved how our apartment was decorated, it was clean and modern whilst still having a rustic, cosy feel. I also loved that we had our own little stove and that the shower was a rainfall shower (my favourite)!
One thing I must mention is that there isn't wifi in the apartments, and for someone like me (aka a self-confessed social media addict) I thought it would be torture but it wasn't, in fact it added to how relaxed I felt all weekend! There is wifi in the main building where the restaurant is, so if you really need to check up on Twitter or Instagram, you can do that up there. I really loved switching off for a while and instead of being glued to our phones, Dara and I watched at least five movies, absolute heaven!
The Food:
We were on Lusty Beg for three nights, and each night we had dinner in the restaurant. The first night I had the lasagne (pictured above) and it was delicious, I also loved how generous the portions were! We were really impressed with the food each night, and Dara loved the curry so much he had it on two nights!
Another thing I must mention is the cocktails, specifically the 'Lusty Lady' cocktail that I have been dreaming about ever since we left the island! If you are ever visiting Lusty Beg Island, you have to (I mean it) try the 'Lusty Lady' cocktail, it's so delicious!
The Spa:
On the Saturday of our stay we had a few treatments in the spa. Before this weekend I'd never had a massage or a facial so I was very excited to enjoy a back, neck and shoulder massage and a facial. In the Island Spa they use Voya products and I need to get my hands on the oil they used for the massage, it smelt so amazing and I don't think I've ever been as relaxed in my life! After our massages and facials, we headed back to our apartment and as we were so relaxed, we actually fell asleep for over two hours! I really loved the experience, and as I mentioned in my 'Taking Some Time Out' blogpost, I often struggle to find some 'me time', so having a Saturday full of pampering and relaxing was exactly what I needed.
After our nap, we headed back down to the spa to enjoy the pool and outdoor hot tub before our seaweed baths. Now when I was younger and used to spend my summer at the beach, I was terrified of seaweed, if it touched my leg or feet in the water I'd shriek with disgust, so this bath was definitely an experience but one I'm glad I had! Seaweed baths have a long list of benefits, including increasing circulation and can also be brilliant for psoriasis and eczema.
The Activities:
On Sunday it was time to shake the sleepy, tranquil state we'd been in on Saturday and enjoy a day of activities. We went off-road driving, which was absolutely terrifying but so much fun. For some reason I thought that it would just be us sitting there whilst the man from Lusty Beg drove us around a bumpy track, but I was very wrong. I went first and I'll admit, I was most scared about getting the truck stuck in the mud because I didn't want to have to get out and push it in the mud (after all, I was wearing a cream jumper)!
After the off-road driving we tried some clay pigeon shooting, something I've always wanted to try. I have terrible hand-eye coordination so I didn't have much hope that I'd even hit one of the clay pigeons, but in the end I actually hit three of them!
So that was our weekend on Lusty Beg Island. It's by far the best trip I've ever had, with experiences I'll never forget and I couldn't recommend it highly enough. It has something for everyone so if you want to take your entire family up there for some bonding, or just want a quiet couple's getaway, it really caters for everyone.
You can find more information and book your stay over on Lusty Beg Island's website here, and if you have any questions, just message me on Facebook and I'll be happy to help!
I hope you enjoyed this post and hearing about our trip, thanks so much for reading!
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* While we were invited to stay on Lusty Beg Island as guests, this is not a sponsored post and all opinions and thoughts expressed in this post are honest and my own.
* While we were invited to stay on Lusty Beg Island as guests, this is not a sponsored post and all opinions and thoughts expressed in this post are honest and my own.