I love how the Wild Atlantic Way steers you around the western Irish coast and through superb scenery. But I also relish exploring the towns along the way – with Sligo one of my favourites. Beside the Garvoge river, a new skyline has risen, with the most dramatic dimensions delivered by the Sligo Glasshouse Hotel. Inside this crystal palace, it’s smart and sophisticated, with plenty of art and colour.
People who stay in glass houses shouldn’t throw away the opportunity for discovering more about their location – so I met up with Melissa Ni Mhaolanfaidh, founder of Sligo Walking Tours. She took me to mediaeval Sligo Abbey, built in 1253, and to the statue of William Butler Yeats – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and Ireland’s national poet. In County Sligo, she says: “You can see the scenery, and how it inspired him.”
