Glamping in Offaly

I'm only back from glamping two days and I miss it already! I miss our cosy log cabin, our evening drinks from plastic champagne glasses and of course our early morning knock on the door to say breakfast has arrived. What I don't miss is the literal pain in my h*le from a very tough bike ride, but less of that, more of the good stuff. Glamping was an absolute dream, one I cannot recommend enough!

Our 'glamping' consisted of a very cosy log cabin with three single beds, a ground level wicker rocking chair and a matching footstool. And that's it, no toilet, no TV, no mirror, none of the usual hotel room luxuries..... sure there has to be some element of camping to it! But don't worry the toilets were outside in a communal area, I wasn't too 'at one with nature'.

We spent two nights there, the first one drinking in our cabin - as you do. Then spent one full day exploring Offaly and squeezed in as much as we could, which happened to include crashing two weddings! Giltraps, the glamping company, provided us with free bikes and the lovely staff recommended some local tourist attractions. So off we went to see what Kinnity and Birr had to offer. 

We stopped by Ireland's only pyramid in Kinnitty, and then endured a very painful cycle to Kinnitty Castle. This castle is absolutely stunning but seriously creepy, with a dungeon downstairs and some very suspicious looking book cases. We stopped for a quick drink and took guesses at which book opened a secret door, as well as having a little snoop around :)

Kinnitty Castle, some photos robbed from Laura Lanney :)

After that we went to Birr Castle (in the car, thank god!) which is home to Ireland's largest tree house. And when three fully grown adults visit a tree house with no children in sight, we immediately acted like kids ourselves! I'm sure we looked like three absolute eejits constantly taking turns on the slide.

We ended our day with a few drinks in the local (Kinnitty literally has two pubs and the glamping!) before heading back to our log cabin.

I have to say how amazing Giltraps were! John who works there made sure we had everything we needed, the breakfast hamper was delicious and to be able to have it in bed was perfection. We stayed here through a deal on Pigsback which was €150 for three people for two nights and it was well worth it!! I'll definitely be returning :)

www.visitkinnitty.com