The village of Cong is just a short forty-five-minute drive from our house in Galway and on a sunny weekend it is a great place to visit for a short break.

This summer we have endeavoured to make the most of any sunny weekends by camping. Our tent and accessories are now permanently stored in the back of our car, meaning that we only have to pack clothes, food, and away we go, happily on our travels with Missy.

The best thing for us about visiting campsites is we can bring our Spaniel with us on all of our trips. This has become a priority this year, especially after losing our other Spaniel Daisy.

Last weekend we decided not to travel too far, so Cong was the perfect choice. I booked us into the Cong Camping, Caravan and Glamping Park for the Saturday night. The cost of camping for two, including hook-up, came in at €30.00, a little bit more expensive than the other campsites we stayed at.

Initially, we were the only tent set up on the main green area to the front, but later that day three more arrived. Over the previous days the rainfall had been pretty full on, and we were slightly concerned about the green area being too wet. But we needn’t have been bothered, as the ground was bone dry and really easy to pitch a tent in to.

The campsite is well facilitated, just be aware that the main kitchen and dining room is for the Lakeland House and Glamping site only. (pic 1)

The smaller kitchen and showers are for the campers. (pic 2) This was not obvious immediately, and it was only after using the kitchen we noticed the sign on the wall. We were not made aware of this when we booked in.

With regard to cooking we were grand, as we bring all of our own gear with us. This means we generally only use the kitchen for washing up, in saying that, the camper’s kitchen there is quite small. On the Sunday morning, while washing up, the kitchen was very full with a family sitting at the table, leaving not much room to manoeuvre.

The campsite is very well situated, just 1.5 km from Cong village and makes for a lovely walk either by the main road, which has a pavement all the way in or via the lodge at Ashford Castle.

After an easy stroll around Cong village, visiting Cong Abbey and the Monk’s Fishing house, we stopped for coffee at the Hungry Monk Café. We also visited the Dry Canal and Kelly’s Cave before returning to the campsite for an early dinner.

Forest Loop by the Lake Shore

Later that evening, following the map given to us by the camping park, we made our way to Lisloughrey Quay and walked the forest loop with Missy, who was busy dashing in and out of the water at the shoreline. With the sunlight dwindling, it made for a perfectly peacefully evening to a relaxing day, even when there was some tent building involved.