Kinvara Doorus House Youth Hostel, Kinvara, Ierland

The 56 bed historic Doorus House Youth Hostel is open all year. It sits on a peninsula between the bays of Galway and Kinvara at the base of the Burren Mountains, just 29 kilometres south of Galway.

Originally the home of the Count deBasterot, it was the home that WB Yeats, Lady Gregory and Sir Edward Martyn met to start the Irish National Theatre (Abbey Theatre).

This setting offers a great base for exploring Connemara to the north, the Burren close by, the Cliffs of Moher to the southwest and the Aran Islands off the West Coast. The Burren was listed as the number one Irish adventure by The Sunday Times (UK). Hillwalking, rare flora and fauna, limestone landscape, ancient tombs and ring forts all make the Burren one of the most unique places in all the country.

In nearby Kinvara there is nightly music, live entertainment, grocery shopping,restaurants and taxi service.

There is a fully equipped self-catering kitchen, large dining area and relaxing common room with a real turf fire on the cooler Irish evenings. Warmer evenings will often find people enjoying their meals at the picnic tables or playing a game of volleyball. Other features of the hostel include internet access, meeting rooms, a small shop in reception, free Irish movies in the evening and bike hire.

A 10-minute walk will find you at the Blue Flag Traught Beach with a view across Galway Bay of Connemara and Galway City.

The managers of Doorus House received the 2002 Bord Fáilte Irish Welcome Awards Certificate of Merit for representing the values of the traditional Irish welcome.