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Back to Rosses Point

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Voykit pocket guide · Ireland

Rosses Point

Base here 1–2 nights for beaches, links golf and a Yeats stop at Drumcliffe; skip it as a day trip unless you have a car or the S2 bus.

Rosses Point is a small Atlantic village 8 km west of Sligo, at the mouth of Sligo Bay. It is a beach-and-golf place with a handful of places to eat and sleep, not a sightseeing town: most people come for one or two nights, walk the beaches, play County Sligo, and drive the coast lanes to Drumcliffe. A car makes it easy; without one the S2 bus runs every 30 min from Sligo.

DublinAbbeyleixAdareArklowArranmoreAshbourneAthenryAthloneAthyBagenalstownBalbrigganBallinaBallymoteBallyshannonRosses Point100 kmdots: other places in this guide
Sketch, not to navigate by: shapes follow this guide’s areas and places, not official boundaries. North is up.
Country
Ireland
Best months
May–Sep
Avoid
Nov–Feb (wind, rain, many places shut)
Stay
1–2 nights

Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.

Essentials

Currency
EUR
Money
Currency is the euro (EUR). Cards and contactless work almost everywhere, including pubs and taxis.
Daily spend
Budget €60–100 excl. bed · Mid €100–170 excl. bed · High €170+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
SIM and data
Vodafone, Three and Eir run the networks; prepaid SIMs (also 48, Tesco Mobile, GoMo) sell in phone shops and newsagents, no registration fuss.
Emergency
All emergencies 112 · Alternative emergency number 999 · Sligo University Hospital +353 71 917 1111
Plugs
Types G · 230 V · 50 Hz · Type G three-pin, like the UK; European and US plugs need an adapter.
Tipping
Restaurant with table service: 10–15% if service is not included.; Pub: Not expected when ordering at the bar.; Taxi: Round up.; Tour guide or driver: €5–10 per person for a day tour.; Hotel porter: €1–2 per bag.
Water
Tap water is safe; occasional local 'boil water' notices are posted by Uisce Éireann.
Toilets
Free in shopping centres, museums, pubs (as a customer) and many petrol stations; some public toilets charge 50c.

What things cost

ItemPrice
Coffee or tea in a café€3–4.50
Pub main course€16–24
Pint of stout€5.50–6.50
Fish and chips€14–18
Taxi from Sligo town€20–30
Car hire, per day€40–80

Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.

Get in

By air

NOC · Ireland West Airport Knock
About 1 h by car; check current car-hire desks
DUB · Dublin Airport
About 3 h by car; bus and rail via Sligo

Typical fares

Bus S2, Sligo station to Rosses Point
about €3, 20 min (check)
Taxi Sligo town to Rosses Point
€20–30, book ahead (check)
County Sligo Golf Club visitor round
about €300 (check)

Get around

The village is small and walkable in 10–15 minutes end to end. There is no local taxi, so one has to come out from Sligo: book ahead if you need one. Bus S2 links Rosses Point with Sligo bus and railway station, the city centre, the hospital and Ballincar, about 20 min, roughly every 30 min daily, adult fare about €3 (check). A cycleway runs between Sligo and Rosses Point.

See and do

Known for

  • First, Second and Third Beaches
  • County Sligo Golf Club links
  • The Metal Man and Oyster Island lighthouses
  • WB Yeats and Drumcliffe

Day trips

WhereHowTime
Sligo townBus S2 from the village, about 20 min, or 15 min by carAbout 30 min
Drumcliffe and BenbulbinCar via the narrow coast lanes, about 5 km eastAbout 15 min
StrandhillCar around the estuary via Sligo, about 30 minAbout 40 min
EnniscroneCar west via Ballina, about 1 hAbout 1 h 15 min
Donegal TownCar northeast on the N15, about 40 kmAbout 50 min

Sleep

Village centre
Walk to Austies, Rose Chinese, Harry's Bar and the seafront; best for one night without a car.
Seafront and Driftwood
Rooms above the smokehouse restaurant; sea views, 5 min walk to First Beach.
Greenlands caravan park
Rosses Upper, near First Beach; tents and caravans, open April–September.
Sligo town
Cheaper and more choice; 20 min by S2 bus or 15 min by car.

Phrase card

EnglishSay or show
HelloDia duitjeea gwit
Thank youGo raibh maith agatguh rev mah agut
PleaseLe do thoilleh duh hull
Where is the beach?Cá bhfuil an trá?kaw will on traw
How much is it?Cé mhéad é?kay vade ay
CheersSláinteslawn-cha

Etiquette, safety and scams

Etiquette

  • Greeting: Handshake, first names quickly; avoid: Over-formality; it reads as coldness
  • Conversation: Banter, weather and sport; self-deprecating humour; avoid: Opening with Northern Ireland, religion or the Famine
  • Pubs: Buy your round; chat at the bar; avoid: Leaving a round without buying one
  • Identity: Say Ireland, or the Republic when you need to distinguish; avoid: 'Southern Ireland' and calling it British
  • Driving: Lift a finger from the wheel to thank drivers who pull in for you; avoid: Stopping on narrow bends for photos

Scams and watch-outs

  • No fuel in the village: fill up on the main road through Sligo.
  • The lanes to Drumcliffe are very narrow; drive slowly and expect oncoming traffic.
  • Atlantic beaches here are breezy and exposed to waves; swim only where lifeguards are on duty in summer.
  • Inishmurray landing was declared unsafe in 2018, so boat trips cannot go ashore.
  • Mobile signal is patchy: 4G from Three and Vodafone, weak from Eir, and no 5G outside Sligo town.

A quiet, low-crime village. The real risks are the sea and the roads: cold, strong Atlantic water, no lifeguards outside summer, and single-track lanes with blind bends.

One and two days

No timed day plan for Rosses Point yet. Suggested stay: 1–2 nights. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.

  • First, Second and Third Beaches
  • County Sligo Golf Club links
  • The Metal Man and Oyster Island lighthouses
  • WB Yeats and Drumcliffe

Sources

Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.

Pocket card

Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.

Rosses Point

Chuig an seoladh seo, le do thoil

To this address, please

My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)

No embassies in Sligo; the US Embassy is in Dublin, and the UK Embassy is in Dublin. Check your own country's embassy for consular help.

Bus S2 runs about every 30 min daily; the last evening bus back from Sligo is worth checking before a night out.

Voykit · checked 2026-09

Printed from Voykit (/rosses-point). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.