We first visited The Hide a year or two ago. It’s an incredible Airbnb in Donegal looking towards Glenveagh National Park, designed and created by Pete and Anna. Our most recent visit was this autumn and as always, we had an absolutely magical experience. This might just be my favourite place in the whole world!
I’ve always loved Donegal. I spent adventure filled summers there with my grandparents and my cousins growing up. My granda’s mum was actually from Donegal, so it runs in the veins and inevitably has a bit of a pull on me. We try to visit as often as we can, and Pete and Anna’s homes are now our go-to base for our trips. Though it’s worth going to Donegal purely for what they’ve created… and that’s exactly what we did last time.
We first visited this spot to escape from what had been a really full on year. It looked amazing in the photographs, to the point where it almost seemed too good to be true! To our delight though, it was somehow even more beautiful in real life. The view quite literally took our breath away as we pulled up.
Below is the view we woke up to on the morning of our first ever visit…
Unbelievable… and nope, it isn’t a painting! Every single window in the cabin acts as a frame for the landscape like this. You feel like you’re living outside in this incredible place, but you’re actually inside enjoying it from the comfort of a cosy, magnificently designed cabin.
Another huge perk to the location is that there’s no signal or Wi-Fi. So we really do escape from the world there. It’s so nice to do nothing but just cook, eat, drink, chat, laugh and watch the mountains change colour.
I’ve brought sketchbooks with me on each of our trips too…
Pete and Anna have some watercolours in the cabin, so on our first visit I decided I would paint the mountains changing colour... and I quickly had to get to grips with the rate at which they were changing colour. The process ended up being a lot of fun and I realised I could work quicker and looser than I ever could have imagined.
There were so many special moments during our most recent trip, but I think my favourite was when Hannah had spotted I’d maxed out with sketching and brought some beers and a blanket outside (she knows me so well!), and we just sat there soaking up the sights, sounds and the sunset.
Our visit this autumn was our longest visit yet and it still wasn’t enough time. I had a feeling that would be the case.
Book your own visit here.