Ireland - The Wild Atlantic Way

Day 1

Full routes
https://www.wildatlanticway.com/explore-the-route
From Dublin head directly to Cork, N7 to M7 then M8 direct to Cork and then Kinsale (4hours). For me this is a great place to start the Wild Atlantic Way starting South and heading North.

SW2.jpg

The Old Head of Kinsale is an area to see moving West into Courtmacsherry then Clonakilty, Schull, Bantry and end up in Castletownbear. I spend the night camping in the Hungry Hill campsite, basic utilities but friendly and full of info. This is the Beara Peninsula and full of hidden gems. Most of the towns along the way are medium to small in sizes, all will have a good flow of pubs, food and plenty of petrol stations along the way.

SW1.jpg

SW3.jpg
 
Anyway, in the meantime, here's my contribution re' Ireland WAW from April 2015. Moreover, if anyone would like any further detains including GPX files, just send me a PM. :)

PM sent. I’ll stick them on Dropbox and share them all with the world via this thread. Do though be prepared for, “You have missed the best bit”. This thread, if nothing else shows how difficult (if not impossible) it is to say what the perfect route is. Two pictures, similar routes but different:

attachment.php



attachment.php
 
Full routes
https://www.wildatlanticway.com/explore-the-route
From Dublin head directly to Cork, N7 to M7 then M8 direct to Cork and then Kinsale (4hours). For me this is a great place to start the Wild Atlantic Way starting South and heading North.

View attachment 447502

The Old Head of Kinsale is an area to see moving West into Courtmacsherry then Clonakilty, Schull, Bantry and end up in Castletownbear. I spend the night camping in the Hungry Hill campsite, basic utilities but friendly and full of info. This is the Beara Peninsula and full of hidden gems. Most of the towns along the way are medium to small in sizes, all will have a good flow of pubs, food and plenty of petrol stations along the way.

View attachment 447501

View attachment 447503

Be Prepared, The last photo is of Bull Rock off the end of the Beara Peninsula, to get there you have to go to Garnish which I don't see on your route. I made the website and film for their business durseyboattrips.com
 
That route is Day 1, I haven't put up day 2 yet. If you do camp on that site you are perfect to start day 2 close to Garnish etc. This photo always reminds me of the beara peninsula so rugged and beautiful at the same time (worth saying, thats not my own photo)
 
That route is Day 1, I haven't put up day 2 yet. If you do camp on that site you are perfect to start day 2 close to Garnish etc. This photo always reminds me of the beara peninsula so rugged and beautiful at the same time (worth saying, thats not my own photo)

There are plenty of people by now who could have taken that photo, I live on the Beara Peninsula, and have been out there a few times. Hungry Hill campsite has a good reputation and allows multiple ascents of the Healy pass, which is a (safe) one to go all out on (not legal of course) Staying on the ends of these peninsulas is IMHO always the best option, whichever one you are on.
Like Crookhaven is better than Skibereen.
Ahkista is better than Bantry
Allihies is better than Glengariff
Balinskelligs is better than Killarney
Dingle or further is better than Tralee
 
.... bought the Xploreit book which has all the detail you could possibly need: http://xploreitmaps.com/wild-atlantic-way-route-atlas/
...

My copy arrived from the Amazon this morning.

Indeed it is very good. I have discovered where that old favourite of the shipping forecast, Malin Head, is. More than that, I am delighted see that to start or end the full route, will mean that I will be in Muff. Though, being Ireland, it's probably pronounced, Maff or Miff or Moff or even, Jones.
 
My copy arrived from the Amazon this morning.

Indeed it is very good. I have discovered where that old favourite of the shipping forecast, Malin Head, is. More than that, I am delighted see that to start or end the full route, will mean that I will be in Muff. Though, being Ireland, it's probably pronounced, Maff or Miff or Moff or even, Jones.

Good news indeed!

I used to do a lot of diving off Malin Head, there are some fantastic deep wrecks out there (courtesy of the Germans attacking our shipping as it was heading for Liverpool in both World Wars).

As for ending in Muff- sadly that was a bit of an anti-climax!
 
I am just looking at the full route and creating it in BaseCamp. I am much amused that some of places seem to have two (often totally different) names. The rest are just unpronounceable :aidan

Here's just the start, getting from Kinsale to just past Cahersiveen on the way to Killorglin, Castlemaine (I thought that was in Australia) before turning left to Dingle (somewhere I had heard of)...... Hark at me, I sound like an expert already.

For anyone who is vaguely interested, I asked BaseCamp to give me Kinsale to Muff (fnar, fnar) which it dutifully did. I then just dragged the magenta line around to where I think the Wild Atlantic Way goes, according to the Xploreit map recommend in this thread. I 'ummed and ahhed about putting in the little sightseeing excursions, deciding in the end to put them in. When I've finished I'll add in the 'must see' sites and sights that the map suggests are worth taking in.

Now complete, see post 92.
 
A few of us have been across to Ireland 3 times in recent years, in 2017 we crossed from Fishguard to Rosslare and returned via the same route we spent 3 days travelling along the South coast as far as Kenmare stopping off at Dungarvan, Kinsale, Skibereen, Bantry, & Glengarriff on the way, on the return we stopped at Cobh and near to the ferry port to make catching the early morning return crossing easier.
Report here; https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/460840-Ireland-weekender

We returned in 2018, this time taking the Liverpool to Belfast crossing and decided to pick up the coast route in an anti clockwise direction, we spent 3 days travelling the Antrim coast and Wild Atlantic Way as far as Galway before heading inland and across country for the return ferry from Rosslare to Fishguard.
Report here; https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/483642-Tour-of-Ireland-part-2

Last year we went again and concious of the fact that there was a large chunk of the W.A.W. we had missed we aimed to complete this missing piece, we travelled out on the Holyhead to Dublin ferry and scooted more or less straight across country to Galway bay and from there South to approximately where we had left off in 2017 overlapping the route somewhat. We stopped a night in Dugarvan (again, it's a great town for a stop over) and spent a day in the Wicklow mountains before catching the return ferry from Rosslare to Fishguard.
Report............I never did one :blast but it was a blast and I'm sure we will be going again as soon as we are able to, some pics from last year's trip;

IMG_2435-XL.jpg


IMG_2448-XL.jpg


IMG_2454-XL.jpg


IMG_2474-XL.jpg


IMG_2486-XL.jpg


IMG_2488-XL.jpg
 
Thank you.

I must say the WAW does seem to create considerable interest and, on the whole, be better received than the NC 500. I am not sure why. Both would seem to be reasonably well thought out and good revenue generators for the local economy, very often dependent on tourism. Attractive scenery, without people looking at it, is just ‘scenery’. Maybe some people just object to other people driving on ‘their’ roads?
 
Irish welcome vs Scottish welcome? Suspect the driving force (well for me anyway) is GUINNESS

Unless you’re down in Kinsale/Beara etc where you won’t find the stuff !! Murphy’s is so much better.

Having ridden much of the NC500 and the WAW, the locals in Ireland are much friendlier than the aloofness you often get oop norf.No contest !!!

Scenery is on a par,but for me the welcome in Ireland is genuine and the beer/food/craic is much better.
 
The locals in Ireland are much friendlier than the aloofness you often get oop norf.
The welcome in Ireland is genuine and the beer/food/craic is much better.

I'm glad someone else said it first ....
 
Irish welcome vs Scottish welcome? Suspect the driving force (well for me anyway) is GUINNESS

Now we are talking :beer:

I like the system whereby they come up to the table to see if you’d like another or is that just a Dublin thing?

The one mystery (at least for today) is how, given the circumstances of of our divorce from Eire, is how so many of the English street names survived, let alone some of the obviously ‘English’ place names.
 
I like the system whereby they come up to the table to see if you’d like another or is that just a Dublin thing?

Not just Dublin in my experience. Every Irish person of a certain age I know had their first job as a loung boy / girl, usually arranged by their father, who in turn had his own chair in the pub. Woe betide anyone who chose to occupy said chair ....

It is a system I have been trying to get our local to adopt. No hanging around at the bar waiting to be served. However, the Irish seem to prefer to drink while seated whereas we Brits prefer to stand.
 
Not just Dublin in my experience. Every Irish person of a certain age I know had their first job as a loung boy / girl, usually arranged by their father, who in turn had his own chair in the pub. Woe betide anyone who chose to occupy said chair ....

It is a system I have been trying to get our local to adopt. No hanging around at the bar waiting to be served. However, the Irish seem to prefer to drink while seated whereas we Brits prefer to stand.

Thinking ahead-saves them falling over later !
 
AH the locals are second to none in Ireland, I shit you not that every 2nd local (at least) will wave to you or give you the nod. Early last year I was looking for a camping spot as it was too early in the season, it was starting to get late so found a local shop. Walks in and says to the cashier is there anywhere local I could camp,
Cashier: hold on there son and ill find out, shouts in native tongue to some farmer
Farmer: follow me
Me: what, what you mean
Farmer: you want somewhere to camp don't you
Me: yes
Farmer: well for fuck sake follow me

10 mins later I pull up into this garden, well son he says heres my front garden you'll be safe here. Dogs will keep the foxes away and theres a toilet in the outhouse:aidan:friday
 

Attachments

  • D8D4034A-96AD-47CD-993E-C9B97E1F0CA5.jpeg
    D8D4034A-96AD-47CD-993E-C9B97E1F0CA5.jpeg
    218.1 KB · Views: 400


Back
Top Bottom