Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland

Ride the entire western coast of this beautiful country

Official WAW

Photographers

Dave O'Byrne
Denis Smyth

Writer

Denis Smyth

Motorcycles

BMW F800 GSA
BMW F800 GS

Exploring Ireland’s rugged western coastline from one end to the other

The Wild Atlantic Way, or Slí an Atlantaigh Fhiáin in Irish, is a tourism trail that follows the Atlantic coastline from the north of Donegal to the south coast of Cork. The 2,500 km (1,553 miles) driving route passes through nine counties and three provinces, stretching from County Donegal’s Inishowen Peninsula to the southern town of Kinsale in County Cork, on the coast of the Celtic Sea.

Along with time-honoured pilgrimages to the Alps and Pyrenees, Irelands west coast is utterly unmissable! From brutally rugged coastal landscapes and cliffs carved by 20-metre waves, to challenging and remote mountain backroads that never leave your memories. From north to south the landscape never ceases to change, morphing radically from the rugged Donegal coast, the magically mythical mountain views of the Connemara National Park, to the unique limestone scenery of The Burren in County Sligo, and the harsh and brooding mountainscapes of Kerry. But again this is just another part of the incredible journey. You also have the Irish themselves, who have an inherently open, curious and friendly nature, and are always up for a bit of craic.

A large part of this route is most definitely closed to coaches and “difficult” for any large vehicle due to the small roads which I’ll get to later. But to get to the point, the best way to travel this route is by motorcycle - and for good reason. Being Irish I may be a little biassed in my opinion, but after 20 years travelling extensively throughout Europe on two wheels, I hold one solid conclusion of this route. It is, without any doubt one of the greatest routes in Europe any biker can undertake, it is in fact, world class.

The official Wild Atlantic Way

The ‘official’ route is approx 2,500 km and hugs the coastline. The reality is that many of the roads are narrow, winding, one-track affairs and are slow to ride, so don’t plan on covering more than 250-300 km per day. While the roads are little more than boreen tracks, the views of the Atlantic, tiny coves, islands and coastline are simply breathtaking, and few places in the world can offer so many reasons to stop and stare. My prediction of 300km per day is dependent on you not stopping at every opportunity to pull out a camera, and taking 2-hour lunch breaks. There is also another upside of these tiny one track roads - there’ll be few cars, fewer campervans and no sheeple coaches blocking your way, and even in mid summer you’ll find deserted coves and beaches to explore. The boreens however, are slow going, engine size matters, so smaller, more nimble bikes will win the day, and your average speed will be around 30kmph.

Moving targets and obstacles

A major increase in tourists, camper vans and cattle trucks (coaches) is another fairly recent change. In July and August the west coast is plagued with them, as is now the case with other popular locations across Europe. But Ireland’s west remains a rural area and therefore underdeveloped. Not many people actually live on the west coast due to the lack of employment outside of farming, fishing and tourism. This is a good thing from a visitor's point of view, and one of the main points in coming here.

Ireland's shoreline is also blissfully free of ugly, towering hotels. The west coast is a highly protected area and planning permission for anything is very difficult for non-locals. Being underdeveloped it retains its wild, empty rugged nature and the absolute opposite of the ruined French and Spanish Mediterranean coasts, destroyed by bad planning, corruption, high rise hotels and faceless apartment blocks. Ireland's lack of this type of development makes booking hotels, B&B’s and other overnight locations well in advance of your trip essential during high season. Preferably, at least 6 months in advance. If riding solo you’ll be fine, there are plenty of small B&B’s down many of the old country lanes. But for popular towns like Dingle or Killarney you’d be well advised to book 1 year up-front if you want a hotel in August, especially if riding with a group.

Points of Interest along the way

Along the route there are places and attractions which have been designated as points of interest for travellers. Inevitably, some are tourist traps designed for normal folk. But if taking this route on a motorbike as Manannán mac Lir (Irish, Scot & Manx God of the sea, creator of the WAW) intended, you get to experience far more than the average car or cattle coach tourist.

The Cliffs of Moher

The Cliffs of Moher have claimed many an unwary tourist. Children in these areas are brought up hearing stories that these places are home to malevolent fairies that will drag them out to drown in the sea, if disturbed. Such stories about faeries, leprechauns and the like sound like romantic nonsense, but they were drummed into children to scare them from going too close to the cliffs or sea. So, consider yourself warned, or face the wrath of the sea fairies. So stay the hell away from the coast during an Atlantic storm! Unless of course you’re a surfer, in which case you will be in a world class location to ride the monster waves thrown forth from the massive Atlantic swells emanating from the American coastline.

Tracing history through The Ages

History lovers will be overwhelmed with Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Classical and Medieval Era settlements which are littered throughout the route. As motorbike traveller, you will find it easy to locate and visit these settlements, and you will also experience the same astounding coastal views from tiny one-track roads as were visible back then, which are still difficult or impossible to access in larger vehicles. On these roads, known as booreens, sheep are considered the main form of traffic.

Neolithic to now

There are many fascinating places to visit, also far removed from the overweight camera-toting pensioners searching for the remains of their great, great, great grandparents. The Slieve League Cliffs for example, rising 2000 feet / 600 metres offering unmissable views over Donegal Bay to counties Leitrim, Sligo and Mayo to the south. Nearby, at Carrowmore lies one of the largest and oldest known Neolithic cemeteries on the planet. From the top of Slieve League you can see the island of Inishmurry, home to early Celtic Christian monks and close to the staging point for the monks’ passage to Iceland, to convert those Viking savages from their heathen ways.

Poulnabrone Dolmen, The Burren, County Clare

Further along the coast, in county Mayo you’ll find the little port of Killala, scene of the French landings in 1798. Signal towers built by the British to warn of a return of a French fleet can still be seen here. You may also notice “EIRE” spelt out in painted rocks from the cliffs. During WW2, the south of Ireland, while neutral, had agreements with the allies, one of which was ‘The Donegal Corridor’. This was a free-fly-zone for allied aircraft, to fly from Enniskillen in Northern Ireland and out over the Atlantic. The word ÉIRE was placed in stone on headlands around Donegal, to act as navigation aids and you can see one today on Sliabh League beside the viewing point car park. It’s difficult for those with an interest in the past not to feel the weight of five and a half thousand years of historical facts being hurled at you throughout the journey.

Slea Head Drive, Dingle

The lush, rich soil and grass has a lot to do with influencing the quality of the food, and a good example of this can be seen, and tasted, on the Dingle Peninsula. Once a rocky and barren landscape that Irish peasants were forced out of by the English, the more fertile land in the east transformed this peninsula. Now known for its 40 shades of green, the soil on Dingle (and elsewhere) was formed by peasant farmers dragging countless tons of seaweed up into the hills, where now the lush grass springs from a rich mix of seaweed, sand and peat. The Kerry mountains are not on the WAW route, but you’d have to be mad to miss an opportunity to ride through the Gap of Dunloe, or the Black Valley?

Best Time to Ride WAW Route

In my opinion, the best time to ride this route is from late March to mid June, or September to mid November. July and August are likely to see the warmest weather, but it’s obviously far busier and you are still just as likely to get wet. It’s also possible to ride it from December to February as snow is rare along the coast, but there are some amazing routes through the mountain regions which can be off-limits during the coldest months, due to snow or ice. December to early March will see some proper Atlantic storms blow in, and some small roads closer to the sea may simply disappear. You’d be surprised at just how much damage a full blown Atlantic storm can do, as it pounds 15-20 metre waves onto the Irish coastline. Taking a stroll down a pier, or along the western beaches during one of these storms is a sure-fire way to disappear. Many tourists, and even locals over the years have also misjudged the force of the wind while walking along the 100’s of kilometres of remote and fenceless cliff walks, with lives sadly lost every year.

How long should it take?

I really don’t think anyone can possibly get the most of the WAW in less than 3 weeks as there is so much to see, do and ride. I can’t stress enough the fact that the official coastal route is only part of the experience. The optional mountain roads along the WAW route are for me as a motorcyclist, of equal pleasure, and in many cases more-so. For this reason the Wild Atlantic Way is similar to The Alps. I think most motorbikers who have ridden in The Alps or Pyrenees will agree that just one visit will never be enough. With this in mind, don’t try to see it all in one trip. It’s best to split it into two sections. The southern section, Kinsale to Killary Harbour, and the northern section being Killary to Mallin Head, then to Derry for 2 days for Northern Ireland's Causeway Coast, with its own spectacular stretches of excellent and scenic roads.

In my mind, the Wild Atlantic Way for the old folks in coaches is 800km long, for car drivers it’s about 2,500km, for the all-road lusting Adv biker it’s closer to 4,500km. The WAW should be viewed like the Route des Grande Alps, i.e. there is the official route, but any number of alternative routes will be just as enjoyable. As with riding in The Alps you can of course get in the highlights within 2 weeks, or even 9 days, but a proper exploration of all the great roads is simply unfeasible within the usual 2-week timeframe.

History of the WAW Route

It should be noted, that the WAW Route is in fact nothing new to most of the Irish, as it has been there long before the Irish Tourist Board and the Irish Government came up with the idea of rebranding a couple of hundred kilometres of narrow, broken, old roads only ever used by farmers, sheep and teenagers on their way to the nearest airport to look for work abroad. In the last number of years, the western coastal roads have been upgraded with WAW Route signposts liberally planted along the way, so the mapless tourist won’t get lost. Wander off the route however, and you better have a SatNav or a good map because the rest of Ireland is still devoid of proper road signs.

The west of Ireland has changed little since my parents brought me as a witless kid to the west coast. The only real change has been some serious upgrading of the motorway network. Back in the day, the drive from Dublin to Baltimore on the south west coast of Cork could take 9 hours or more, it can now be done in 5 hours if you take a liberal view of the national speed limit and skip lunch. Unless of course, you try driving there on the June or August Bank Holidays in which case you're back to a 9 hour drive, or 7 on a motorbike.

Under the skin of Ireland’s public house culture

One of the characteristics Ireland is best known for is the timeless and authentic pub culture. This character came about from Ireland’s mainly farming culture, where the only focal points in small towns and communities for meeting friends and neighbours was either at the church or in the pub. Often, the village pub would double as a grocery or hardware store during the day, and a bar by night, which is where the tradition of hanging old bicycles, kettles, farm tools or other old things on walls and shelves. Up until the late 19th century village pubs were the only building that had a cold storage room, so they would also act as morgues for keeping the dead, meaning some bars were also the village undertakers. Handy for holding the wake there, also.

There is also the ancient tradition of “entertaining yourself and others” which has not been lost in Ireland, especially in the west. So if you do go for a quick pint and a chat in a pub you can often find yourself surrounded by traditional musicians, whereupon one is infected by ‘the craic’ and your ‘quiet pint’ turns into something quite unexpected, which can drastically affect your expedition unless you can keep a tight rein on your festivities.