Is the Wild Atlantic Way a 'proper' driver's route?

[Nigel_O]

My son and I have driven a lot of Scotland in my Aston Martin Vantage over the last couple of years and we've thoroughly enjoyed the vast majority of it. We're not massively into great food, distilleries, tourist hotspots, etc. We'll happily stop for photos of dramatic cliff-edges and precarious castles, big waterfalls and huge mountains, but mostly, we just like a great drive on epic roads with amazing scenery. Roads don't all have to be fast and open - we quite enjoyed some of the single-track stuff in Scotland last October, especially Kylesku to Lairg and back up to Tongue.

I'm pretty sure we could do Scotland several more times and still discover amazing roads, but I think we've done all the really good mainland stuff around the West coast, so we're looking for something new.

We were discussing a euro road trip, but then I thought about Ireland and the Wild Atlantic way. Clearly, there's less of a language barrier than Europe (just about...) and they drive on the correct side of the road.

So - are the roads in Ireland as good as the West side of Scotland, or is it much more of a tourist route? Do the Irish do potholes as well as the Scots? (who appear to have become quite the experts...).

Is there a preferred direction of travel? NC500 is better anti-clockwise.

From a cursory look at Google maps, we'd be looking to spend about 6-8 days on the road, including getting there and back from the Midlands. We'd probably do a circular route, ferry landing in Belfast, doing the route, then back to Dublin and the ferry to Holyhead (or the opposite direction if its better...)

I've done quite a bit of searching in this forum but found very little feedback. Suggestions welcome, especially from anyone that's done it as a driving holiday.

[interstellar]

We did it last year for a week. Flew into Belfast and borrowed a new Cayenne Hybrid from a dealer friend of mine. Went over to Donegal via Draperstown which was a nice drive across the Sperrin AONB.

The highlights were then as follows. We followed an agenda from a friend in belfast we could do in the time we had so we followed the below route if you put it into google it would show you the loop we took.

Had a lovely relaxing week.

Murvagh Breah
Rossnowlagh
Bundoran
Glencar Lough
Glencar waterfall
Westport
Doo Lough - stunning
Leenane - lovely stay by the lake here
Kylemore Abbey
Dogs Bay beach - well worth it, beautiful water colour.
Roundstone bay

[POIDH]

I drove round south and southwest of Ireland, lots on the Wild Atlantic Way.

Mixed for driving: some of the roads are very crowded (Ring of Kerry and Dingle Peninsula), lots are very rough in places (wobbly tarmac as opposed to the potholes of the UK), and even more are tiny singletrack roads. I did enjoy it, but I enjoyed more of the exploring, hillwalks, beachers and people we met on the way. IMO, there were all sorts that was interesting as a drive, but it is busy...

But I say the same as the NC500 - the actual route is a marketing ploy and as a drive it is OK but nothing more. It is made fantastic by the natural environment and people you meet along the way, which so many focussed on driving barely encounter.

I am off to do NW section this summer, from Derry to Galway, and that is meant to be quieter.

[Shooter McGavin]

My in-laws (sadly now departed) hailed from the Fanad peninsular in Co Donegal, so we go over there every few years to see the extended family.

We have seen the (slow, low-key) growth in the popularity of the WAW over the last decade. I'd say that it is tourism being pushed with a small 't', part of the beauty of that part of the world is that it is not rammed with tourists, I think they have the balance just about right.

Roads are generally decent condition, but don't expect sweeping high speed alpine passes. It's very much like the NC500.

I'm assuming you have seen this website? https://www.ireland.com/en-gb/destinations/experie...

The Cliffs of Moher are indeed spectacular, well worth a visit. Locally to where we stay is the lovely port town/village of Portsalon and Fanad Head with its lighthouse.

It's a lovely place when not tipping it down!

[vikingaero]

Shooter McGavin said:

The Cliffs of Moher are indeed spectacular, well worth a visit. Locally to where we stay is the lovely port town/village of Portsalon and Fanad Head with its lighthouse.

It's a lovely place when not tipping it down!

We did the WAW North to South about 10 years ago. When we came over the mountain and down to the Cliffs of Moher, we saw 1001 coaches and thought feck that and drove on. And some days can be a drizzly fog where you'll see nothing!

We crossed Cairnryan to Belfast with P&O, farted about in Northern Ireland for a bit (Belfast, Loughs, Giants Causeway, Carrickarede etc). We crossed over the small ferry to Donegal which was my absolute favourite place. We went to Malin Head and the Doagh Famine Village. I put on my grumpiness about the Famine Village thinking what a load of bks. And it was set up so well that I loved it with a welcoming tea and biscuits - crazy to think they only got electricity there in the 80's!

I still think Slieve League (Siabh Liag) is far better and more spectacular than the Cliffs of Moher. We then came down the coast via Sligo, Galway, Shannon, Dingle, Ring o' Kerry and back to the UK via Rosslare/Fishguard.

Whilst some roads were good, it's less of a pace than some of the Scottish roads, but I would love to go back for round 2.

[POIDH]

vikingaero said:

Shooter McGavin said:

The Cliffs of Moher are indeed spectacular, well worth a visit. Locally to where we stay is the lovely port town/village of Portsalon and Fanad Head with its lighthouse.

It's a lovely place when not tipping it down!

We did the WAW North to South about 10 years ago. When we came over the mountain and down to the Cliffs of Moher, we saw 1001 coaches and thought feck that and drove on. .

We cycled up to the Cliffs of Moher - and went to mix it with the crowds. Oy my word I could not get out of there fast enough. Views were good though.
We also made the mistake the next day of going to Inishmore at the recommendation of the campsite - again obnoxious over-tourism and profiteering. Should have gone to Inisheer as we planned originally.
We also did a lap of Ring of Kerry - just so commercialised and overly busy.

We found so many peaceful places that the times we bumped into mass tourism it really jarred.

Best days we had in the south west:
- 2 days hillwalking around Macgillcuddys Reeks.
- out to Dursey island on the cable car and walk the length of the island, complete with pop up coffee shop in someones kitchen.
- out to Skellig Michael. Proper once in a lifetime experience, but you must book months ahead and take the (literal) rough weather if it comes...
- wandering out round the point and bay in Baltimore, followed by a coffee watching the dinghy races
- Barley Cove in nearly 30*c and a cheeky late out to Mizen Head after the crowds had left, with obligatory beer watching the sun set...
- Brandon mountain - there is a reason that some claim it is best mountain view in Europe...

[P675]

In May I spent 2 weeks going around the Irish coast on my bike, camping in a different site each night. Ferry from Holyhead to Dublin, went around clockwise, mostly on the WAW but took a lot of detours when a road looked interesting on Google Maps.

Is it a drivers route? Not really, the N roads are very nice if you want to blast through but also great speed camera bait. The main scenery attractions are single track roads of varying quality, when I went it was completely dead and getting around passing places is just much easier on the bike anyway, I wouldn't want to go in school holidays.

So many roads are solid line, instead of judiciously placed you'll just get entire roads with it, Ring of Beara was the worst for that. For the first couple of days I took it easy to get a feel for the place but when I was getting stuck behind rental cars all the time I just thought sod it I'm on holiday and ignored the solid lines. Fixed speed cameras I only saw 2 the whole time but I was really in the sticks for the most part, the only town I spent time in was Galway.

The road along the south coast was decent. Ring of Kerry you can fly around, that was really fun, just watch for coaches pulling out. Coast road to Dingle was great, Slieve League area has fun roads, Glenveagh National Park has a lot of fast stretches with good tarmac. Coast road from the Causeway Coast to Belfast is nice.

Despite my criticisms the trip was really amazing, blazing hot weather helped, only rained on the last day. The scenery, the people, I wish I could have done the whole thing again when I was on the ferry home. Here's a quick video: https://youtu.be/7X-m7QHPY6U?si=W3X8jXOmiKYId0wr

Playlist of each day will give you a good feel for the roads in each area but not thrilling viewing : https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgFzZEt2gP_KSp6...

Edited by P675 on Friday 10th April 10:36

[Nigel_O]

Well - that escalated...

On the basis that Ireland is more of a tourist route than a driving route, we've started to look at a European trip - Austria / Italy through some of the usual mountain passes, but using an organised trip, rather than 'DIY'

Its an awful lot of money, but I quite fancy the idea of someone else doing all the planning and hotel booking - I just want to turn up and drive. For last year's Scottish hoon, I did the lion's share of the planning as my son was slightly distracted by getting married the month before we left - seems I need to educate him on his priorities

Anyway - now looking at this:

https://slapadventures.com/girodeluxe-driving-holi...

[P675]

Nigel_O said:

Well - that escalated...

On the basis that Ireland is more of a tourist route than a driving route, we've started to look at a European trip - Austria / Italy through some of the usual mountain passes, but using an organised trip, rather than 'DIY'

Its an awful lot of money, but I quite fancy the idea of someone else doing all the planning and hotel booking - I just want to turn up and drive. For last year's Scottish hoon, I did the lion's share of the planning as my son was slightly distracted by getting married the month before we left - seems I need to educate him on his priorities

Anyway - now looking at this:

https://slapadventures.com/girodeluxe-driving-holi...

Ireland isn't exactly cheap to be fair. Fuel for 4000 miles, the ferry, on my own camping 11 nights, 2 nights where I stayed in rooms in houses, eating petrol station stuff or cooking on my gas stove, was about £1600. Add another person, restaurants and hotels, will go up quite a bit!

[vikingaero]

P675 said:

Ireland isn't exactly cheap to be fair. Fuel for 4000 miles, the ferry, on my own camping 11 nights, 2 nights where I stayed in rooms in houses, eating petrol station stuff or cooking on my gas stove, was about £1600. Add another person, restaurants and hotels, will go up quite a bit!

I'd second this about Ireland. The crossing is going to be a good £500, maybe a little less if you're willing to do a 3am crossing.

The lodge we got in Bushmills was £500 for the week, so comparatively cheap for 4 of us, and I think the ferry/distance puts a lot of people off. Bearing in mind this was 10 years ago we ate well in nice restaurants at ~ €100 with no alcohol.

After a week in the lodge we travelled the WAW and stayed in - €100 hotels - The Clarion, Connacht etc. One night, rather than having a nice meal, we decided on junk food for a change and The Vikingettes wanted KFC. Back then 4 separate meals in the UK was around £22. In Ireland the same food was €46. Everything in Ireland was a good 20-30% more than the RUK.

A few nights before the end of the trip, I popped to a cashpoint to collect more Euros, and thought I would do a balance check. I'd transferred £5k from my savings to my current account for the trip and keep around £3k in the current account - I was down to £2k! And that didn't include some spending on my credit card. Ouch!

[Nigel_O]

We spent about £2k for six days / five nights in Scotland, including about 1,750 miles. That was separate rooms in each hotel. However, we learned that cheap hotels are cheap for a reason and we won’t be making that mistake again…

I wasn’t planning on doing the whole of the WAW, but the distance to get the the start point in Cork is slightly longer than our first stop in Scotland (391 miles versus 302 miles) although much of the difference is the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin.

The mileage to get from home to the start point and from the end point to home is about 800. Add in the 1600 miles for the route and all of a sudden we’re looking at the thick end of 2,500 miles - a 40% increase on the Scotland trip.

Add in a hefty ferry cost and all of a sudden, we’re looking at £1,500 of actual travel costs (assuming fuel prices don’t get any worse by next year)

With six or seven nights in hotels, I reckon we’d be looking at another £2k for accommodation, so all of a sudden, £8k on a pre-organised trip through France, Germany, Austria and Italy doesn’t look quite so expensive.


And while I’m sure Ireland is very pretty, it won’t have roads / scenery like the Grossglockner …

[P675]

I'd love to do a trip down in the Alps etc. but it feels like a much bigger deal on the bike having to go all that way on the motorway to get to the good parts. I'm going up to the Highlands in a few weeks and dreading the 9-10 hours from Midlands to Inverness. At least with Ireland it's a few hours ride to the ferry, you have to sit around for a while but yoi get a good rest, an hour out of Dublin and it's all lovely.

I'd like a van to transport the bike for a Euro trip but this is a long term plan. Norway is on my list too but that ride up from Holland is ridiculous as well as eating into a few days of holiday.

[dcb]

Nigel_O said:

With six or seven nights in hotels, I reckon we d be looking at another £2k for accommodation, so all of a sudden, £8k on a pre-organised trip through France, Germany, Austria and Italy doesn t look quite so expensive.

£8K on a holiday ??

I rarely spend more than about £2K on such things.

Under £150 a night for a hotel room is perfectly reasonable. Budget
another £100 a day for food & drink and it's easy to see that
an 8 day holiday from UK to Austria would come in at £2K. Lovely place.
I've been visiting it for 35 years.

Nigel_O said:

And while I m sure Ireland is very pretty, it won t have roads / scenery like the Grossglockner

Be warned that the Grossglockner is busy, tourist trap central and expensive.

Just as good mountain passes are nearby. Some of them are free.

[Nigel_O]

dcb said:

Nigel_O said:

With six or seven nights in hotels, I reckon we d be looking at another £2k for accommodation, so all of a sudden, £8k on a pre-organised trip through France, Germany, Austria and Italy doesn t look quite so expensive.

£8K on a holiday ??

I rarely spend more than about £2K on such things.

Under £150 a night for a hotel room is perfectly reasonable. Budget
another £100 a day for food & drink and it's easy to see that
an 8 day holiday from UK to Austria would come in at £2K. Lovely place.
I've been visiting it for 35 years.

Nigel_O said:

And while I m sure Ireland is very pretty, it won t have roads / scenery like the Grossglockner

Be warned that the Grossglockner is busy, tourist trap central and expensive.

Just as good mountain passes are nearby. Some of them are free.

There's no way our intended trip could be done for £2k. We'd be having separate rooms, so that doubles the accomodation cost, so even at your £150 per night, we're looking at £1,800. Self-arranged would mean paying for four meals a day, so £100 a day is probably a bit light, but even if we could, there's another £600 gone. What about fuel? I reckon about £1,000 (2,500 - 3,000 miles at about 20mpg) . So we're at £3,500 for a self-arranged budget trip.

The pre-organised trip is £2900 each and includes 4 and 5 star hotels, breakfast and evening meal and the unquantifiable benefit of someone else doig all the organising and route planning. I've rounded it to an absolute max of £8k to cover fuel and 'incidentals', but as I hail from Yorkshire, I sspect it would be nearer to £7k

I take your point about Grossglockner, but the organised trip also takes in Fernepass, Hahntenjoch, Hochtanberg, Timmelsjoch, Silvretta Pass, Namlos Valley, Dolomites – Italy, Furkajoch, Black Forest - Gerlos Pass

[dcb]

Nigel_O said:

What about fuel? I reckon about £1,000 (2,500 - 3,000 miles at about 20mpg) .

Astons are reassuringly expensive aren't they ? ;->

I ran a V8 Jag for a while and that was a punitive 19 mpg. Never again.

Nigel_O said:

The pre-organised trip is £2900 each and includes 4 and 5 star hotels, breakfast and evening meal and the unquantifiable benefit of someone else doig all the organising and route planning.

I'm at the other end of the marketplace with my Skoda and self organised holidays.

I am reminded of a magazine editor who paid £17K for a Caribbean family
holiday of a lifetime and when he reported back, he said it was the worst
holiday he'd ever been on. I hope yours goes better.

Nigel_O said:

I've rounded it to an absolute max of £8k to cover fuel and 'incidentals', but as I hail from Yorkshire, I sspect it would be nearer to £7k

An ex Yorkshireman with an Aston ? Even rarer.

I thought all Yorkshire folk drove cheap cars and grumbled about
how expensive they were to run. I recall Robin Reliants and Ladas
being very popular in that part of the world.

Nigel_O said:

I take your point about Grossglockner, but the organised trip also takes in Fernepass, Hahntenjoch, Hochtanberg, Timmelsjoch, Silvretta Pass, Namlos Valley, Dolomites Italy, Furkajoch, Black Forest - Gerlos Pass

All fairly standard then. I like to get off the beaten track & away from
the tourists.

Lienz, Villach, Klagenfurt & Ljubljana are nice. Not many Brit cars there.

[Nigel_O]

dcb said:

An ex Yorkshireman with an Aston ? Even rarer.

I thought all Yorkshire folk drove cheap cars

No such thing as an ex-Yorkshireman. “You can take the man out of Yorkshire, etc”

To be fair, the Aston is usually in the garage. I have a Skoda Yeti on the drive to keep up my Yorkshire appearances… ;-)

[Kawasicki]

I’m originally from Galway, and when I am home I drive sections of the WAW route regularly. Ireland has plenty amazing drivers roads…. but…. if you drive in a manner where you “hope” the road ahead is clear you are playing Russian roulette. Random stuff happens often. If, on the other hand, you actually drive to what you can see, you can really have some fun and challenging drives. The roads are very often restricted in forward vision range, due to hedgerows, so sometimes you simply have to drive slowly. There are more open roads, and they are often hugely three dimensional… but even then use your eyes and the windscreen.