GR86 Road Trip - Wild Atlantic Way Ireland

[CPH6R]

In the 'what did you do today thread' I posted that I was taking my BRZ from Copenhagen to Ireland to do a good chunk of the Wild Atlantic Way. This led to a few nice responses and interest, so now I have been back a few weeks, I thought I would feedback in a dedicated thread. I am going to do this across a few posts to break it up along these lines 1) where I went 2) highlights 3) recommendations and thoughts.

So first 'what I did'..... There was a big haul across Europe to the UK where I spent a few days before heading across to Ireland on the Pembroke to Rosslare ferry. For context here is a map of the Wild Atlantic Way:

First, we headed from Rosslare to Dublin to meet up with my daughter who is at uni there but did not spend much time sightseeing. We headed instead straight across to Galway so roughly in the middle of the route (it is huge). We stayed a few nights there and went exploring three adults packed in the car for a few days! We ventured a bit north doing Connemara National Park and Clifton Sky Road, went out to Inishmore Island for a day and then completed the top part of the route in County Clare before moving south to stay in Limerick. From here we completed most of the rest of the Clare route and then moved further south to just outside a place called Macroom to the west of Cork where we stayed for 7 days. We then struck out from this base to complete some of the peninsula 'rings', the Ring of Kerry, Ring of Beara and the Dingle peninsula and some point visits such as to Cork and Kinsale at the start/end of the Wild Atlantic Way. When done I went direct from Rosslare back to Dunkirk... In total a touch over 5000 kms with half completed in Ireland. Ireland is very much what you would expect so it did not disappoint us.

So that is the context.....

 

[CPH6R]

So favourite parts of the trip....

- Not driving but Inishmore Island and in particular the naturally formed 'wormhole' provided the most spectacular coastal views ..... really special.

My favourite route, there are many great roads but if I were to do one part of the trip again I would start the Ring of Kerry in Killarney and drive to Kenmare, from there I would jump across to the Ring of Beara (which is less busy with tourist traffic) by heading to Glengariff then head west to go up the Healy pass - aim to hit this early or late. Drive back down the pass then head on to Dursey Island (take the cable car) and then go around to Allihies and track the road around - seriously twists and narrow! Then complete the loop .... I was knackered at the end of the day! You could always cut over the Healy pass again if not!

- Another favourite (in retrospect moment) was getting caught in a road bowling match (Bodmin on Netflix / google it) having to nudge a sports car through 100 angry-looking Irish men amid a clearly competitive match was an interesting real-life moment - very glad it was not a UK plated car!

- Kinsale was great for food drink and shops... the best coffee I have ever had by a margin was at 'the collector' the owner crafted each coffee for about 5 minutes!

 

[CPH6R]

Finally hopefully this might help anyone planning a trip:

- There is no 98 RON petrol in the Republic of Ireland! had not even thought to check! Luckily I had a full tank coming off the ferry but was worried about what to do, should I add additive or not..... Then I discovered the Circle K and Applegreen both have 'miles plus' type super unleaded some is even marked as E5. My best guess is that this is marginally octane-boosted to get more mpg and the car ran fine on it even though it is officially 95 RON. Even this needs searching for though...

- The Wild Atlantic Way is such a long route it is really difficult to know which elements to do - to do it all end to end I don't think would be much fun at all. Before I left I found this old school website which has great recommendations but is a little difficult to navigate. https://www.theirishroadtrip.com/ pick some sections and ignore your completest instict!

- What I did not realise was that the route is brilliantly marked with signs - it makes driving so much easier and very old school to just follow these. The Wild Atlantic Way is marked by the blue squiggles ....

- Similarly, in country areas, I had real problems with all sat nav or map systems (google / apple / tom tom) all would send you down stupid roads either thin or in poor condition. No fiddling with settings would fix this. In the end, I reverted to just taking the route signed to the destination and enjoying it far more.

- The roads are better than the UK. The roads around Galway seemed better than those futher south but I rarely encountered the huge potholes that are so common in the U.K. Often the top surface may have lifted an inch or so but fewer huge craters. The rough surface did however accentuate the NVH tendencies of the BRZ/86 platform and made some longer trips pretty tiring.

- The roads are pretty thin but in general, this was not an issue, things just work themselves out pretty well as the roads are not too busy. In the prime holiday season, the plastic camper van menace may be an issue as these were often the least well-driven vehicles.

- I had read that Ireland had recently reduced a number of speed limits so was a bit worried that perhaps some of the enjoyment would have been curtailed by a series of artificially constrained limits. I am not a push it hard kind of driver but the types of roads you are on are mostly 80kmph limits. Enjoyable and sane driving on the twisty bits meant often no more than 65/70kph was sensible as a max. It was therefore really nice to drive within the limits enjoyably and naturally without constantly checking the speedometer. Here I think the BRZ/86 would work much better than a GR Yaris or similar.

- For those in continental Europe the ferry to Dunkirk worked well. It is expensive but cutting out the travel across the UK if you don't have any specific plans there would be a great idea.

- Driving a left-hand drive car was not an issue and enabled me to tuck into the nearside really well. I think my wife in the passenger side had a couple of thats a bit close moments (plastic camper vans again!) but all was fine no issues or vegetation scratches as previously suggested might be an issue.

- We had two weeks in Ireland doing this route and that was perhaps a couple of days too long - you can only appreciate so much dramatic coastline. A week to a week and half is perfect and then just spend anymore time in Dublin or similar!

....So overall a really big tick, very glad we did it and a nice contrast to road trips last year to Spain and France. Now I need a big plan for next year! Hope that helps!

 

[Road_trip]

Thanks for the write up.
Some good information there for a trip to Ireland and tips for touring in general.

 

[Jokurt]

Thank you, for your detailed write up. I enjoyed reading your post, as it reminded me of our vacation in Irland. We stayed in similar areas as you. Our route started from Dublin and we traveled to our first B&B on the Wild Atlantic Way in Castlebar with a stop in Athlone at the river Shannon. From there we went to Clifton, Roundstone, Lahinch and Kenmare. On the way back we stayed a night in Killkenny and then to Dublin for our flight back.
Seeing your amazing pictures tickles the urge to visit Irland again. When we go there again, your tips come handy, especially if we decide to take the GR86.
It is good to hear that driving with a LHD car is no issue.

I'd like to add some recommendations too. I hope thats ok.

- Achill Island and the The Achill Experience Aquarium & Visitor Centre. I highly recommend taking the guided tour in the Aquarium. Without the tour it is not that spectacular.

- Joyce Country Sheepdogs in Co. Galway. Learn about Sheepdogs and sheep in Irland plus an amazing herding demonstration.

- Kylemore Abbey & Victorian Walled Garden in Co. Galway, near Connemara National Park. Impressive Abbey and Gardens. A little bit touristy, but worth a visit.

- Brigit's Garden & Café in Co. Galway. A celtic garden.

- Alpaca trekking with "The Naked Sheep - Alpaca Trekking" in Co. Kerry. If you are into that.

- Kilkenny: Historic City with a lot of sights. My recommendations are Kilkenny Castle and a guided city tour starting at St. Mary’s Medieval Mile Museum

 

[chopper602]

How did you find the general prices of everyday stuff - food & drink? We've just had a week in Norway and I knew it would be pricey but I understand Denmark is pricier still compared to the UK (and Ireland is more expensive than the UK) . . .

 

[Jokurt]

We went June/July 2024 so prices could be dated. Dining out was around 50 € to 60 € for two persons. We mostly went to pubs and had simpler meals (fish n chips, shepherds pie,...) The Quality of the dishes was top notch, everything was freshly made and tasted fantastic. I have never ate better chips than in Ireland, always handmade and not some deep-frozen stuff. Drinks are expensive and very often there are no prices for the softdrinks listed in menue.
I was planning to bring my father an irish whisky but its cheaper to buy the same whisky in Germany
Fruits are crazy expansive, once we saw a small basket (~300g) strawberries for over 8€.

 

[CPH6R]

I think it's much the same across all three countries (UK / Denmark / Ireland) in the broadest brush terms. Not saying there aren't differences but I was not shocked at any point. Having left the UK seven year ago, now I often cannot believe how expensive things have become in the UK, Where once there was a 20% uplift in Denmark that is often no longer the case. In Ireland the one thing that was expensive for the quality was accommodation. It's pretty much 100€ minimum and often things that looked nice were 180-200€. Galway was the worst on this front. Food and eating out I found similar and there is always an Aldi ,/ Tesco worst case for sarnies!

Norway is a step up from Denmark in terms of cost, from my experience.

I also found that the Braid fullrace a wheels I was after were best value in Ireland, unfortunately I left it too late to get them delivered to collect on my way home....