Wild Atlantic Way
WAW waymarked corridor · Kinsale → Malin Head · Ireland
- Length
- 1600 miles
- Drive time
- 1–3 weeks
- Type
- Grand touring road
- Region
- Ireland & the Isle of Man
The world's longest defined coastal touring route: 2,500 km of waymarked Atlantic edge from Kinsale to Malin Head, stitching together every great western peninsula — Ireland's answer to everything.
Kinsale to Malin Head is a waymarked coastal corridor of about 1,600 miles, not a single road. You cannot drive it as a feature; you pick peninsulas. The app already holds the ones worth the detour — Ring of Kerry, Healy Pass, Conor Pass, Burren, Sky Road, Causeway. The Way is the stitching. Fuel, beds and weather are local problems, not a single seasonal window.
Cliffs of Moher are the coach magnet: before ten or after five, or skip them. Keem Bay on Achill is a dead-end worth the miles if you are that far north. Fishy Fishy in Kinsale is a real start; Farren's Bar near Malin Head is a real finish, a couple of kilometres short of Banba's Crown. Book ahead in July and August or sleep in the car.
Do not average 200 miles a day along this coast and call it a holiday. Two or three peninsulas, slowly, beats a fortnight of yellow signs. Pair whatever you pick with the Great Escape that already uses those roads.
The Way is a tourism route. The driving is the lanes to the next headland. Follow those, and treat the waymarkers as a hint, not a contract. Kinsale to Malin is a fortnight if you mean it, a month if you stop. The peninsulas in this app — Kerry, Beara, Burren, Sky Road, Causeway — are the days. Everything else is a yellow sign and a car park full of coaches. Check ferry and seasonal café hours on the extremities (Achill, Malin) the night before, not in a lay-by with no signal.
Highlights of the Wild Atlantic Way
- Kinsale to Malin Head
- Every western peninsula
- The ultimate Irish holiday
Where to stop on the Wild Atlantic Way
- Fishy Fishy, Kinsale food — Martin Shanahan's harbourside seafood restaurant at the southern trailhead — now open seven days
- Cliffs of Moher viewpoint — The 214 m cliffs — arrive before 10 am or after 5 pm to dodge the coaches
- Keem Bay viewpoint — Cliff-hung road down to Achill's white strand — the route's most dramatic dead end
- Farren's Bar, Malin Head food — Ireland's most northerly pub, 2 km short of Banba's Crown — the natural finish line
Drive the Wild Atlantic Way
Open Wild Atlantic Way on the map → ⬇ Download GPX
GPX works with Garmin, TomTom, Beeline and most bike sat-navs. Free, no sign-up — these are indicative waypoints, so follow the road signs, not the arrow.
Plot it, add it to a club run with a meeting point and pit stops, then share the whole trip as one link. Free, no account, works offline.
Route research: Club road index
More driving roads in Ireland & the Isle of Man
- Isle of Man Mountain Road (TT Course) A18 · 14 mi · Isle of Man
- Causeway Coastal Route A2 · 120 mi · Northern Ireland
- Torr Head Scenic Route Torr Rd · 12 mi · Northern Ireland
- Mourne Coastal Route A2 · 25 mi · Northern Ireland
- Glenelly Valley — Sperrins B47 · 20 mi · Northern Ireland
- Ring of Kerry N70 / N71 · 111 mi · Ireland