Lucie Loves... Travel // How to do a 1-week road trip along Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way – Itinerary: when to go, what to eat, where to stay and what to see from Cork to Dublin via Galway.

My friend, Antonia, standing under one of the Wild Atlantic Way signs that guided us up the west coast of Ireland

My friend, Antonia, standing under one of the Wild Atlantic Way signs that guided us up the west coast of Ireland

**This post was originally written back in 2016, but has been updated in January 2021 with lots more photos and information.**

An email pinged into my inbox, one of many touting special offers on flights around Europe. Oh Ryanair! You sure know how to make someone get itchy feet, don’t you!? I’d just been to a talk on content marketing with my good friend, and ex-Grow Wild work colleague, Antonia. “Do you fancy going to Ireland?” I said. I’d always wanted to drive the west coast of Ireland, and explore a bit of my Irish heritage.

And one other thing was making me want to jump ship too – a date that loomed large in my mind: 9th May 2016. Comically, it’s now known as my Nonniversary: it’s the date that I should have been celebrating my 1st wedding anniversary – had my husband not jumped ship himself a few months before. 

Therefore, it couldn’t have been a better excuse to get out of the country, and try something new. Ireland, and it’s stunning coastal roads were ours for the taking! Antonia is exceptionally good with maps, so she did a lot of the research into the places that we would stop along the way. 

Wild Atlantic Way roads – or the WWW, you’ll see wiggling on signs along the route – are pretty narrow, often bendy, somewhat slow but extremely picturesque. Had we wanted to drive only WWW roads only, we would have needed much longer than a week to get from Cork – our starting point – up to Galway, and then across to Dublin for our flight back to London. 

We plotted our route, noting down some must-see places along the way, that would enable us to get the most out of the week we had to explore the west of Ireland.

Day 1 - Saturday // Cork (See Photos Above)

  • Fly: London to Cork - 1hr 20m with Ryanair

  • Location: Cork

  • Collect hire car from Hertz at Cork Airport – booked through Ryanair ( the pick up was such a palaver!) - cost £118 for 1 week with drop off at Dublin Airport (approx. 150 EUR - May 2016)

  • Accommodation: The River Lee Hotel - (Stunning, luxury hotel within walking distance to all the sights of Cork!)

  • Drinks: Pints of Beamish at Mutton Lane Inn (You MUST visit here! Pints of Guinness by candlelight and local vibes!)

  • Dinner: The Oliver Plunket traditional Irish pub, Cork (If you fancy a steak pie and a spot of traditional Irish dancing, this place is for you!)

  • Drinks & Dessert: The Weir Rooms at The River Lee Hotel

Guinness for Strength advertisement, Kinsale – one of the places we stopped off on our drive from Cork to Skibbereen

Guinness for Strength advertisement, Kinsale – one of the places we stopped off on our drive from Cork to Skibbereen

Day 2 - Sunday // Cork - Skibbereen

Day 3 - Monday // Skibbereen to Kenmare

  • Drive: Skibbereen to Kenmare (via Mizen Head Signal Station and Bantry) - approx. 2hrs 25m - 3hrs

  • Breakfast: Bridge House with Mona

  • Accommodation: The Rose Garden B&B, Kenmare

  • Sightseeing: Mizen Head Signal Station - 7.50 EUR pp ticket (Great for views, mending broken hearts and screaming out to sea whilst standing on the top of a cliff!)

  • Lunch: Box of Frogs, Bantry

  • Dinner: Number 35, Kenmare (This place was just superb! Not cheap, but worth every penny! Make sure you book a table!)

  • Drinks: Foley’s Bar, Kenmare (Fun little Irish bar playing traditional music - worth a visit!)

Day 4 - Tuesday // Kenmare, Inch Strand and Dingle

Day 5 - Wednesday // dingle, ballyheigue, ballybunion and limerick

Day 6 - Thursday // limerick, ballyvaughan, doolin, the burren & Galway

Day 7 - Friday // Galway and dublin

Day 8 - Saturday // dublin

  • Fly: Dublin to London - 1hr 25m with Ryanair

  • Breakfast: Ashling Hotel, Dublin

  • Coffee & Shopping: Head to Drury Street for independent stores like Kaph coffee, Irish Design Shop, and Industry & Co. (Such incredible shopping on this street! Kaph coffee does one of the best flat whites I’ve ever tasted! Thanks for the tip off, Charlie Fleetwood.)

  • Lunch: Blazing Salads

Updated Jan 2021: If you do take a trip to Ireland, I hope you have as much fun as we did. Travel is restricted right now due to the pandemic, but when it’s safe to travel freely, and you visit any of the suggestions I’ve shared above, do let me know what you thought! P.s. Please check that these places are still in business post COVID-19, I don’t want you to turn up and not be able to enjoy it.)

Thanks for reading!

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Photography © Lucie Kerley

Food, TravelLucie KerleyIreland, Road trip, Wild Atlantic Way, Travel blogger, Irish, Travel, West coast of Ireland, Itinerary