Round Ireland with a Campervan

[trevskoda]

We only travelled to Donegal after a wedding near Derry so can't speak for the rest of Eire. The coast is spectacular, with plenty of wilding places.The hinterland, however, was not so stunning in places, with a lot of moor and bog. The one thing we did notice everywhere were the modern houses built absolutely everywhere. We could not get a view without houses in which we found very disappointing and many of these houses were empty.

As for disposing of rubbish, we bunt any that would, on beaches, slipped the odd small bag into a shop bin and found ourselves bringing home most of our recycling as we only ever found glass recycling facilities. A good, strong sack is required!

There english holiday homes and some our ones left when ireland was hit by depression in 2008.
Up round the malin aera is good with lots of places to wild

 

[V1nny]

All depends on how long one is staying here,i find the futher down you go the more like mainland england,defo would not go any where near dublin,up norf lad if its wilding you want,roads are good to.
This is the worst rd which is over mountain short cut to kinnego bay from ferry where you can over night in carpark

Trevskoda is so right about going to Donegal; there are so many beautiful places to visit. Patsy Dans in Dunfanaghy has good live music nights, as do other pubs in the town, and there are a few good wildcamping spots in the area. If you have children I would also recommend pony trekking on the beach at Dunfanaghy (although adults can do it too). Also Leo Brennans pub near Annagry has great live music. The Brennan family include famous musicians Enya and Clannad. Further south, Westport in Co. Mayo has some great music venues.

I could go on and on, but if you follow the Wild Atlantic Way you will find some great places and stunning locations to stay.

Kinnego Bay is my favourite beach in the world, and I've dreamed of wildcamping there since we got a motorhome, but as our van is 5000kg and about about 28 feet long I would never be brave enough to risk it on that hill to and from the beach!

 

[trevskoda]

Trevskoda is so right about going to Donegal; there are so many beautiful places to visit. Patsy Dans in Dunfanaghy has good live music nights, as do other pubs in the town, and there are a few good wildcamping spots in the area. If you have children I would also recommend pony trekking on the beach at Dunfanaghy (although adults can do it too). Also Leo Brennans pub near Annagry has great live music. The Brennan family include famous musicians Enya and Clannad. Further south, Westport in Co. Mayo has some great music venues.

I could go on and on, but if you follow the Wild Atlantic Way you will find some great places and stunning locations to stay.

Kinnego Bay is my favourite beach in the world, and I've dreamed of wildcamping there since we got a motorhome, but as our van is 5000kg and about about 28 feet long I would never be brave enough to risk it on that hill to and from the beach!

Yep that bend and hill is not for those with a faint hart,also try alcorns garden centre/ butterfly & mini zoo just out of letterkenny.

 

[Debroos]

Re rubbish in the republic. We save our rubbish til a bin bag is full and take it to the local recycling centre. About 3 euro, which isn't too nad really.
We ended up just getting paranoid putting small amounts in bins, lurking and peeping around to see if we were being watched!...

 

[trevskoda]

Re rubbish in the republic. We save our rubbish til a bin bag is full and take it to the local recycling centre. About 3 euro, which isn't too nad really.
We ended up just getting paranoid putting small amounts in bins, lurking and peeping around to see if we were being watched!...

So it was you.:hammer::lol-049::wave:

 

[QFour]

When I was over there a few years ago I bought some wheelie bin rubbish bags. Nice and big. Took them to the local recycling place and paid my 1 Euro each per bag to get rid of them. Next time I went they had a new sign small bags 1 Euro large bags 3 Euro :lol-061:

They get up to all sorts of tricks to get rid of rubbish. We used to take a bag of rubbish to the pub and look for bins that were not LOCKED.

Also watched a truck being weighed on the way into the recycling centre and then two extra people climbed into the cab to be weighed on the way out.

..

 

[Nabsim]

Also watched a truck being weighed on the way into the recycling centre and then two extra people climbed into the cab to be weighed on the way out.

..

That got me remembering when I was at the quarry, we used to keep a close eye on gypsies/travellers. They would have 45 gallon drums on their pickup that would be filled with water, once weighed in they would drain the water off which obviously meant they could use the difference for 'products'. As I worked on the coating plants you would see them waiting for their load of tarmac and kids would be under conveyors or anywhere they could scoop up spilt aggregates. This all went on the wagon and they were overjoyed they were pulling one over on us and getting it for free.

Always amazed me they never did seem to realise that aggregates were around £1-£2 a tonne back then and they were paying around £15 for their tarmac which meant their 'free' aggregate was actually pro rata at £15 a tonne

We did have some hairy moments with them though ha ha

 

[UFO]

Thank you all for your ideas, including dealing with rubbish and remembering travel distances and times are longer than they look.

I think what we will do is a quick drive from Belfast to Kinsale (where the 2,500km Wild Atlantic Way starts) via the Mourne and Wicklow mountains. We have a 6m PVC so will be able to explore the back roads around the coast. If we run out of time we can go cross country to Belfast and leave the rest of the coast for another trip. We would rather do cities e.g. Belfast, Dublin over 3 or 4 days from a hotel base so on this trip we will focus on the ‘wilder’ areas.

I have extracted the comments below from the thread to take with us.


County Clare wild landscape, music and Guinness

Antrim coast and the glens, round the coast to Magiligan ferry to Republic or round to Derry and hto Letterkenny, National Park, Erigal Mountain for the view, Dunlewey centre. Round the West Coast Atlantic drive, Dough famin village, Dunree fort, where the British WW1 war fleet left for Jutland, to Donegal town.

Carlingford loch marina 8 euros for the night discount off meals at the local restaurant 20 minutes walk into town several nice bars. Following the Shannon is pretty awesome.

Worst road (we like bad roads, no one else goes there!) over mountain short cut to Kinnego Bay from ferry where you can over night in car park.

An excellent method of seeing some of inland Ireland is to follow the Shannon River from Limerick right up to Lough Erne in Fermanagh. Pretty much all of the public marinas operated by waterways Ireland can supply water, toilets and rubbish disposal, and can be stayed at overnight. Swipe card to access showers and laundry on the Woodford waterway link between Lough Erne and the Shannon River.

Recommend ‘back roads Ireland’ from eyewitness travel, gets you to the best places and somehow seems to avoid the coach convoys.

North along the coast, through Donegal (a truly magnificent place - but large vans will definitely struggle on some of the tinier coast roads - Doagh Famine Village HAS to be worth a whole day's visit) Sligo is mountainous and very overlooked when it comes to the tourist trail, Mayo is another county that is steeped in Irish history and has everything to offer in terms of scenery and beauty and wilderness, along with lots of Famine history, Galway and Connemara (where many signs are still in Gaelic) are geologically very interesting and of course the west coast is in itself a thing of beauty.

Donegal - Patsy Dans in Dunfanaghy has good live music nights, Leo Brennans pub near Annagry has great live music. The Brennan family include famous musicians Enya and Clannad. Further south, Westport in Co. Mayo has some great music venues. Kinnego Bay is my favourite beach in the world.

 

[delicagirl]

you will have a great time..... on the west coast - normally anywhere that is called "Head" is up a very steep hill - bad roads !!

Cliffs of Moher are well worth seeing but hugely expensive if you park in the Heritage Centre - there is a smaller farm parking not too far away if you want to pay a few euros and have a short cliff stroll to get there.



www.facebook.com/WhyDonegal/posts/396503093883812


this Gap of Mamore road in Uris . is DEFFO a bad road !!!! but beautiful place and very few vehicles chance it. !!!

 

[UFO]

Newgrange - Castletown House

Thinking of visiting Newgrange (Neolithic 3200 BC site) and Castletown House (Palladian country house built in 1722) at the start of our Ireland trip. Checked all the usual sites and can't find any overnights spots close by.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[delicagirl]

i doubt you will have have any trouble finding a free overnight spot - the Irish are far more welcoming than the English when it comes to tolerating campervans - i found everyone lovely, helpful and relaxed

 

[TeamRienza]

We have stayed here before. It is opposite the visitors centre, worth it for the convenience.

Camping and Motorhomes near Newgrange | Boyne Valley | Co Meath Ireland



This place, about 15 minutes from newgrange has in the past allowed vans to stay overnight.

imwm

Davy

 

[UFO]

We are now back from our 30 nights in Ireland, plus one in Birkenhead on the way out. The ‘plan’ was to follow the Wild Atlantic Way (WAW) anti-clockwise from Kinsale. We visited all the major points but did not explore some of the minor peninsulas and side roads. The weather was pretty bad - it rained everyday apart from about three days, which were mainly at the end of the trip, but it did not rain all day, at least not every day. There was an almost constant strong bitter cold wind. Talking to locals the weather is not typical for April. Potatoes are usually planted on St Patrick’s Day, March 17th, but this year it was too cold. We heard a lot on the radio about the ‘fodder crisis’. Due to a long winter farmers are running out of silage and because spring has come late and has been wet there is no grass for the cattle so they need to be fed silage for longer. With better weather we would have stopped longer at some places and would have done more walks. So to explore the whole WAW and the Causeway Coastal Route in a relaxed way it could easily take twice as long - 60 days. We did 1,780 miles (2,864 km) in Ireland plus 470 miles to and from Birkenhead.

There are 159 WAW Discovery Points, some on offshore islands, of which 15 are Signature Discovery Points. It is possible to overnight at most of the Discovery Points.

Most beaches have public toilets but we never found any that were open. Toilets in harbours and in towns are typically closed at night.

We saw some height barriers, and also some car parks where the barriers were open, and also ‘no overnight’ signs. These were rarely at places we wanted to stay.

Here is where we stayed, with ratings out of 10, and what we did.

Birkenhead Ferry Terminal, 55.40617 -3.01775 2/10
We arrived late in the area, asked at the reception and were given the ok to stay overnight for our 10:30 ferry the next day. Reasonably quiet at the far end away from the terminal building and convenient.

Millisle, 54.60175 -5.52399 4/10
Convenient for the first night when arriving in Belfast on the ferry and heading south. Large car park overlooking the sea. From here we visited Mount Stewart National Trust house on our way south.

Spegla Dam, Mourne Mountains, 54.179227, -6.058719 8/10
Good views over reservoir. Butter Mountain short walk, 2.2 km round trip.

Drogheda, 53.7301 -6.2601 5/10
Dead end road on the River Boyne, outside gates to boat yard. Not a lot of space but enough for one van on the left of the gates and perhaps another tucked in. From here we visited: Bru Na Boinne, visitor centre for Newgrange and Knowth, Neolithic passage tombs.

Lowtown Marina, 53.27528 -6.83522 5/10
Parking overlooking the junction of the Grand Canal and Barrow Line. Toilets open during the day, automatically locked at night. Water and showers need a card to access. From here we drove to Cobh.

Cobh, 51.846797, -8.309349 6/10
Full service aire overlooking the harbour. Services free. Parking 10 euros / 24 hours. Interesting heritage town. From here we visited Cork by train, station five minutes’ walk away, 10 euros / 25 minutes.

Kinsale Charles Fort, 51.69778, -8.498832 7/10
Car park and road side parking areas on a bit of a slope, we parked on the road side which was a bit more level. Office of Public Works (OPE) sites have free admission on the first Wednesday of the month. From here we started the Wild Atlantic Way (WAW) visited: Charles Fort, Old Head of Kinsale and Timoleague Abbey ruins.

Drombeg Stone Circle, 51.56592 -9.08638 3/10
Car park has height barrier. As it was late we parked outside off the road and without blocking the entrance. Bronze Age 17 stone circle worth a visit. From here we here we visited: Ballydehob with its old railway viaduct, Schulz and Mizen Head (in force 9 gale).

Bantry (2 nights), 51.681235, -9.455567 6/10
The harbour car park near the town square is closed 6-9am on Friday for a market. The CP has height barriers but they were open. We parked along the road overlooking the harbour outside SuperValue. There is a town heritage walk, also short walks starting from the town, a helpful tourist office (with WiFi) and music in some of the pubs in the evening. From here we visited: Castletown Bearhaven - ‘Ireland’s fishing capital’, Loughane More Ring Fort, Beara Peninsular with Dursey Island cable car, and Allihies and Eyeries - two villages with colourful houses.

Kilmakillogue, 51.783055, -9.820912 6/10
WAW Discovery Point. Car park overlooking Kilmakillogue harbour and Kenmare River. Off the road and quiet. Not very level but great views. From here we visited: Kenmare and Sneem - with sculpture trail.

Coomanaspic, Skeilg Ring, 51.856189, -10.367023 8/10
WAW Discovery Point. Wide area of hard standing off the road where a track goes up to a radio mast. Not very level but ok when parked on edge of area. Great views of the Skeilg islands. From here we visited: the Skeilg Experience Centre, Ballycarberry Castle ruins and Cahergall Stone Fort.

Dingle (2 nights), 52.139099, -10.276236 5/10
Car park by harbour and tourist office, free between 18:00 and 08:00. Toured the Dingle peninsular. Great walk, parking at Slea Head, to Dunmore Head with views of Blasket Islands. Lots of view points. After the second night in Dingle we visited: Connor Pass viewpoint but thick mist so no views, some very narrow section of road on way down, north via the Tarbert to Killimer ferry, Carrigaholt castle ruins and a roofless church at Cross.

Loop Head, 52.560991, -9.930457 7/10
WAW Discovery Point. Car park outside lighthouse. Walked around Loop Head, then from here visited: Bridges of Ross and Kilkee Cliffs - all with great views, and Bridget’s Well.

Cliffs of Moher, 52.972278, -9.42237 4/10
WAW Discovery Point. Overnight in the car park and next day went to see the cliffs. It may be one of Ireland’s top tourist attraction with 1.5 million visitors a year but we enjoyed the views more from the previous days. The day we visited it was quiet with only around 2,000 visitors, the midges were also out in force. From here we drove through the Burren - bleak but beautiful limestone area.

Coromore Abbey, 53.126959, -9.053806 6/10
Down a quiet no through road, but still visited by tour buses. Flat. From here we drove across the blanket bog between Derryrush and Gowla with peat turf cutting in progress.

Glynsk Bay, 53.37467, -9.840993 6/10
WAW Discovery Point. Flat parking above a small harbour. Water tap on harbour wall. From here we visited Roundstone and the excellent Derrigimlagh 5km walk with interpretation of Marconi’s site of the first broadcast across the Atlantic and Alcock and Wright’s landing after the first ever transatlantic flight and more turf cutting.

Leenaun, 53.60007 -9.72973 7/10
Flat parking on the fjord like Killary Harbour where Killary Fjord Boat Tours depart from here we visited Aasleagh Waterfall (overnight parking close by), Doolough Memorial to famine victims, the National Famine Memorial and Westport.

Raheens Wood, Castlebar, 53.84605 -9.35738 4/10
Level parking for wood with walks. Close to straight road so some traffic noise. From here we visited the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, Turlough Park, 15 minutes away, and Gortnor Abbey Pier, 54.093875, -9.299058, which has water tap and overnight campervan parking.

Downpatrick Head, 54.322735, -9.345536 9/10
WAW Discovery Point. Great views of wild Atlantic with crashing waves and associated salt spray. Walk from here to head with sea blow hole, Dun Briste 40m sea stack and WWII look out. From here visited Killala Round Tower and Glencar Waterfall in full flow.

Donegal (2 nights), 54.652107, -8.112096 5/10
Car park close to town and next to tourist information centre. Free 18:00 to 09:00, 30 cents / hour, euro 2.70 for 24 hours. Walk along water’s edge with fairy doors on trees. Quay West excellent seafood restaurant. The Reel Inn has good reviews but on the night the music was average but in McCafferty’s Bar it was excellent. From her visited Sliabh Liag sea cliffs - impressive and colourful (there is a lower car park from which you can walk, we went through gate and drove to the upper car park).

Cruit Island, 55.03099 -8.41577 9/10
Flat grass area looking over sheltered bay. Quiet with great views.

Dunfanagy, 55.18426 -7.97029 6/10
Parking on old harbour, flat and overlooking estuary. Toilets, open during the day only, close by with accessible water tap on outside wall. Short walk to village centre and pubs. From here we visited Horn Head, narrow steep roads with few passing places, and Fanad Head.

Pollan Bay, Ballyliffin, 55.290185, -7.390997 4/10
WAW Discovery Point. Flat car park behind dunes, so no direct view of the beach or the sea. From here we visited Doagh Famine Village and Malin Head. The sister of Pat Doherty, who opened the Doagh Famine Village, she runs the reception and shop said that it would be ok to stay in the car park - level, with good views, overnight if visiting.
55.309362, -7.335269

Inishowen Head, 55.226864, -6.929079 4/10
Car park next to the lighthouse. Flat, behind dunes so no direct view of the beach, push-button water tap. From here we visited Londonderry, walked the Derry city walls and visited the Bogside murals depicting events from The Troubles. Parking difficult due to height restrictions and full car parks. Parked on the other side of the river in Browning Drive and walked over the Peace Bridge.

Gortmore, 55.14942 -6.87753 9/10
Viewpoint on the Causeway Coastal Route. Great views but very windy the night we were there. From here we visited the Mussenden Temple and Downhill Demesne (NT)

Bushmills, 55.20379 -6.52415 5/10
The plan was to stay in the Bushmills Distillery car park but on arrival we were told that this was not possible and the gates are closed at 20:00. Small car park next to the river, some road noise, not completely level. From here we visited The Giant’s Causeway (NT) for the day.

White Park Bay, 55.22867 -6.40661 4/10
Car park above the beach, no view fairly level. From here we visited the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge (NT) and Larrybane Quarry.

Jordanstown Loughshore, 54.6812, -5.883225 6/10
Slightly sloping car park overlooking the water, you can see the Stena Line ferry port which is 10 minutes drive away. Some noise from road and cars coming and going in the night.

I have updated our ‘where we have stayed’ map David & Judy CV Travels – Google My Maps this was our first time in Ireland so all the POIs are from this trip.

Information
Tourist Offices (Discover Ireland) have useful brochures, although most of the content is adverts for attractions, accommodation, etc. The WAW is very well signposted and each Discovery Point has an interpretation panel. There is supposed to be an app but I never found it. There is a web site, this page has the Discovery Points Discovery Points - Wild Atlantic Way Ireland | Online Guide It would be useful to have the coordinates for each point but all I have found is this which has the coordinates for the Signature Discovery Points on page 6 http://www.failteireland.ie/FailteI...ns_Plans/WAW_EcologyMonitoringSurvey_D001.pdf

Photos are here David Gittings (@mytchett) • Instagram photos and videos Click on the photo to see the text. Some posts have multiple photos, dots at the bottom, click on the arrow on the right within the photo to step through the photos.

Reading material
• Ireland Lonely Planet January 2012
• Eric Newby, Round Ireland in Low Gear. Pensioners Eric and wife Wanda cycle Ireland in 1985 and 1986 in December, January, June and October. The author waxes lyrical about their travels and digs deep into history as they search out well known and very obscure historical sites.
• Eugene O’Loughlin, Exploring Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way - A Mororcycle Odyssey. The author rode his Harley Davidson around the complete mainland Wild Atlantic Way, 2,760 kilometres in 10 days. He travelled anti-clockwise from Kinsale to Inishowen Head. What I liked about this book is that the author often writes ‘I noticed a sign pointing down a side road for ....’ and we explored some of these ‘not in the guide book’ sites.
• Leon Uris, Trinity. I read this book many years ago and took it with me to read again but did not - very small print! It’s a novel telling Ireland’s struggle for independence starting in the year 1885.
• Tony Hawks, Round Ireland With A Fridge. I read this on a previous trip to Ireland. Entertaining, funny and informative.

 

[Discokegs]

Have a look at my trip from last year
Tour of Ireland June 2017 | Travel Blogs
and 2012
My campervan trips to Europe: Southern Ireland 2012
also check out
Motorhome Craic
and
Motorhome Parking Ireland

What was that quirky green motorhome in the pic on your 2017 blog?

 

[Nesting Zombie]

Fantastic Post, Well done & Thank you.
Glad you’re back sad n Sound, Soooo Where to next ? Lol lol.

How did you find the Total money spent in The Emerald isle when compared to other trips you’ve done ?.

When I done it I found it relatively expensive but worth it as an experience

 

[Discokegs]

We are now back from our 30 nights in Ireland, plus one in Birkenhead on the way out. The ‘plan’ was to follow the Wild Atlantic Way (WAW) anti-clockwise from Kinsale. We visited all the major points but did not explore some of the minor peninsulas and side roads. The weather was pretty bad - it rained everyday apart from about three days, which were mainly at the end of the trip, but it did not rain all day, at least not every day. There was an almost constant strong bitter cold wind. Talking to locals the weather is not typical for April. Potatoes are usually planted on St Patrick’s Day, March 17th, but this year it was too cold. We heard a lot on the radio about the ‘fodder crisis’. Due to a long winter farmers are running out of silage and because spring has come late and has been wet there is no grass for the cattle so they need to be fed silage for longer. With better weather we would have stopped longer at some places and would have done more walks. So to explore the whole WAW and the Causeway Coastal Route in a relaxed way it could easily take twice as long - 60 days. We did 1,780 miles (2,864 km) in Ireland plus 470 miles to and from Birkenhead.

There are 159 WAW Discovery Points, some on offshore islands, of which 15 are Signature Discovery Points. It is possible to overnight at most of the Discovery Points.

Most beaches have public toilets but we never found any that were open. Toilets in harbours and in towns are typically closed at night.

We saw some height barriers, and also some car parks where the barriers were open, and also ‘no overnight’ signs. These were rarely at places we wanted to stay.

Here is where we stayed, with ratings out of 10, and what we did.

Birkenhead Ferry Terminal, 55.40617 -3.01775 2/10
We arrived late in the area, asked at the reception and were given the ok to stay overnight for our 10:30 ferry the next day. Reasonably quiet at the far end away from the terminal building and convenient.

Millisle, 54.60175 -5.52399 4/10
Convenient for the first night when arriving in Belfast on the ferry and heading south. Large car park overlooking the sea. From here we visited Mount Stewart National Trust house on our way south.

Spegla Dam, Mourne Mountains, 54.179227, -6.058719 8/10
Good views over reservoir. Butter Mountain short walk, 2.2 km round trip.

Drogheda, 53.7301 -6.2601 5/10
Dead end road on the River Boyne, outside gates to boat yard. Not a lot of space but enough for one van on the left of the gates and perhaps another tucked in. From here we visited: Bru Na Boinne, visitor centre for Newgrange and Knowth, Neolithic passage tombs.

Lowtown Marina, 53.27528 -6.83522 5/10
Parking overlooking the junction of the Grand Canal and Barrow Line. Toilets open during the day, automatically locked at night. Water and showers need a card to access. From here we drove to Cobh.

Cobh, 51.846797, -8.309349 6/10
Full service aire overlooking the harbour. Services free. Parking 10 euros / 24 hours. Interesting heritage town. From here we visited Cork by train, station five minutes’ walk away, 10 euros / 25 minutes.

Kinsale Charles Fort, 51.69778, -8.498832 7/10
Car park and road side parking areas on a bit of a slope, we parked on the road side which was a bit more level. Office of Public Works (OPE) sites have free admission on the first Wednesday of the month. From here we started the Wild Atlantic Way (WAW) visited: Charles Fort, Old Head of Kinsale and Timoleague Abbey ruins.

Drombeg Stone Circle, 51.56592 -9.08638 3/10
Car park has height barrier. As it was late we parked outside off the road and without blocking the entrance. Bronze Age 17 stone circle worth a visit. From here we here we visited: Ballydehob with its old railway viaduct, Schulz and Mizen Head (in force 9 gale).

Bantry (2 nights), 51.681235, -9.455567 6/10
The harbour car park near the town square is closed 6-9am on Friday for a market. The CP has height barriers but they were open. We parked along the road overlooking the harbour outside SuperValue. There is a town heritage walk, also short walks starting from the town, a helpful tourist office (with WiFi) and music in some of the pubs in the evening. From here we visited: Castletown Bearhaven - ‘Ireland’s fishing capital’, Loughane More Ring Fort, Beara Peninsular with Dursey Island cable car, and Allihies and Eyeries - two villages with colourful houses.

Kilmakillogue, 51.783055, -9.820912 6/10
WAW Discovery Point. Car park overlooking Kilmakillogue harbour and Kenmare River. Off the road and quiet. Not very level but great views. From here we visited: Kenmare and Sneem - with sculpture trail.

Coomanaspic, Skeilg Ring, 51.856189, -10.367023 8/10
WAW Discovery Point. Wide area of hard standing off the road where a track goes up to a radio mast. Not very level but ok when parked on edge of area. Great views of the Skeilg islands. From here we visited: the Skeilg Experience Centre, Ballycarberry Castle ruins and Cahergall Stone Fort.

Dingle (2 nights), 52.139099, -10.276236 5/10
Car park by harbour and tourist office, free between 18:00 and 08:00. Toured the Dingle peninsular. Great walk, parking at Slea Head, to Dunmore Head with views of Blasket Islands. Lots of view points. After the second night in Dingle we visited: Connor Pass viewpoint but thick mist so no views, some very narrow section of road on way down, north via the Tarbert to Killimer ferry, Carrigaholt castle ruins and a roofless church at Cross.

Loop Head, 52.560991, -9.930457 7/10
WAW Discovery Point. Car park outside lighthouse. Walked around Loop Head, then from here visited: Bridges of Ross and Kilkee Cliffs - all with great views, and Bridget’s Well.

Cliffs of Moher, 52.972278, -9.42237 4/10
WAW Discovery Point. Overnight in the car park and next day went to see the cliffs. It may be one of Ireland’s top tourist attraction with 1.5 million visitors a year but we enjoyed the views more from the previous days. The day we visited it was quiet with only around 2,000 visitors, the midges were also out in force. From here we drove through the Burren - bleak but beautiful limestone area.

Coromore Abbey, 53.126959, -9.053806 6/10
Down a quiet no through road, but still visited by tour buses. Flat. From here we drove across the blanket bog between Derryrush and Gowla with peat turf cutting in progress.

Glynsk Bay, 53.37467, -9.840993 6/10
WAW Discovery Point. Flat parking above a small harbour. Water tap on harbour wall. From here we visited Roundstone and the excellent Derrigimlagh 5km walk with interpretation of Marconi’s site of the first broadcast across the Atlantic and Alcock and Wright’s landing after the first ever transatlantic flight and more turf cutting.

Leenaun, 53.60007 -9.72973 7/10
Flat parking on the fjord like Killary Harbour where Killary Fjord Boat Tours depart from here we visited Aasleagh Waterfall (overnight parking close by), Doolough Memorial to famine victims, the National Famine Memorial and Westport.

Raheens Wood, Castlebar, 53.84605 -9.35738 4/10
Level parking for wood with walks. Close to straight road so some traffic noise. From here we visited the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, Turlough Park, 15 minutes away, and Gortnor Abbey Pier, 54.093875, -9.299058, which has water tap and overnight campervan parking.

Downpatrick Head, 54.322735, -9.345536 9/10
WAW Discovery Point. Great views of wild Atlantic with crashing waves and associated salt spray. Walk from here to head with sea blow hole, Dun Briste 40m sea stack and WWII look out. From here visited Killala Round Tower and Glencar Waterfall in full flow.

Donegal (2 nights), 54.652107, -8.112096 5/10
Car park close to town and next to tourist information centre. Free 18:00 to 09:00, 30 cents / hour, euro 2.70 for 24 hours. Walk along water’s edge with fairy doors on trees. Quay West excellent seafood restaurant. The Reel Inn has good reviews but on the night the music was average but in McCafferty’s Bar it was excellent. From her visited Sliabh Liag sea cliffs - impressive and colourful (there is a lower car park from which you can walk, we went through gate and drove to the upper car park).

Cruit Island, 55.03099 -8.41577 9/10
Flat grass area looking over sheltered bay. Quiet with great views.

Dunfanagy, 55.18426 -7.97029 6/10
Parking on old harbour, flat and overlooking estuary. Toilets, open during the day only, close by with accessible water tap on outside wall. Short walk to village centre and pubs. From here we visited Horn Head, narrow steep roads with few passing places, and Fanad Head.

Pollan Bay, Ballyliffin, 55.290185, -7.390997 4/10
WAW Discovery Point. Flat car park behind dunes, so no direct view of the beach or the sea. From here we visited Doagh Famine Village and Malin Head. The sister of Pat Doherty, who opened the Doagh Famine Village, she runs the reception and shop said that it would be ok to stay in the car park - level, with good views, overnight if visiting.
55.309362, -7.335269

Inishowen Head, 55.226864, -6.929079 4/10
Car park next to the lighthouse. Flat, behind dunes so no direct view of the beach, push-button water tap. From here we visited Londonderry, walked the Derry city walls and visited the Bogside murals depicting events from The Troubles. Parking difficult due to height restrictions and full car parks. Parked on the other side of the river in Browning Drive and walked over the Peace Bridge.

Gortmore, 55.14942 -6.87753 9/10
Viewpoint on the Causeway Coastal Route. Great views but very windy the night we were there. From here we visited the Mussenden Temple and Downhill Demesne (NT)

Bushmills, 55.20379 -6.52415 5/10
The plan was to stay in the Bushmills Distillery car park but on arrival we were told that this was not possible and the gates are closed at 20:00. Small car park next to the river, some road noise, not completely level. From here we visited The Giant’s Causeway (NT) for the day.

White Park Bay, 55.22867 -6.40661 4/10
Car park above the beach, no view fairly level. From here we visited the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge (NT) and Larrybane Quarry.

Jordanstown Loughshore, 54.6812, -5.883225 6/10
Slightly sloping car park overlooking the water, you can see the Stena Line ferry port which is 10 minutes drive away. Some noise from road and cars coming and going in the night.

I have updated our ‘where we have stayed’ map David & Judy CV Travels – Google My Maps this was our first time in Ireland so all the POIs are from this trip.

Information
Tourist Offices (Discover Ireland) have useful brochures, although most of the content is adverts for attractions, accommodation, etc. The WAW is very well signposted and each Discovery Point has an interpretation panel. There is supposed to be an app but I never found it. There is a web site, this page has the Discovery Points Discovery Points - Wild Atlantic Way Ireland | Online Guide It would be useful to have the coordinates for each point but all I have found is this which has the coordinates for the Signature Discovery Points on page 6 http://www.failteireland.ie/FailteI...ns_Plans/WAW_EcologyMonitoringSurvey_D001.pdf

Photos are here David Gittings (@mytchett) • Instagram photos and videos Click on the photo to see the text. Some posts have multiple photos, dots at the bottom, click on the arrow on the right within the photo to step through the photos.

Reading material
• Ireland Lonely Planet January 2012
• Eric Newby, Round Ireland in Low Gear. Pensioners Eric and wife Wanda cycle Ireland in 1985 and 1986 in December, January, June and October. The author waxes lyrical about their travels and digs deep into history as they search out well known and very obscure historical sites.
• Eugene O’Loughlin, Exploring Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way - A Mororcycle Odyssey. The author rode his Harley Davidson around the complete mainland Wild Atlantic Way, 2,760 kilometres in 10 days. He travelled anti-clockwise from Kinsale to Inishowen Head. What I liked about this book is that the author often writes ‘I noticed a sign pointing down a side road for ....’ and we explored some of these ‘not in the guide book’ sites.
• Leon Uris, Trinity. I read this book many years ago and took it with me to read again but did not - very small print! It’s a novel telling Ireland’s struggle for independence starting in the year 1885.
• Tony Hawks, Round Ireland With A Fridge. I read this on a previous trip to Ireland. Entertaining, funny and informative.

Great write up of your overnights.

 

[UFO]

How did you find the Total money spent in The Emerald isle when compared to other trips you’ve done ?.

When I done it I found it relatively expensive but worth it as an experience

We found the costs of: diesel, food in supermarkets - mainly Lidl, eating out and beer broadly similar to England. Diesel in Southern Ireland is a bit chepaer than here. We did not use campsites and only paid to park in Cobh, for Cork, (10 euros for 24 hours with full services) and Donegal (2.70 euros for 24 hours), also paid 5 euros to dump the toilet cassette once in a campsite.

 

[Deleted member 919]

What was that quirky green motorhome in the pic on your 2017 blog?

It was parked near us in Buncrana ,owned by a dutch couple and it had been in the family from new.Saw them a few times on our tour.

 

[trevskoda]

Pats sister at shop in fam/village says any one of our tribe can over night in c/park,a few vans at a time only as camping site down the rd would be on there ass.