Travelfoss
multi-base · road trip

Ireland

Thirty-two days driving the full Wild Atlantic Way and the Causeway Coast

19 April - 20 May 2022

Read from 3,190 photo timestamps, 14 logged hikes, one Gap of Dunloe cycle loop out of Killarney, and a string of untracked coastal-village afternoons up the west coast and round into the north.

The argument
We flew Bucharest to Munich to Dublin, gave the capital three days, then dropped south to Cork’s distillery country before six days working Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula - the Ring of Kerry and Skellig Ring day the loudest of the trip. From there we worked north up the coast through Connemara, Mayo and Donegal, then across into Northern Ireland for Belfast and the Causeway Coast - the Giant’s Causeway and the Carrick-a-Rede bridge. Thirty-two days, roughly 2,500 km, rarely more than two nights anywhere.
Trip shape
Pace · photos per day
Frame data
Duration
32 days · 31 nights
Countries
2 (IE 2,912 · GB-NI 271) · DE/RO transit
Anchors
6 (Dublin · Cork · Kerry/Dingle · Galway/Connemara · Mayo/Donegal · NI)
Hull
Dublin E to Achill/Connemara W, Mizen Head S to Malin Head N
Path shape
home → MUC → Dublin → S coast → SW Kerry → W Galway → NW Mayo/Donegal → NI → Dublin → home
Hike signal
14 logged · 77 km · 2,243 m ascent · component of road-trip pace
Cycle signal
1 logged · 40 km · 288 m ascent · Gap of Dunloe loop, Killarney
Photos
3,190 (2,912 IE · 271 GB · 5 DE · 2 RO)
Photo density
100 / day · 214 peak
Route distance
~2,500 km coastal
The six legs
01

Dublin opening

19 - 21 April · 3 days
Photos
287
Hikes
Spinc and Glenealo Valley (Glendalough)
Shape
city base + Wicklow day-trip
Anchor
Dublin
Pace
city rhythm

Apr 21 · Glendalough - the Spinc rim above the Upper Lake, a 10 km loop with 411 m of ascent to break in the boots before the road trip began.

  • 20 Apr · arrival and a full Dublin walking day - Trinity, Temple Bar, the river
  • 21 Apr · Wicklow Mountains, the Spinc and Glenealo Valley loop above Glendalough’s Upper Lake
02

Cork south coast

22 - 24 April · 3 days
Photos
417
Hikes
Bray-Greystones Cliff Walk · Three Castle Head (Mizen)
Shape
coastal drive Dublin → Mizen
Anchor
rolling, no second night
Pace
fast

Apr 23 · Cork’s distillery country - Shanagarry and Midleton, the Jameson distillery axis with Ballymaloe House down the road.

  • 22 Apr · the Bray-Greystones Cliff Walk before turning south through Kilkenny
  • 23 Apr · the drop through Waterford and the Comeragh Mountains down to Shanagarry + Midleton for the distillery afternoon
  • 24 Apr · West Cork - Kinsale, the Galley Head coast, then out to the Mizen Peninsula for the short Three Castle Head walk
03

Kerry / Beara / Ring of Kerry / Dingle

25 - 30 April · 6 days
Photos
898
Hikes
Torc Mountain · Derrynane Beach loop · Bray Head (Valentia) · Inch Beach walk
Shape
Beara → Ring of Kerry → Skellig Ring → Dingle
Anchor
Killarney + Dingle (rolling)
Pace
★ peak region · 150 photos / day

Apr 28 · 214 photos - the Ring of Kerry and the Skellig Ring day, Derrynane in the morning, Valentia Island and Bray Head in the afternoon, Portmagee for the Skellig view.

  • 25 Apr · the Beara Peninsula - Glengarriff, Allihies and the Dursey Island tip, then back over the Healy Pass to Killarney
  • 26 Apr · Torc Mountain in Killarney National Park - 13 km, 359 m of ascent in the wet
  • 27 Apr · the Gap of Dunloe loop by bike - 40 km, 288 m of ascent, the classic Killarney circuit out past Kate Kearney’s, over the gap, and back along the lakes
  • 28 Apr · ★ the Ring of Kerry + Skellig Ring day - Derrynane beach, Valentia Island, Bray Head, the Skellig Michael view from Portmagee
  • 29 Apr · a softer Killarney day with the Inch Beach walk on the Dingle approach
  • 30 Apr · out onto the Dingle Peninsula at Dunquin and Slea Head, north to Castlegregory
04

Connemara / Burren transition

1 - 8 May · 8 days
Photos
854
Hikes
Ballybunion cliff walk · Kilkee Cliff Walk · Mullaghmore Loop (Burren) · Cliffs of Moher coastal walk · Diamond Hill (Connemara NP) · Cleggan headland
Shape
W coast rolling Kerry → Clare → Galway
Anchor
rolling - Tralee · Doolin · Galway · Letterfrack
Pace
varied

May 2 · 198 photos - the Loop Head lighthouse drive ending at the Kilkee Cliff Walk at sunset, the kind of stretch nobody books a flight for.

  • 1 May · the rest day - 3 photos all day
  • 2 May · Ballybunion cliff walk in the morning, the Loop Head lighthouse run, Kilkee Cliff Walk at dusk
  • 3 May · the Burren - the Mullaghmore Loop in the national park’s pavement-grey limestone
  • 4 May · the Cliffs of Moher coastal walk from Doolin, then up the Clare coast to Fanore
  • 5 May · another quiet day - 11 photos through inland Galway
  • 6 May · Galway city, then west into the Gaeltacht around Carraroe and Roundstone
  • 7 May · ★ Diamond Hill in Connemara National Park in the morning, the Cleggan headland and Claddaghduff strand in the afternoon
  • 8 May · up through Kylemore Abbey and the Killary fjord to Westport
05

Mayo + Donegal

9 - 15 May · 7 days
Photos
548
Hikes
Slieve League cliffs · Malin Head
Shape
NW coast rolling
Anchor
Westport → Sligo → Donegal (rolling)
Pace
off-path · 78 photos / day

May 14 · 132 photos at Maghery - the long Donegal-bay strand below the Bloody Foreland, the WAW’s least-photographed corner.

  • 9 May · Croagh Patrick under cloud at Murrisk, then north through the Mayo coast
  • 10 May · Mullaghmore Head and the Benbulben skyline above Drumcliff
  • 13 May · the Slieve League cliffs in Donegal, the second-highest sea cliffs in Europe
  • 14 May · Maghery strand and the far Donegal coast around the Bloody Foreland
  • 15 May · Malin Head, the northernmost point of the island, then over the border
06

Northern Ireland

15 - 18 May · 4 days
Photos
350
Hikes
Portrush coastal walk
Shape
Belfast + Causeway Coast
Anchor
Belfast + coastal villages
Pace
★ NI peak

May 17 · 161 photos - the Giant’s Causeway in the morning, Bushmills distillery, Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and Ballintoy harbour to close.

  • 16 May · Belfast - the Titanic quarter and the city centre, 147-minute walking loop through six stops
  • 17 May · ★ the Causeway Coast day - Giant’s Causeway, Bushmills, Carrick-a-Rede, Ballintoy
  • 18 May · a quieter last day along the north Antrim shore - Castlerock and a short coastal walk above Portrush
07

Exit

19 - 20 May · 2 days
Photos
11
Shape
transit
Anchor
Dublin → MUC → home
Pace
exit

Brief return through Dublin on the way to the airport.

Cross-leg memory

Facts visible only at trip scale.

Route distance
~2,500 km · full WAW + Causeway Coast
Anchor cadence
1 - 2 nights per coastal stop · the canonical WAW pace
Country split
IE 91% · GB-NI 8.5% · DE/RO transit 0.2%
Peak region
Kerry / Dingle · 898 photos in 6 days
Active rhythm
16 hikes + 1 cycle ride spread across the trip, never two big logs in a row
Off-path runners-up
Beara Peninsula + Donegal NW · both ~55% off-path
Off-path · per zone
  1. Dublin ~5% capital standard
  2. Cork + Distillery ~20% less-photographed than Dublin
  3. Ring of Kerry ~5% top tourist route
  4. Beara Peninsula ~55% less-touristed Kerry alternative
  5. Connemara ~30% well-known but distributed
  6. Donegal NW ~55% the WAW’s least-photographed stretch
  7. Belfast ~20% capital standard
  8. Causeway Coast ~5% top NI tourist route

The trip is canonically Wild Atlantic Way for most of its length, but the Beara Peninsula day (Apr 25) and the Donegal NW stretch (May 14) push the off-path higher. Donegal in particular is the WAW’s least-photographed corner - the further north you drive, the lower the visitor density.

Hike highlights
View all trails in Ireland → View all trails in United Kingdom →
Negative space
  1. absent Aran Islands Off the Galway coast - the canonical Connemara boat day-trip. Zero photo cluster across the 8-day Connemara stretch.
  2. absent Skellig Michael The famous monastic island off Kerry. Apr 28 Portmagee and Knightstown touch the embarkation point but the island itself is permit-controlled and weather-dependent. Likely viewed from Bray Head and Portmagee, not landed.
  3. absent Inishbofin The Connemara offshore island. The May 7 Cleggan / Aughrus headland cluster sits at the embarkation point but the boat day isn’t in the data.
  4. absent Temple Bar nightlife Touched the city in the afternoon but no late-evening cluster - Dublin was the opener, not an evening city.

A full WAW + Causeway run with the predictable boat-only / island skips (Aran, Skellig, Inishbofin). The trip’s less-touristed choices (Beara, Donegal NW) outweigh the canonical misses, and the May 4 Cliffs of Moher coastal walk plus the Achill stretch on May 9 both register cleanly.

Numbers
Photo peak day
214 · 28 April · Ring of Kerry / Skellig Ring
Photo runners-up
198 · 2 May Loop Head + Kilkee · 181 · 24 Apr W Cork · 176 · 27 Apr Gap of Dunloe · 174 · 7 May Connemara · 171 · 25 Apr Beara · 169 · 23 Apr distillery · 161 · 17 May Causeway
Trip route distance
~2,500 km · full WAW + Causeway Coast
Anchors visited
6 distinct coastal / regional bases
Average per day
100 photos
Hikes logged
16 hikes
Cycle logged
1 ride · 40 km · 288 m · Gap of Dunloe, Killarney
First photo
2022-04-19 · Munich (Oberding) transit
Last photo
2022-05-20 · Râșnov + Valea Doftanei home stretch
From this trip

Where this trip surfaced elsewhere on Travelfoss. Public-facing posts and itineraries, drawn from the same days the data describes.

  1. Post Dec 2022
    What You Should Know About Driving In Ireland

    Is Ireland really the most expesinve place to rent a car? That's what they say, but we paid a third of the price asked by rental companies.

Reading 043 Last read 22 May 2026 Read from 3,190 photo timestamps, 14 logged hikes, one Gap of Dunloe cycle loop out of Killarney, and a string of untracked coastal-village afternoons up the west coast and round into the north.