Wild Atlantic Way 2017
A trip around Ireland and Northern Ireland taking in the NW200, fantastic scenery, fantastic roads, fantastic food and fantastic people. A route that I would recommend everyone tries as you will be completely overcome by the beauty of Ireland and it's people.
Ireland is an amazing country and by following the Wild Atalntic Way with a few of the monifications herein you will find amazing roads that go along the Atlantic coast, through forests, over monutains and sometimes all three at once!
The journey took 11 days but that includes 3 days at the NW200 - so it can be done in a long week if you need to - probably better to spend more time than less IMHO.
Some of the detail of this web page is not yet complete as the information is not yet available.
But enjoy all the same and keep coming back as the full story of this amazing adventure unfolds.
Logistics
We took Stena Line Ferries from Holyhead to Dublin and returned from Rosslare to Fisshguard.
You can also take Irish Ferries too.
All modern ferries, very comfortable and quick.
Our Itinerary
| Day | Date | Location | Hotel 1 | Activity |
| Tuesday | 9/5/17 | Valley, Anglesy | Valley |
1. Meet at Cherwell Services on M40. Depart at 10.00. 2. Travel to Valley, Holyhead, via preplanned route through Wales. 3. Arrive at Valley Hotel 1700. |
| Wednesday | 10/5/7 | Dublin | Uppercross House |
1. Travel to Holyhead Ferry Port. Leave Hotel at 1100. Ferry at 1350 so need to be at checkin at 1250. 2. Arrive in Dublin at 1705 and make way to hotels. 3. Depart for a night on the town @ 1900. |
| Thursday | 11/5/17 | Derry | Ramada Da Vinci |
1. Travel from Dublin to Derry via A2 along coast. Arrive at Portstewart in time for NW200 evening races. 2. Travel to Hotel in Derry. Arrive late. |
| Friday | 12/5/17 |
Day out in NI. No racing at NW200 Exact details to be fixed but to include
|
||
| Saturday | 13/5/7 |
1. Leave hotel at 0830 and travel to Portstewart ready for the NW200 day of racing. We can park on the slipway down to the beach in Portstewart and then walk to York Corner and take it from there. 2. Return back to Derry after the last race. |
||
| Sunday | 14/5/17 | Sligo | Clayton Hotel and Leisure Club |
1. Leave for Sligo at 0900. 2. Go along the Wild Atlantic Way to Sligo. |
| Monday | 15/5/17 | Galway | Travelodge |
1. Leave for Galway at 0900. 2. Go along the Wild Atlantic way on this route. |
| Tuesday | 16/5/17 | Tralee | Ashe Hotel |
1. Leave for Tralee at 0900. 2. Go along Wild Atlantic Way to Tralee. |
| Wednesday | 17/5/17 | Cork | Clayton Hotel Silver Springs | 1. Leave for Corkat 0900.
2. Go along Wild Atlantic Way to Cork. |
| Thursday | 18/5/17 | Wexford | St Georges Guest House | |
| Friday | 19/2/17 | Rosslare |
1. Leave hotel at 0730 to Rosslare. 2. Checkin for Ferry to Fishguard at 0800 3. Arrive in Fishguard at 0900 4. Travel to home through South Wales via preplanned route. (TBD) |
North West 200
We attended racing on Thursday and Saturday. Saturday is when the main events take place including the Superbike Races and the Senior Races as well as others.
There was no accommodation available in the direct vicinity so we stayed in Derry and travelled to the circuit from there. It is only a short-ish 35mile journey and you can get right into the center of Portstewart to park by the coast.
No tickets required, no grandstands either really it seems this year.
On Thursday we viewed the racing from the viewing area near to Yourk Corner, and on saturday from a viewing area on Bally Sally roundabout. The weather was typial with bouts of rain and bouts of sunshine.
Video from previous years.
2015
2016
Route
A great resource for the Wild Atlantic Way can be found at Wild Atlantic Way.
Our complete route looked like this.
Detailed Itinerary
Tuesday 9 May
Travel from Cherwell Services (our meet point) at 10am up to Holyhead.
Stay overnight at Valley Anglesy B&B.
Wednesday 10 May
Travel from home to Holyhead for ferry over to Dublin.
Uppercross House (1 night) (Booked)
Thursday 11 May
Travel from Dublin up to Derry
Thursday was a very long day. We arrived at the Da Vinci hotel in Derry and after checking in amde our way to Powrtstewart in time to see some of the evening racing at NW200. On Thursday night we made camp at York corner.
Route to and from from Derry to Portstewart and back. This route is very good as it gets you into the heart of the circuit without hitting any closed roads. It even takes you right down to the harbour by York Corner if that is where you need to be.
Ramada da Vinci
15 Culmore Rd
Londonderry
BT48 8JB
Restaurants and bars in Derry are concentrated around the West side of the River Foyle.
Londonderry is a great city to stay in. May seem a bit far from the racing but in reality it is only an hour away. IT is a lively city waith many bars and restaurants and some great live music venues. The hotel we stayed in is not really within walking distance for a trio of lardies like ourselves and so a taxi is needed. Taxis are very reasonable.
Our original plan was to dine at the Walled CIty Brewery whic when we arrived looked very nie. Unfortunately there was a private function which meant we were not able to eat there. Actually this worked out well. We walked over the peace bridge ad into the city center and found Entrada.
Recommended restaurant. Great food, great staff.
Always looking for live music a place called Blackbird was recommended. This was a great place with a great band.
Other interesting places to eat and drink in Derry
Other live Music Venues
Friday 12 May
There is no racing on Friday so a route was planned to include the Dark Hedges from the Game of Thrones.
|
 |
We passed by the Giants Causeway and stayed for a very good cup of coffee and some excellent cake for pre-lunch.
|
|
|
|
Saturday 13 May
Attend NW200, travelling from Derry to Portstewart and back to Derry for the evening.
Sunday 14 May
Derry to Sligo 155 miles
This was the first day of our trip to cross over into Ireland and to start seeing some of the fantastic Irish coastal scenery and to start sampling some of it's seafood (sorry Kerry).
Kerrykeel - The Curlew Cafe. A great find and a brilliant place to stop for fresh crab out of the lsea just across the road from the cafe.
|
|
 |
 |
Along the way we experienced some fantastic sea and coastal views.
 |
 |
 |
|
Near Gortahork, Co. Donegal we stopped at a bar called Teach Ruairi where we were able to get a good cold drink, most welcome after many miles without any refreshment.
Staying at Clayton Hotel & Leisure Club Sligo, Clarion Rd., Ballinode, Sligo.
As you can see from the map above there are many places to eat and drink and be entertained in Sligo. However after another long hard day all we wanted to do was have a hearty meal in the hotel restaurant and then get a good nights sleep ready for another glorious ride through the Irish coastal vistas.
The lists below were constructed by reading internat reviews and have not been personally visited.
Suggested Places to eat (and drink)
Suggested Live music venues
- McHughs Bar, 24 Grattan St, Abbeyquarter North, Sligo, Ireland (no website or FB)
- The Venue
- 5th on Teeling
Monday 15 May
Sligo to Galway 204 miles, 5h15m riding time
Leaving Sligo on the way to Galway in the rain one of the party had a bike failure caused by a broken clutch cable. This was the second time this had failed, last time was in France.
|
|
|
|
The story here is a real telling tale of how friendly and helpful the Irish are.
Mark and I had left Kerry with hs broken bike on a search for a bikcycle shop, bike shop or ironmongers to try and get soemthing that could be used to fix the broken clutch cable.
On walking through Sligo after finding out the bike shop was closed I had a very quizical expression on my face. This was enough for a gentleman to ask me what was wrong. When I explained he said he knew of someone who may be able to help and he would give us a lift to his place to see if he had soemthign to help. To cut a long story short he di indeed have a lawn mower cable that would more than likely be able to be made to fit. The gentleman than gave us a lift back into Sligo. His only charge was he wanted a text from me when we made it to our destination to say we arrived OK. I think that is a true tale of how helpful people can be.
The roads to Sligo were fantastic! Most of the route was on the N59 as you can see from the track above. But it is a fantastc road.
Travelodge
Tuam Road, . Galway, Ireland
Galway is a great city for food, drink ad entertainment. As you can see from the pictures we drank heavily from each of those cups!
|
|
 |
|
Tuesday 16 May
Galway to Tralee 178 miles
Luch stop at Vaughans Anchor Inn, Liscnnor, Co Clare. Great food. Note - even though it states they server seafood, beef and game, if one of the party is allergic to seafood they cannot eat here as everythng is cooked on the same grill.
Staying at the Ashe Hotel,Maine Street, Tralee, Ireland
This is a great hotel with secure motorcycle parking in a locked area of the hotel property. Very good accommodation.
We ate at Stoker Lodge, and whilst the food was OK it was not brilliand and not up to the standard we had become used to on our trip.
We didn't really give Tralee a good testing as to be very honest we were all exceedingly tired by this point in the trip and all we really wanted was sleep. An early night for everyone.
There are many places to eat and liten to live music, including most bars that have live music on at some time.
Wednesday 17 May
Tralee to Cork 232 miles
Waterfalls
|
|
 |
 |
Ladies View
|
|
|
|
Cork and Kerry Mountains
 |
 |
 |
 |
Staying at the Clayton Hotel, Tivoli, Cork, Ireland
Evenings Entertainment at An Spailpin Fanach
A great evening of traditiona Irish music. A brilliant time was had by all. Great musicians.
 |
|
Thursday 18 May
Cork to Rosslare 123 miles
Staying at St. Georges Guest House, Upper George's Street, Wexford, Ireland
Hotel good and cheap including breakfast. Good parking for motorcycles as locked at night.
Friday 19 May
Ferry to Fishguard and home.
Google Album of pictures from the trip