From the road
A few frames from the eight days.
Eight days and just under 700 km down Ireland's rugged southwest coast, from Kinsale to Dingle, plus the climb home over the Conor Pass. The full route, the stops, and where we stayed each night.
A ride down the southwest of Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way, from the harbour town of Kinsale out along the peninsulas to Dingle.
"Five peninsulas and a whole lot of coast. We rode the best of Ireland's southwest end to end, and just when we thought we'd seen it all, the road kept saving something better for the next day."
The Wild Atlantic Way runs some 2,500 km up the whole west coast of Ireland. This is a spectacular stretch of it: eight days through West Cork and County Kerry, from the colourful harbour of Kinsale to the far tip of the Dingle Peninsula. We rode it as a point-to-point, moving on to a new town almost every night, so the scenery is always changing and you rarely retrace your wheels. It threads the great southwest peninsulas one after another, Mizen, Sheep's Head, Beara, Iveragh and Dingle, linked by quiet coast roads and the odd big climb.
The first three days work through West Cork, from Kinsale down to Skibbereen, out to the lighthouse country of the Mizen, and along the quiet lanes of Sheep's Head into Bantry. Days four and five cross the wild, exposed Beara Peninsula, over to Eyeries and its painted houses, then up and over Moll's Gap into Kerry. Days six and seven take on the Ring of Kerry and the Skellig Ring, past the Kerry Cliffs and out onto Valentia Island, before the new South Kerry Greenway carries you into Dingle. The eighth day is a loop of Slea Head Drive, the westernmost road in the country, before an optional bonus ride home over the mighty Conor Pass.
Each day below has its own full page: the route map, the reel, the stops we used, and the place we stayed that night. Ride the whole thing as a bikepacking trip, or pull out a single day as a standalone route. Below is the complete route on one map, then the trip broken down day by day.
Every day on one map, from Kinsale to Dingle and the Conor Pass home. Open a day below for its route file and turn-by-turn.
Tap a day for its full page: route, reel, and stops. "Stayed" links out to that night's accommodation.
A few frames from the eight days.