Best Drives: Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way

We usually think of coastal tourist drives lasting a few hours and maybe a couple of hundred kilometres.

But the Irish have taken the concept to a whole new level with The Wild Atlantic Way, a drive which stretches an incredible 2500km along the Republic's west coast.

Established only a couple of years ago, it is intended to be an internationally renowned tourist route rivalling California's Pacific Coast Highway, South Africa's Garden Route and our own Great Ocean Road.

It stretches from County Donegal in the north to County Cork in the south and claims to encompass more than 500 tourist attractions, 53 safe swimming beaches, 120 golf courses and 50 loop walks.

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Bridge too far

With just a couple of days to explore The Wild Atlantic Way we were never going to drive the whole thing.

Instead, with our luggage stowed in a Mini Cooper S five-door provided by BMW Ireland with the help of BMW Australia we set off to explore the Dingle Peninsula.

Located in Ireland's south-west to the immediate north of the famed Ring of Kerry, we chose the Dingle Peninsula after reading through The Wild Atlantic Way's very helpful website, which describes various self-contained routes within the overall drive.

And some independent forums and blogposts also made it apparent this is one of The Wild Atlantic Way's most popular routes. With its combination of mountains, rolling valleys and spectacular headlands packed into just 180km it is arguably the whole drive in concentrate.

Now, 180km may not sound like far, but one thing about driving in Ireland is you don't get to many places fast. In fact, the 100km/h speed limit seems positively optimistic in plenty of places.

Once you get away from the small network of motorways that, for the most part, radiate out from the capital Dublin on the east coast, you'll spend a lot of time turning, cresting blind brows and being very much aware of the hedgerows and rock walls that crowd in on the road's edge.

At times, it felt like trying to drive in a telephone box!

Here's a practical example. It took us about two and a half hours to drive the 200km across Ireland from Dublin to Galway on the M6 motorway.

It then took us double that to drive the 260km or so south on highways and byways to Dingle, the peninsula's largest town and accommodation and culinary centre.

One car-spotter detail we noticed along the way is how popular Audis and Skodas are here. The Volkswagen Group is doing well.

Another is that Opels aren't badged as Vauxhalls, as they are in England. Historic anti-British sentiment perhaps?

Then there is the eclectic fleet of taxis; everything from a Mazda6 to a Lexus IS200 and a BMW 5 Series rolling on 20-inch low-profile rubber!

The MINI proved just the right choice for Irish roads - and not only because other MINI drivers always gave us a cheery wave.

It was small with quick steering, so it could squeeze into relatively tight places and through chokepoints. And its 141kW 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine provided plentiful squirt when we needed to make a passing move or the road opened up enough to see that bit further ahead.

And its substantial size - by MINI standards - meant it could comfortably fit a couple of big suitcases, albeit with the rear seats folded.

Never did we appreciate the MINI's modest dimensions more than out on Slea Head. This is the western most point of mainland Europe and the star attraction of the Dingle Peninsula.

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Ireland magic

It's a gob-smackingly beautiful drive. Sheer rock walls are separated only by a narrow strip of bitumen from sheer rock cliffs plunging into a turbulent sea hundreds of metres below.

Atlantic gulls balance on the breeze with wings spread, watching over green hillsides and an ocean that changes by the minute from steel grey to fathomless blue.

The intensity of the experience goes up a big notch when a bus rounds a blind turn coming the other way. A big bus!

There aren't that many turn-outs so you can reverse for ages trying to get out of the way, all the time worrying what's coming up behind and trying not to knock a mirror off on a rock wall.

The buses tell you another thing. Tourism is big here. There are lots of people from all parts of the globe visiting. In Dingle itself on a sunny Sunday afternoon it's pretty crowded. It's calmer during the week, but still busy.

But looking out from Slea Head across Great Blasket Island to the Atlantic Ocean makes it all worthwhile. No wonder several famous movies including Ryan's Daughter and the latest Star Wars instalment were filmed in this region.

But there's much more to see on this drive. Near the beautiful beach at Ventry there's a memorial to mark a German U-Boat dropping survivors from a torpedoed merchantman early in WWII.

Perched on the steep hillsides a few kilometres later are the pre-historic clochans, or beehive huts. No mortar, just rocks assembled together to form a watertight abode by people long gone and about whom little is known.

Another impressive structure is the early Christian Galarus Oratory. It looks a bit like an upturned boat, but is constructed from rock without mortar, has survived 1400 years and is still in great condition. Again, little is known about the people who built this place.

Looming over all this is Mount Brandon, the 952m ninth-highest mountain in Ireland. It's a mecca for walkers, as is the entire peninsula.

But this is a drive story so we stayed in the car and headed for Connor Pass, which provides a superb view north toward the Maharees Peninsula and Tralee - as in the ballad and festival 'The Rose of Tralee' -- and south toward Dingle

This is one of the highest road passes in Ireland and reaches 460m. Its western approach is a nice place to give the MINI a bit of a blat, as the curving bitumen is wide and the sight-lines are good. The other side is steep, narrow and definitely needs a bit more caution.

A very different drive is Inch Point on the south-eastern corner of the peninsula. Here, you can legally drive on a beach that spectacularly curves out into Dingle Bay for 6km.

The surf schools were in action when we visited, but even better, the coffee was good from the kiosk. As an Aussie traveller knows, finding a good coffee in some places can be hit and miss and Ireland is definitely like that.

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Guinness weather

Another consistent inconsistency is the weather. In a few days we copped everything from balmy autumn sunlight to torrential rain.

We were lucky that our visit to Slea Head was on a clear day. Not calm mind you, as the wind tore in off the sea. But none of the locals seemed to be at all concerned. Weather obviously plays a big role in life here and it clearly has to get pretty extreme before it becomes an issue.

Then, there's nothing for it but to head to the pub for a Guinness, a chat and a laugh in front of the fire. From our experience all of the above are in good supply in Ireland!

In fact, the pubs come in all shapes and sizes. One in Dingle did triple duty as a hardware store and was a bicycle shop for good measure. Sounds potentially dangerous…

Every village seems to have at least one pub and there are lots of villages. Even out on the western extremities of Dingle Peninsula you don't drive more than a few kilometres through the green-ness before another colourful group of houses come into view.

Some sit on the edge of stone beaches, others cling to the sides of hills, yet more are tucked within valleys. There's not a lot of trees out here but there's a hell of a lot of green. This place doesn't lack for water.

For all its attractions be aware Ireland isn't that cheap to visit. Its currency is the Euro and the Aussie dollar pales by comparison.

A two-course restaurant meal with a bottle of wine for two people will easily set you back $A100. A litre of unleaded petrol was 1.30 Euro, or about $2 Aussie. The MINI averaged an excellent 8.0L/100km by the way.

Staying in bed-and-breakfasts is definitely the way to go as hotels are expensive and motels non-existent. There are plenty of B&Bs around and it's a good way to connect with the local culture and other visitors, who can point you in the right direction for things to see and places to eat.

But head to Ireland with a relaxed attitude, a map of The Wild Atlantic Way and a plan to go for a nice, long drive and it's hard to imagine going wrong. Have fun!