Top 15 Experiences Along the Wild Atlantic Way

In an already-enchanted land, there’s an enchanted lane called the Wild Atlantic Way. It hugs the western coastline, from Donegal to Cork, and offers heaping doses of magic upon magic. 

Along your travels, you’ll be greeted by ancient castle ruins, former watchtowers, giant lighthouses, soaring puffins, and some of the friendliest locals in the world. 

You could easily spend six months – or even a year – exploring the Wild Atlantic Way. But, if we had to narrow it down to 15 stopping points, this is a great starting point for what’s guaranteed to be the most transformative journey of your life. 

Mayo Dark Sky Park

If you’ve ever stargazed in a land without any light pollution, you’ll know there’s nothing else like it in the world. At night, especially in the winter months, the night sky in Mayo rolls out like a blanket of stars and reveals all of nature’s truths to you. 

With your woolen sweater on, a hat, and a pair of gloves, be sure to take this walk one evening so you can tuck this memory in your back pocket for life. Perhaps you’ll re-read W.B. Yeats’ Cloths of Heaven while you’re there:

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet.

The Cliffs of Moher

After you’ve been kissed by the stars, it’s time to let the wind comb through your hair. One of the best places to do this is at the world-famous Cliffs of Moher. At just over 700 feet in the air, you’ll soar like an eagle – or, in this instance, a puffin – over the Atlantic Ocean and breathe in the beauty of nature once again. 

This region is your golden ticket to spend a night in a castle-turned-luxury hotel. You have Ashford Castle, as well as Dromoland Castle. If that’s always been your dream, check out this list of castle hotels that will make you feel like royalty. 

Doolin

The tiny little village of Doolin, with a population of just over 300 people, has somehow become the mecca for live Irish music, or trad. If you come in the summer months, it’s brimming with busloads of visitors who are coming here just for that. 

With a pint and a barstool, you’ll be amazed at how easily it is to transport yourself back to another time when cell phones and TVs didn’t matter. It was all about the camaraderie, heartfelt music, and a momentary sense of community. 

Fanore Beach

Not far from Doolin, you have another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it village, Fanore. The drive to Fanore from Doolin hugs the coastline perfectly and opens up to sweeping panoramas of the sea on one side and cottages coloring the hills on the other. 

The magic of Fanore lies in its orange-colored beach backed by limestone hills. It’s one of the most unique beaches in the world. Perhaps, while you’re there, you’ll re-read Seamus Heaney’s poem about a nearby beach, Flaggy Shore: 

And some time make the time to drive out west
Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore,
In September or October, when the wind
And the light are working off each other
So that the ocean on one side is wild
With foam and glitter, and inland among stones
The surface of a slate-grey lake is lit.