Walking part of the Wild Atlantic Way

Hello,

So, my wife and I are keen middle-aged walkers (we can do c. 20km a day of walking/trekking). We have 5 days to do a section of the Wild Atlantic Way from Kinsale. We’ll be landing at Cork, so happy to take public transport somewhere for a start and then return to Cork city.

We’d be doing Saturday to Wednesday in September.

Two years ago we did the West Highland Way in Scotland, and found a bag carrying company that would take our heavier gear from né stop to another. It was great, and at about €30 for the whole 154km, it was even better. The company basically drive along the route back and forth everyday, too long up and dropping off as they go along.

So, looking for something similar in the Wild Atlantic Way, but so far it seems that the route has been designed primarily as a driving or cycling route. And the few walking guides I’ve found are more about the personal experience of the walker, than clear directions and maps for walking.

Is this people doing on this route — walking/trekking — or would we be just two people walking along busy roads?

Any tips and suggestions welcome!

Hi Luis,

Many thanks for joining us here and asking your question on hiking/walking some of the Wild Atlantic Way!

The route is primarily a driving/cycling route as far as it tends to stick to the main road aspect as a way to get around the area and see as much as possible. So the road from Kinsale to Timoleague at the start of your trek would be the R600 a normal road without foot paths but one that a lot of walkers would use.

I would say that a lot of the trails that can be found on the Sports Ireland website would start at or around Skibbereen so this may help you decide on what you walk and where you stay.

We have an accommodation search page on our website, just scroll down to the where do you want to stay section and use the filters to refine your search. B&B Ireland has a great section for walkers accommodation, again worth a look to see what is on the route you may be following.

Transport for Ireland has a handy journey planner for your public transport options to and from Cork as well as any that you may include on the WAW route too.

As far as luggage transfers go, we have a previous post on walking trails that has a link to The Pathway Porter who offer luggage transfers.

Hopefully, this will help and our fellow members may have some suggestions too.

Hi, Martin,
This is ever so helpful, thank you! I think you answered all our queries here, thank you for the links too.
All best,

Luis

Thank you so much for jumping in, Martin! This is indeed incredibly helpful.

Luis - you may want to look into specific hiking trails in West Cork, as Martin suggested or even consider hiking some of our Southern Peninsulas loops, like the Beara Way that circles around the Beara Peninsula using walking trails only (as long as it fits your 5-day itinerary). You can filter the Sport Ireland website on longer trails to display these loops/multi-day hikes.

Let us know what your itinerary ends up looking like and if you have more questions :) 

Happy planning!
Antoine

Hello, Antoine,
Super idea, actually. Beara Way seems fantastic. And I've now also come across the Fastnet Trails. Right, time to get a map out and chart a route. Thank you to both!

Luis