‘A journey and an adventure’: driving Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way

Running 1,600 miles from County Cork up to County Donegal, this route, launched 10 years ago, takes in the west coast’s spectacular scenery

On the edge of pretty Mannin Bay there’s a barrel sauna with a convex picture window overlooking the white sand and translucent Atlantic Ocean. It’s the perfect place to warm up after a morning kayaking around the indented shoreline, one that changes dramatically with the rise and fall of the tide. We stroll back to Connemara Sands hotel, just steps away from the sea, passing the spa’s outdoor seaweed baths, hot tub and sheep grazing in the garden.

I’m on the west coast of Ireland exploring part of the Wild Atlantic Way, one of the longest defined coastal routes in the world. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, it was dreamed up after the financial crisis in 2008 as a way to lure people to the area with a 1,600-mile route running from County Cork in the south-west to County Donegal in the north-west, weaving through nine counties and taking in some of Europe’s most spectacular scenery. As marketing ideas go, it has been a huge success, bringing in an extra 2 million visitors every year and creating about 35,000 jobs.

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