Ireland: Wild Atlantic Way

Easy. The route takes you through rolling countryside on quiet minor roads, with occasional climbs. An average of 30km per day. Longer and shorter route options are available on almost every day.

You only need to carry a small bag with your belongings for the day and your picnic lunch.

Bookings are available for groups of 2 people or more.

8 days / 7 nights / 5 to 6 days of cycling.

We provide you with a digital travel pack that includes access to our smartphone navigation app, a list of your accommodation, any vouchers and all the information you need for your trip to run smoothly.
If you wish, we can provide a printed travel pack with maps, a route guide and a travel wallet for an additional charge, which you will receive at your first accommodation. You will also receive a personal welcome on the day you arrive or the following morning.

Accommodation

You stay in a room for 2 people with a private bathroom in a 3*-rated hotel or, depending on availability, in guesthouses or holiday cottages. Guesthouses are always very popular, as you will stay in a family home where the personal touch and attention to detail are second to none. A warm Irish welcome awaits you, along with home-cooked food, comfort and a taste of traditional Irish life. Although you may stay in part of the family home, this does not mean you will lack privacy. The rooms are comfortable, the facilities are modern, and care and attention are what these properties excel at.

Leenane Hotel in Leenane ® Leenane Hotel

Please note: Accommodation photos are for illustrative purposes only. Accommodation may change. Depending on availability, we may book other hotels offering an equivalent standard and level of comfort.

Meals

Breakfasts are included. For lunch, you can order a packed lunch from your accommodation or stop along the way at an inn or a traditional restaurant. For dinner, you will have a choice of several restaurants along your route.
Please tell us about any food allergies or special dietary requirements when booking; we will do our best to adapt your meals.

Start

On Day 1, in the afternoon at your hotel in Clifden.

Finish

On Day 8, after breakfast at your hotel in Westport.

Bike hire

The bikes we offer (or equivalent models):
1 / Trek FX 2 Disc (hire is included in the trip)

Trek FX 2 Disc

2 / turbo electric bike: Trek Verve – Low Step

Trek Verve – Low Step

We offer 2 types of electric bikes:

• Pedal-assist bikes: lighter but less powerful, providing assistance without doing all the work for you
• Turbo electric bikes: heavier but more powerful (subject to availability)

Bike hire includes the following accessories
We provide a bike rack, a helmet (available in different sizes), a small front handlebar bag, panniers, a repair kit with tyre levers and a pump, and a bike lock. Participants on our cycling trips must have a basic understanding of how a bike works and be able to change gears and brake, put a slipped chain back on, repair a puncture and change a flat tyre.

By plane

Flights are not included in the price of the trip, but we can arrange them for you with scheduled airlines; please contact us. The main airlines serving Ireland are: Aer Lingus, Air France, Hop!, Ryanair.
The arrival airport for Connemara is Dublin. The easiest option is to take a direct bus from the airport to Galway (City Link or Gobus). Allow between 2 hours 30 minutes and 3 hours for the journey. Once in Galway, you can take a direct bus to Clifden (approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, route 419 operated by Bus Eireann or another bus operated by Citylink).

Please let us know your arrival time in Clifden so that we can inform your accommodation provider and arrange your welcome.

A number of our trips offer opportunities to swim along the route or at the end of the day. It would be a shame to miss out. However, we emphasise that you alone must judge whether it is appropriate to swim; you therefore swim under your own responsibility and at your own risk.

Member of Agir pour un Tourisme Responsable (ATR)

Since 2012, Grand Angle has been a member of ATR, the leading association for more responsible tourism. We design our trips – on foot, by bike and on snow – to invite everyone to discover the world differently: with curiosity, respect and kindness.

As a member of the board of directors since 2018, we actively help the industry move towards more meaningful practices. In practical terms, we focus on:

• Transparency in our practices and pricing
• Respect for our partners and local communities
• Protecting the environment on every trip

We also share the values of the Traveller’s Ethical Charter, which encourages everyone to take simple steps to protect the places they visit and make meaningful connections with others.

Travelife Partner

Since 2025, Grand Angle has been recognised as a Travelife Partner, an international label that certifies our responsible environmental, ethical and sustainable management practices, both within our company and in our work with partners and the organisation of our trips.

This label, the second level of a demanding international certification scheme, recognises our concrete actions to support responsible tourism. We are actively working towards the next level, Travelife Certified, in accordance with our sustainable development policy

For cycling

• Cycling shorts or tights, depending on the season
• Cycling gloves
• A helmet
• Sunglasses (for protection from the sun, wind and midges)
• A windproof jacket
• T-shirts or cycling jerseys
• A handlebar-mounted map holder
• A bottle cage and water bottle
• Rear panniers to carry your belongings for the day and a bike lock; alternatively, a backpack with a small handlebar bag

Please note: synthetic technical clothing performs very well. New merino wool garments have also become available; they perform very well, are comfortable to wear and have the advantage of resisting perspiration odours. As a general rule, avoid cotton, which makes you feel cold when wet.

Clothing

• A jumper or fleece
• A pair of shorts
• A tracksuit or a change of clothes
• A lightweight, long-sleeved cotton shirt
• A pair of running-style trainers for the evening
• Spare clothing and underwear
• A toiletry bag
• Swimwear
• A small first-aid kit: personal medication, surgical masks, hand sanitiser, plasters, sterile dressings and a bandage, gauze, antiseptic, arnica granules and aspirin, etc. (please note that this list is not exhaustive and should be adapted to your own medical needs).

For your lunchtime picnic

• Your eating kit: a plastic bowl, container or plate, and cutlery (spoon, fork and knife)

For protection from sun and rain

• Sunscreen and sunglasses
• A hat, cap or bucket hat (helmet)
• A windbreaker
• A rain cape or a “Gore-Tex” jacket

• If your bike does not have a pannier, bring a comfortable small 40-litre backpack with a hip belt to carry your personal belongings and picnic during the day. If you have a luggage rack, you can secure your bag to it with bungee cords. Rental bikes come with a pannier for your belongings. Bring a small backpack as well; this makes it easy to carry your belongings when you stop to visit places along the way
• A bag for luggage transfers: a backpack or travel bag in good condition

You can also find this information in our comprehensive article, which explains what to pack in your panniers for your next cycling trip.

Country: Ireland
Capital: Dublin
Population: 4757976 inhabitants

Travel documents

Travellers, including minors, must hold a national identity card or passport (EU nationals). For entry requirements during the Covid-19 pandemic, please consult the Ministry for Foreign Affairs website.

Health

Bring your European Health Insurance Card, which you should request from your health insurance provider at least 15 days before departure. Health conditions are similar to those in France.

French Embassy in Dublin
66 Fitzwilliam Lane - Dublin 2
Telephone: 003531 2775000

Ireland +353.

Ireland is one hour behind France. When it is 12:00 in France, it is 11:00 in Dublin.

If you are planning a trip to Ireland, consider travelling between April and September: the weather is pleasant, the days are sunny, and there is less rain than in winter. Of course, you may still experience a few rainy days, but it is quite common to enjoy a full day of sunshine with only a few passing clouds.
In any case, avoid the coldest periods, such as December and January, when it gets very chilly (whichever county you are in!). If you do want to visit during this season, remember to bring warm, waterproof clothing.
Source: www.guide-irlande.com

Euro.

Irish traditions
The Irish pub
The pub is probably one of Ireland’s best-known institutions. It immediately brings to mind a warm atmosphere where conviviality mingles with malty aromas…
Here, you collect your drink at the bar, which can be difficult to reach at busy times. Be patient the first time you order a Guinness, as it is poured slowly in two stages. You pay as soon as you are served. At lunchtime, and sometimes in the evening too, pubs serve generous, varied food: soups, sandwiches or pub grub, a hearty meal at a reasonable price.
Unless you are particularly unsociable, you will rarely be left alone with your pint for more than 10 minutes. Important! If Irish people invite you out, you do not pay for the first round, and above all, you do not insist… It is customary to drink as often as the Irish person you are with. A useful tip: if you are not used to beer or usually drink it in moderation, start with half pints (or glasses in Éire). For thirsty drinkers, a pint costs less than two half pints.

Mythology
Irish mythology holds a prominent place among European myths. It is the oldest mythology written in the language of its people. The earliest texts date from the seventh century AD. The foundational poem of Irish mythology is the Táin Bó Cuailnge, known in English as The Cattle Raid of Cooley. Its warriors of the Red Branch are the equivalent of the Knights of the Round Table. In the days when people gathered around a storyteller by the fireside on long winter evenings, telling the Táin, together with a few accompanying tales, took an entire week! The central story concerns a war between the kingdoms of Ulster and Connaught. Among the accompanying tales is one of the most beautiful love stories in European literature, one of the Three Sorrowful Tales of Ireland: the story of Deirdre (“sorrow” in Gaelic). Full of twists and turns, it weaves together love, prophecies, dreams, rivalries, intrigue and battles.

Religions and beliefs
It will come as no surprise that Ireland is a country with a strong religious tradition. You will have plenty of opportunities to see this for yourself: statues of the Virgin Mary along the way, large congregations at Sunday Mass and, on some radio stations, a minute’s silence for evening prayer.
Every year, the climb up Croagh Patrick draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, while the tiny island of St Patrick’s Purgatory (Donegal) can welcome up to 2500 penitents for three nights of prayer and mortification.
To understand such fervour, we need to look back a little. Christianity took hold gently and did not consign ancient sacred places and figures to the status of diabolical relics. It absorbed them. The Catholic religion became a symbol of Irish resistance to the Anglican invader. Daniel O’Connell founded the Catholic Association and, in 1843, gathered almost 1 million people at Tara (the former capital of the Celtic kings, another blend of Celtic and Catholic traditions); finally, the Constitution of 1922 has a decidedly clerical character. The prominent role of religion is, of course, closely linked to Ireland’s conservatism on social issues. Homosexuality was not decriminalised until 1993, divorce has only been legal since 1996, and abortion has only been possible since 2013… but only when the mother’s life is in danger!
Source: www.routard.com