Get your kicks on West’s Route 66...
Wild Atlantic Way named one of world’s top drives
THE Wild Atlantic Way has been ranked alongside America’s Route 66 as one of the world’s ultimate road trips by the Lonely Planet travel guide.
In a new book of the 50 best drives in the world, Epic Drives
Of The World, the newly christened route is name-checked alongside other classic routes including Australia’s Great Ocean Road and Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Road.
The travel bible dubbed the rebranded 2,750km route from Kinsale to Derry all along the west coast as ‘untamed and utterly divine’.
The Wild Atlantic Way is the brainchild of Fáilte Ireland which wanted to attract tourists to the West after it was ravaged by the financial crisis.
In 2012, the then-tourism minister Michael Ring announced thar he would provide €1.8m in funding to set the wheels in motion for the pilot stage of the plan.
In February 2014, the initiative was launched in earnest and by the end of that year, Ireland’s tourism industry had grown by 8%, outpacing the European average of 6%.
According to Lonely Planet: ‘Ireland’s west coast is a dramatic procession of deserted beaches and towering cliffs where traditional music and ancient castles abound.’
Describing the scenery, the writers cite Oscar Wilde’s quote about Connemara – saying it has a ‘savage beauty’.
‘Ireland’s west coast is battered by Atlantic rollers, strewn with jagged cliffs and littered with wide beaches and sandy coves,’ says the Lonely Planet.
‘It’s a place where inky lakes shelter between mountains, sinewy stone walls clamber across hillsides and trees are frequently bent double by the wind.
‘The roads here are narrow and winding, grass often grows along a hump in their middle and a herd of sheep can easily scupper all plans,’ notes the guide.’
Donegal’s ‘gloriously deserted beaches’ also get a distinguished mention in the description of the country’s most renowned road trip.
Probably the most famous site on the route, the Cliffs of Moher, is currently on track to exceed its record visitor total of 1,427,166 people in 2016.
The Cliffs of Moher has already hit the one million mark 11 days ahead of last year and exactly 10 weeks earlier than when the million visitors milestone was first reached in 2014.
According to Katherine Webster, the Director of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience, the significant visitor numbers are fantastic for the local tourism sector.
However, there are challenges to face in relation to capacity management and sustainable growth, she says.
‘As a result, measures to accommodate group tour numbers have been put in place and advanced notice regarding capacity constraints and opening hours have been provided both onsite and online. Tickets for the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience cost €6 per adult while children go for free.
The other Irish route named among the 50 best road trips on the planet is Northern Ireland’s Coastal Causeway Route, now heavily signposted with Game of Thrones locations.
‘Often overlooked for the classic cliffs and laughs of the Irish Republic, the lonely shores of Northern Ireland might just be the perfect day-tripping antidote to Belfast’s urban core,’ the guide notes.
The chapter entry features a description of a journey along the route from Belfast to the North coast – and back again.
It alludes to the huge tourism boon of Game Of Thrones, with visitors from all over the world travelling to the route to see various locations used in the smash hit TV series.
‘Road signs advertise the Dark Hedges up ahead – one of the many recesses of the Ulster County, now famous as a backdrop for the TV phenomenon, Game of Thrones,’ says the guide.
Epic Drives Of The World also features wilder driving routes from across the world, such as a trip across the salt flats of Bolivia.
Each entry includes a first-hand account of exploring the route with advice for planning a short or long driving adventure.
The guide also has 200 more trip ideas – from coastal roads and desert drives to wine trails and cultural cruises.
The introduction to the guide captures the lure of the classic road trip: ‘No matter who you are – youthful or more mature, solo or with a family in tow – the open road is irresistible to travellers.’
O Epic Drives of the World, published by Lonely Planet, costs €34.99 and is available at Easons.
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WHAT seemed like a bit of a wheeze a few short years ago is one of the country’s great tourism success stories.
And now, says the Lonely Planet, the Wild Atlantic Way is also right up there with America’s Route 66 as one of the best road trips in the world.
So well done to whoever in Bord Fáilte saw the huge potential in promoting a road that already existed by simply giving it its own special identity.
And then selling it to the world!