Ireland · Kerry / Clare · Premium route guide
Wild Atlantic Way — Kenmare to Doolin via Kerry and Clare
737 kilometres from Kenmare to Doolin — the Ring of Kerry, Slea Head, Dingle, the Shannon ferry to Clare, Loop Head, and the Cliffs of Moher at the end. The most-ridden third of the Wild Atlantic Way, and the one with the tightest concentration of great coastal miles.
- Distance
- 736.9 km
- Peak elevation
- 292 m
- Elevation gain
- 3,976 m
- Best months
- Apr–Oct
The route
From Kenmare around the Ring of Kerry via Sneem, Waterville and Cahersiveen to Killorglin, then onto the Dingle peninsula (Inch, Dingle, Slea Head, Dunquin, Ballyferriter) and back through Tralee to Tarbert. Cross the Shannon on the car ferry to Killimer in Clare, then along the Loop Head peninsula to Kilkee, north via Lahinch to the Cliffs of Moher and Doolin. Pins are motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted.
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Works with Garmin, TomTom, BMW Navigator, Calimoto, Kurviger, komoot, MyRouteApp. Import as a track to ride the exact line. Road data from OpenStreetMap (ODbL); elevation from SRTM.
Track vs. route — how to load this into your GPS
What you're downloading is a GPX track — a dense, road-snapped breadcrumb of the exact line, with elevation on every point. It's not a GPX route (a short list of turn waypoints your device re-plans between). Tracks preserve our road choice; routes let the device pick its own way and can send you down a boring motorway shortcut.
How to use it on your navigator:
- BMW Navigator / Garmin Zumo / zūmo XT: import as a track, then Convert to Route (or Trip Planner → new trip from track) if you want turn-by-turn prompts. Keep Recalculation off so it stays on our line.
- TomTom Rider: import the GPX in MyDrive — it loads as a track / itinerary. Enable Follow the exact route so it doesn't re-plan.
- Calimoto: open the GPX and choose Import as tour — Calimoto follows the track line.
- Kurviger / komoot / MyRouteApp: open the GPX and pick Import as track to keep the road choice. Only choose Import as route if you want the app to re-plan for your bike profile.
- Google Maps / Apple Maps: these don't read GPX. Use the map on this page for turn cues, or import the file into a GPX-capable app first.
Rule of thumb: if your device asks "track or route?", pick track to ride our exact line — pick route only if you want the device to re-plan.
Elevation profile
From ~0 m at the base to 292 m at the top — 3,976 m of total climbing across the route.
Three to four days. The Ring of Kerry alone is a full day at a proper pace; the Dingle peninsula a second; the Shannon ferry + Loop Head + Cliffs of Moher a third. Add a rain day and you have a week.
This is the busy quarter of the Wild Atlantic Way — coach tours on the Ring of Kerry in summer are real. Ride the Ring anti-clockwise (Kenmare → Sneem → Waterville) to go against the coach flow, and be through Slea Head by 10am to have Dunquin to yourself.
The road, honestly
The Ring of Kerry is famous because it's genuinely spectacular — sea, mountains, and a proper coast road for 180 km. It's also busy in July and August with tour buses that only go one way (clockwise), so ride anti-clockwise and you'll have both lanes to yourself.
The Dingle peninsula is smaller, wilder and better. Slea Head Drive from Dingle round to Dunquin and Ballyferriter is the road most Irish riders would pick if they could only ride one loop in the country.
The Shannon ferry is the trick
Rather than double back to Limerick, take the Killimer–Tarbert car ferry across the Shannon estuary. It runs every 30 minutes, takes 20 minutes, costs about €8 for a motorcycle and puts you straight into Clare with the Loop Head peninsula in front of you. It's one of the great shortcuts in European touring.
Weather, food and fuel
Rideable April to October. Kerry and Clare get less rain than Connemara but more wind — the Atlantic gusts on Slea Head and Loop Head can be genuinely tricky. Fuel is easy everywhere.
Dick Mack's and Foxy John's in Dingle (both hardware-shop-plus-pub — order a pint and buy a spanner), Kate Kearney's Cottage on the Gap of Dunloe, and Gus O'Connor's in Doolin for the session. Order the seafood chowder in every town on the coast.
What to see along the way
- Ring of Kerry (N70) — The 180 km coastal loop out of Killarney. Ride it anti-clockwise to skip the coach tours.
- Skellig Ring — Signposted alternative to the main Ring — narrower, quieter, and includes the Kerry Cliffs and the Skellig view from Portmagee.
- Slea Head Drive (Dingle) — The 50 km loop from Dingle out to Dunquin and back. Beehive huts, the Blasket viewpoint, and one of Europe's great coastal miles.
- Killimer–Tarbert Shannon ferry — Car ferry across the Shannon estuary. Every 30 minutes, 20 minutes across, saves 140 km via Limerick.
- Loop Head lighthouse — The Clare peninsula's western tip — cliffs, lighthouse, and the point where the Shannon estuary meets the open Atlantic.
- Cliffs of Moher (Doolin end) — The famous cliffs. Park at Doolin rather than the main visitor centre for the same view and a fraction of the crowd.
Rent a bike
Rent a motorcycle or scooter for Wild Atlantic Way — Kenmare to Doolin via Kerry and Clare
Flying in? Pick up a bike near the start of the route. We've pre-filled the pick-up city with Dingle / Kenmare — change it if you're basing elsewhere.
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Rider-verified stays within 30 km
Automatically selected by proximity to the traced route — no editorial cherry-picking. Sorted by how close they are to the road.
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