The Wild Atlantic Way to Sleive Cliffs

Despite the late night/early morning, we had the tandem out and were on the road by 10.30 am. The first part of the route was down to the coast on a small road with grass growing in the middle, a few houses, rural and scenic. We continued mainly along the coast, saw sandy bays and a dramatic coast line. We passed through Kilcar and Carrick until we reached Teelin where the Sleive Cliff Visitors Centre was located. We stopped for coffee and scones before continuing up hill (again!) to the lower car park. We decided it was best to walk the 1.5 km to the cliffs rather than cycle as it had been a very hilly route and we were keen to save the battery. It was a very scenic walk with dramatic views of the coast line and we also spotted one of the war time markings in the cliffs which helped returning pilots know where they were and that they were flying over neutral territory. As we arrived at the cliffs there were 3 vans, one selling drinks, another souvenirs and a tweed clothes van. We walked along to the viewing platform to see the cliffs and take a photo. The wind started increasing and all the selling vans rapidly shut up shop and headed off. We headed back to the bike and hoped rain wasn’t setting in. We made it to Kilcar and found a seat in a ruined church to have our picnic. We had a quick look in the tweed shop before continuing. We had one last windy stop at a coffee van for a cuppa overlooking the ocean and took the direct route this time back to the site. A 34 mile ride including 3 km of walking and 3,259 feet of climbing and stunning scenery. We battled against the wind to pack the bike back into the van. We then retreated inside into the warm and within minutes the rain finally started lashing down - how lucky was that!Read more