3 Incredible Drives for Campervans in Ireland

Ireland is an island with an enormous amount to offer those travelling by campervan. There’s plenty of eye-popping scenery to take in while you’re at the wheel, as well as a range of attractions to sample. It’s just a short trip across the Irish Sea, and the locals all speak English.

If you’re considering a trip abroad following the lifting of the lockdown measures, then it’s an obvious and ideal candidate. When things will return to normal remains a little bit uncertain, so you’ll want to hold off booking for a little longer. With that said, it doesn’t hurt to plan – and if you have your ducks in a row when the travel restrictions do ease, you’ll be able to move quickly and get ahead of the tourist pack. Among the more important of these ducks is campervan insurance, which can be sorted out now that travel is restricted.

So which drives in Ireland are worth checking out? Let’s look at three leading contenders!

Causeway Coastal Route

This spectacular sea-view drive commences at Belfast and ends up in Derry, making it accessible as well as gorgeous. Being as this is Northern Ireland, you won’t need to worry about post-Brexit travel restrictions, and you’ll be able to cover a significant chunk of the country’s coastline in a single trip. Among the stops along the way are the Giant’s Causeway, The Dark Hedges, and Carrickfergus Castle. The journey offers a perfect balance of historical interest and natural beauty, and it’s a must if you’re visiting Northern Ireland by Campervan for the first time.

The Ring of Kerry

This ringroad circles the Iveragh Penninsula, on the island’s southwest tip. The area is a haven for hikers, offering a myriad of sights to see. The entire route can be covered in just under four hours, but it’s better to plan a longer tour, and take your time at each stop along the way. If you can find somewhere to leave the campervan, you might take the opportunity to visit Skellig Michael, the island where Luke Skywalker lived like a hermit in the more recent Star Wars films. While you can do the route in either direction, all the views are going to be on the left hand side of the road if you do it clockwise, which is going to make it a lot easier to pull up whenever the fancy takes you.

The Burren

The Burren national park is among the most attractive parts of the country, packed as it is with incredible scenery. The name of the park comes from the Irish word for ‘rocky place’, which is exactly what you get here – there’s very little soil cover, which means the underlying limestone is exposed, often in spectacular fashion. The park is home to special sorts of plants, which thrive in the acid-rich soil, as well as hare, badgers, otters, and several varieties of bat. While you’re circling the parkland, you’ll be able to stay at a range of tiny Irish villages; be sure to check out the local seafood, which exhibits some of the county’s unique flavours.