The handshake — WAW · Causeway Coast
Crossing the border.
The Wild Atlantic Way ends at Banba's Crown on Malin Head. The Causeway Coastal Route starts across the water in Derry. They're the same coast — the line on the map is older than either tourism board, and you'll cross it without ceremony.
Here's what actually changes, in plain language.
Two ways across the Foyle
The bridge at Derry is the all-weather, all-hours option — the Foyle Bridge on the A2, twenty minutes from Muff to the Bogside, no checkpoint and no paperwork. If you're heading into the city anyway (walls, Bogside murals, Peace Bridge), this is the one.
The Lough Foyle ferry from Greencastle (Donegal) to Magilligan Point (Derry) is the shortcut — a 15-minute sailing across the mouth of the lough that saves the 90-minute drive round through Derry. Roughly hourly in daylight, year-round (reduced in winter), cars and foot passengers, takes both £ and €. Ideal if you've done Inishowen and want to land straight onto Benone Strand and Mussenden Temple without doubling back. Timetable at loughfoyleferry.com.
You'll know you've crossed either way when the road signs switch from kilometres to miles.
Currency
Republic of Ireland: € euro. Northern Ireland: £ pound sterling. Most border towns take both, but don't count on it past Derry. Card works almost everywhere; carry a small note for parking and toilets.
Speed limits & fuel
Signs in mph, not km/h. Fuel sold in litres on both sides but priced in the local currency. Last cheap-ish fuel in ROI is around Buncrana or Carndonagh — top up before you cross if it matters to you.
Mobile data
Most Irish (ROI) and UK (NI) plans cover both sides as roam-like-home in 2026, but check before you travel. EU contracts may charge roaming in NI; UK contracts may charge in ROI. Download maps and this page before you cross.
Driving
Same side of the road (left). Same insurance — your green card covers both. The roads narrow and twist in a different way once you're east of Derry; the Antrim Coast Road is famously hung off the cliffs.
Emergency
112 works either side. 999 works either side. Same as the rest of the UK and Ireland.
If you're driving the whole coast
The natural sequence is south → north along the Wild Atlantic Way, cross the Foyle at Derry, then east along the Causeway Coastal Route. Twelve to fourteen days does it justice; ten works if you keep moving. Use the planner — it'll bridge across the border automatically when your trip is long enough.
Two named routes, one companion. We'll never claim a Northern Ireland place is on the Wild Atlantic Way (it isn't), or that a Donegal place is on the Causeway Coastal Route (it isn't). Both are real, both are worth your time, and the crossing between them is one of the underrated drives in Europe.
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