Is Bantry worth an overnight stay or just a stop?
Stay. Bantry is a working market town at the head of one of the long sea inlets of the west Cork coast, and evenings are its own: dinner in town, boats settling in the harbour, the hills darkening behind. It is the natural base for this stretch of coast, with the Sheep's Head peninsula one way, Glengarriff and the Beara the other, and Whiddy Island in the bay in front of it. Market Friday fills Wolfe Tone Square, which is lively and makes parking harder in equal measure. Who should stop only: Wild Atlantic Way drivers on a tight run, who will get the house, the square and lunch, and should know they are skipping the better half.
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