Dublin to Galway on quiet roads

[steveindenmark]

I am looking for a quiet route from Dublin airport to Galway keeping on quiet tarmac all the way if possible. I have been looking for a coast to coast but it appears they do not have one from the Dublin area.

RWGPS took me onto a greenway, complete with railway lines .

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Even if it is for sections of the ride.

 

[classic33]

Once outside Dublin City, many of the "N" and "R" roads are quiet. The motorways having taken the faster traffic. Consider the roads that follow the M6.

Any idea on what time of year and time of day you're looking at.

Done Dublin to Foxford a few times

 

[gavroche]

It will be quite a long ride as the train takes 2.5hours.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

There's a Geeenway map that someone has made @ https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/v...&ll=53.332098149674174,-7.324197871033448&z=9

When you eliminate everything except what is completed it looks a little sparse! :-)

There is a discussion of updates and standards that may be of help here. https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057835937

Cycle.Travel http://cycle.travel/map or CycleStreets https://www.cyclestreets.net/ throw up a few routes too.

Yes, there may well be quieter roads, but there may be a lot of agricultural traffic depending on the time of year.

 

[steveindenmark]

It will be quite a long ride as the train takes 2.5hours.

200+kms. A 3 day leg warmer I think.

 

[dickyknees]

Does anyone know if you can cycle the length of the Royal Canal Way out of Dublin towards Mullingar?

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Does anyone know if you can cycle the length of the Royal Canal Way out of Dublin towards Mullingar?

Yes, you can, but it depends on the bike as the whole thing is not surfaced. There's a more detailed discussion on different sections in the link I posted above.

 

[dickyknees]

Many thanks, I’ll have a root around.

 

[Sixmile]

There are a few options to ride West out of Dublin. The south canal is decent enough, I took the kids across Dublin that way last summer and didn't feel unsafe at any point (apart from going near Drimnagh..) When I was heading from the city centre to Navan last month I took the route through Phoenix Park which was a really pleasant ride.

There's meant to be a greenway from Lucan to Maynooth but I haven't found it on my travels. The Royal Canal way is very rough until Mary Lynchs pub. From Mary Lynches to Mullingar is dead on, Mullingar to Athlone is fantastically smooth asphalt. Athlone to Galway can be done on pretty harsh country roads or just on the shoulder of the main road, which is what I did and would recommend as the hard shoulders are decent in Ireland and the traffic wasn't too bad throughout the day. The back roads can be very rough and I couldn't get off them quick enough.

 

[classic33]

http://www.irishtrails.ie/trail/Royal-Canal-Way/28/

First you've to get away from Dublin Airport.

 

[Aravis]

A little south of a direct line from Dublin to Galway are the Slieve Bloom mountains, from which much of Ireland can allegedly be seen "on a clear day". There are two fine roads crossing them near the highest point, and these link together well as a through route when crossing the country.

If this sort of thing interests you it would be well worth looking for a route which goes that way. I did ride over them once, when heading west-east. I don't remember it being that clear though.

Incidentally, I'm not sure any range of mountains has a better name.

 

[steveindenmark]

I did look at heading a bit further South and then across. We would prefer to keep on tarmac as we want to crack on a bit.

 

[classic33]

Slowest part will be getting out of Dublin itself.

Do your dates of travel clash with any sporting fixtures?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Head out to Dunboyne then aim for Killucan, then Mullingar then Athlone. Day 2 aim for Athenry, Oranmore, Galway.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

About 80 odd miles first day and 60 odd miles second day.