Tour around Ireland

[lejogger]

Hi Everyone

I'm due to set off for Ireland on the 23rd of May for 2 weeks(ish) around Ireland with my cycling pal... (getting the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin).

I've pretty much got the bike sorted, along with camping gear, but apart from a campsite about 10 miles outside of Dublin for the first night, we were pretty much planning to wing it on a day by day basis as far as the route is concerned.

Now I'm a pretty organised chap (understatement) so this is naturally going against all of my instincts. When we did End to End we had every campsite and B&B booked, routes plotted in the Garmin etc, but we were thinking that organic was the way forward on this occasion.

So my questions are aimed at people who have been there before. What are the roads like? Should we be sticking to the main routes or off the beaten track? What are the places/areas that we have to go to with regards to scenery and siteseeing? Should we be prepared for tough climbs etc?

Daily mileage will be between 50 and 80...

Many thanks in advance

Phil

 

[tyred]

Ireland has a huge amount of quiet back roads. Unfortunately, you will find the road surface will deteriorate as you get further north (excluding Northern Ireland).

As regards the best places for scenery, I would say anywhere along the north coast, but I suppose I am biased. In particular, the North Donegal coast (especially Downings, Atlantic drive and the Rosguill Peninsula), the causeway coast road from Derry to Larne which will take you through Downhill, Castlerock, the Giant's Causeway and the Glens of Antrim is truely beautiful and it is generally a cycle friendly road. Bloody steep though. Might be worth a boat trip to Rathlin Island from Ballycastle as well for some really unspoilt scenery. Also, Carlingford, Greenore and the general area around Carlingford lough.

The West (Claire, Galway, Mayo, Sligo) is also very nice but I find the cost of living there is ridiculous.

While you're in the Dublin area, it's only about maybe twenty miles to the village of Slane in Co. Meath. I would go there to visit the Newgrange Passage Tomb and the hill of Slane offers magnificent views on a clear day.

Irish drivers on narrow roads can be very impatient, depending on the area. I couldn't believe the difference when I did some cycling in Scotland last year.

 

[avsd]

In May B&B's should be relatively easy to find. Not as many regular campsites as in UK or France. West coast of Ireland is beautiful but can be very windy. The Ring of Kerry is outstanding. I would stay off the main roads where possible. In Northern Ireland the North Coast - Giant's Causeway is excellent as is the Antrim Coast road down towards Belfast. South of Belfast - Stangford Lough and the Mourne Mountains are excellent. In the Mournes you can avoid the climbs by sticking to the coast road Newcastle/Kilkeel/Rostrevor. Weather here is sunny/dry with light (circa 8-10mph) winds. Enjoy

 

[Hedgehoguk]

Why not follow the route used for the Race Around Ireland ? You can get the full route off the website although you will not have to meet all the qualification requirements as you ar enot racing.

 

[lejogger]

Many thanks avsd and tyred for your input.

Sorry for not being clearer, but on this occasion we've decided to leave out the North... mainly due to the timescale and the fact that I have friends around Cork that I'll probably want to visit. If we're down at the very south, trying to get up to the north and then back to Dublin for a ferry in what will be 11 days when you take off the travelling to and from Holyhead, it will end up being more like an Ireland end to end challenge - which is what we wanted this not to be after our LEJOG event.

This is more about sensible mileage which will allow us to see as much as possible whilst not worrying about having a guinness or 4 in the evenings (and maybe lunchtime ).

Newgrange Passage Tomb sounds like the ideal sort of siteseeing thing we're looking for - (is this the one recently featured in the History of Ancient Britain thing with that long haired Scottish fella?) along with lots of lovely scenery and plenty of craic!

 

[lejogger]

Thanks hedgehoguk too! 1264 miles is a touch more than we were planning to do, but I suppose we could follow it around the south coast and up to Castlebar, and then beeline across to Dublin? Worth a thought..

 

[Hilldodger]

http://irelandtallbiketour.blogspot.com/2007/04/10th-april-less-than-3-weeks-to-go.html

and we've still got the bike if you're interested

 

[lejogger]

Haha hilldodger, that's awesome. Haven't read all the blogs yet, but will in time. Will be very useful.
Any pics?

 

[barnesy]

Im from belfast and my first tour took me 800 miles round Ireland, I went down from Belfast towards dublin and stayed in Camac valley just outside Dublin (is this where you are staying?)

The next day took me down over the Wicklow mountains (great cycling) towards Athy, over to Cork via Clonmel, Clonmel is a lovely place and cycling through the Comeragh mountains was a highlight.

The road from Belfast to cork was mainly carriageway for me, it was boring but most major roads in the south offer a ful lane sized hard shoulder that i spent most of my time in with the tractors.

from Cork i pretty much hugged the coast going round the peninsulas, The Healy Pass is a cracking climb on the boarder of Cork and Kerry.

This brings you onto the ring of Kerry which is beautiful but full of American tourist busses, if you go round it clockwise from south to north you go into the flow of the busses. Kerry is one of the mst beautiful parts of Ireland in my opinion, stunning mountains and cliff roads which drop away into the sea.

From kerry i went around the Dingle peninsula and the Slea Head drive, even more scenic cycling, then up over the Conor Pass which is often featured in the tour of Ireland, then a quick descent into Tralee which is a lovely town to spend some time (around the outskirts, the hostel i stayed in the centre was full of rough looking crowds)

From here i took the ferry from Tarbert over to Kilimner which brings you into Clare and head on into the wind, i kept along the coast and seen beautiful sights like the Cliffs of Moher.

I got the bus back to Dublin from Galway.

The following year I cycled our end to end, Malin Head to Mizen head, alot of the route took me through places i had been before, except instead of going rond the rung of kerry i cycled through Kilkenny Natonal Park, over Mohlls Gap and the Gap of Dunloe (probably the best day ive had on a bike)

I then tookt he caha pass instead of the healy pass to bypass the Dingle penninsula.

All in all drivers were good, i had no complaints and i had more incidents from drivers in the 5 miles out of Belfast than the rest of Ireland.

People in general are very friendly, dont be surprised to have to have a chat if you stop for directions, alot of people i stopped in Cork didnt believe it was possible to cycle from Belfast.

The weather at the minute is good all over the country, we tent to hav our summer in Late May anyway.

The end to end route i followed can be found here:

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=RrzKj&doc_id=4735&v=Ij

and my own pictures found here:

http://s305.photobucket.com/albums/nn224/barnesy1988/Malin 2 Mizen 2010/

 

[mark]

If you haven't already bought the ferry tickets, and depending on where your campsite is, Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire is a better choice than Holyhead-Dublin. Dun Laoghaire is just south of Dublin, you'll be right in the Wicklow Mountains in no time. I found the roads in the Wicklow Mountains to be better cycling than the coast road from Dublin to Waterford.

Newgrange Passage Tomb is excellent, definitely worth a visit. I saw it when I visited my sister in 2004, the guided tour into the tomb itself was extremely well done.

I did a tour in southwestern Ireland (mostly Kerry) in spring of 2009, it's a very scenic part of Ireland with lots of well surfaced small roads. By "small" I mean single lane roads with very little traffic. The Iveragh Peninsula (where the Ring of Kerry is located) is a great place to cycle, but the Ring itself is no big deal. The road was modernized a while back to accommodate all those American tour buses, which took away a lot of the character and personality of the road. I found the tiny little single lane roads that wander through the peninsula to be much better cycling roads than the Ring of Kerry. I cycled through Killarney National Park and the Gap of Dunloe and Mohll's Gap. Barnesy is right, this is a great place to cycle. There's also a cyclist's version of the Ring of Kerry that uses lots of small roads, and (I think) a walker's version that uses footpaths and trails

I did a boat ride to the Skellig Islands to see the bird sanctuary and the monastery and beehive huts, it was excellent. There's a visitor center in Portmagee that describes the history of the islands, from the monastery that was there in the 9th century AD to the lighthouses that have operated there since about 1820. I spent 3 days cycling around the peninsula waiting for the waves to die down so the boats could get to the islands, and I'm glad I did it. If you can, go to the visitor center before you see the islands.

The coast road around the Beara Peninsula (just south of the Iveragh Peninsula) is an excellent ride, it's probably a lot like the Ring of Kerry was like before all the tour buses showed up.

 

[BalkanExpress]

Lejogger hi,

I fully agree with others about the cycling in Kerry but even more so the Reara and sheep's Head just to the south in Cork. Really great riding and as mark said fewer coach parties.
By chance I have just finished a CGOAB journal on a tour to Beara and Kerry and have posted a new thread on here.

 

[jags]

i live in drogheda just a few miles from oldbridge (battle of the boyne site) well worth a visit ,further on is newgrange another great tour.you will need to go to a village called Donore you get a guided tour from there to newgrange cost i think is around 12 euro but not to sure on that one.from there you could head to slane castle beautiful, if your nice lord Henry mountcharls will let you camp on his land free.
and remember lock your bikes well better to be safe than sorry.if you need any help when you get here pm me and i'll give you the guided tour.

 

[ZIZAG]

If you camp In Dublin . County Wicklow Is on Its Doorstep . The Coast road and lanes are very good . Lots of beautiful villages ,lakes scenery . Plenty of hill climbs and valleys . This area Is steeped In History . Glendalough , Powerscourt, Poulapouca, The Hellfire club ,Enniskerry . And Sally's Gap And the Sugarloaf Mountain . You must go and see .
have a good cycle .
Regards
Zizag .

 

[lejogger]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Will have to sit down and digest the advice with a map to figure out some sort of plan, but certainly plenty of food for thought.

Very much appreciated.

Hi Barnsey - camac valley is where we're planning our first night. Is it a good campsite?

 

[barnesy]

Yea its good, you need to cycle on a dual carriageway to get to it but it was decent enough, had a ood reception area with TV room, i just sat and read a book while charging my phone.

There are camper vans at the back and picnic tables scattered around, i think you are allowed to do bbqs aswell. Theres also a play park.

I camped on a large open area of grass near the hedge row, as i settled in i noticed dozens of rabbits coming up to the tent, there are hundreds of them in the park.