Anyone done a cycle tour in Ireland?

Pretty tempted by the very cheap train/ferry prices – I can get a return from Lancaster to Dublin including the ferry for £60! A little extra to take a bike I think but not too much

http://www.seat61.com/Ireland.htm#recommended option

Where would be good to head to from Dublin? Or would I be better getting the train on to Galway/Cork/Sligo? The south/west coast looks like it could be more interesting.

Plenty of places to stay – hostels/B+Bs etc? Not sure I am man enough to take camping gear just yet.

Expensive?

Cheers!

This is something I’ve thought about too. The only thing you can be sure of is that you’ll need some waterproofs! 😉

I’ve only been on a motorbike round Ireland, and I loved it. Norn-Irn is a lovely place, the coastline is superb!

Ooh – I’ll follow this one with interest. I’m swithering about a Malin-Mizen charity ride next year, but it might miss some of the best bits.

Cheers PP, yeah I go to Scotland often so I am used to rain 🙂

Where is Mizen druidh – southern end of Ireland somewhere?

Mizen head is in Cork.

I did Mizen to Malin a couple of years ago over 4 days. First 2 days through Cork and Kerry and up along the coast of clare etc were brilliant cycling days.

If I was doing it again I would add a couple more days on the trip and do a full coastal cycle from mizen to malin. The stuff up in Donegal is always amazing. Our 3rd day was a mile muncher on a main road. It was a tad boring. We missed out all the galway coast stuff.

Thanks barry that’s really useful.

Now thinking of doing something similar and trying to follow the coast as much as possible. How did you get to/from the start/end points btw?

Mate and I did a round the coast tour(down East up West) in the south.
Stayed at indie hostels and tried to stay as close to the sea as we could.
Only missed out the ring of Kerry part,it was lashing down that day and we had already had a soaking.
Great fun and met a lot of nice folk .They really do like to talk in those wee villages,it was hard to get away sometimes :-).

Donegal ftw

Cheers folks – any more?

I’m now either thinking go from Dublin right round the south coast to Galway and get the train back, or train to Cork then cycle up to Donegal via Connemara.

Grum,

Either of those would be good. The middle of Ireland is a bit boring tbh but the coastal areas are lovely. A train to/from Galway would be a good idea. I would avoid the Ring of Kerry as really busy with cars and buses and the roads are narrow. Near Killarney you can ride through Black Valley to a IYHA on a minor road. The Burren in Clare is worth visiting, Father Ted’s parochial home is not to far from here.

Beara peninsula is nicer and quieter. Mayo is beautiful, I lived there as a child. You could visit Knock (Mayo) which is err interesting(!). Donegal is lovely, Markenduro and I missed out Donegal when we were over there heading from Sligo area directly for Limavady at the North Coast to Giant’s causeway.

If you´re heading towards Galway, stop off in Clare, apart from the Burren, the cliffs of moher are pretty impressive. I´ve biked round the aran islands too, amazing scenery but I wouldn´t want to try it in a typical irish winter.

Avoid Dublin and the whole midland bit, basically its just a giant bog.

Price wise ireland is a bit more expensive than England for most things.

However the tourism industry has been hit hard by people spending less in general and the glut of big hotels that were built to take advantage of tax breaks.

This means it’s excellent value for money for accomodation in most places.

If you want some mountains with lots of trails dublin/wicklow is great (sally/wicklow gap area is the backdrop for 100’s of films), but as access is not like the UK, you kinda need someone to show you the best bits.

It then only gets interesting once you go over the west, there are firms that will carry your luggage to the evenings destination over there too, although if your around s. wicklow at any point I’m sure I could help you out if needs be.

Use nice wide tyres, the rural roads are genuinley poor.

Independant hostels are brilliant, good value & right laugh.
Try the Rainbow Lodge in Dingle if you can. The ride along the peninsular is a cracker too.

Beamish is much nicer than Guinness, but the your farts the next day would make a nun kick god in the bollocks.

I’ve done Mizen to Malin too a few years back. All of the West Cork and Kerry coastline is lovely, up through the Burren in Clare also and Sligo / Donegal coast.

“Our 3rd day was a mile muncher on a main road. It was a tad boring”

Yeah that’d be the N17 then, I made the same mistake, should have allowed an extra day or so and gone right round Connemara coast.

Personally I hate Dublin and yeah most of the middle is boring apart from some bits of South Tipperary.

Proper Campsites were a bit hard to find in the right places once North of Kerry, did a mix of camping and B&B.

It was a good week but personally I’d go to Scotland coz everything there is better…apart from Guinness

“Use nice wide tyres, the rural roads are genuinley poor.”

I used 25mm tyres and had camping gear loaded up, no punctures, 28mm would of been more sensible though

Wow thanks again everyone, I knew this place would come up with the goods – some great info here, hopefully of use to others too.

I have 28C touring tyres on my road bike anyway as the roads aren’t great round here either.

It then only gets interesting once you go over the west, there are firms that will carry your luggage to the evenings destination over there too, although if your around s. wicklow at any point I’m sure I could help you out if needs be.

That’s very kind, thanks – didn’t think of stopping off to mountain bike either, I guess there are places to hire bikes? I’m kind of leaning towards doing something on the west side at the moment but we’ll see.

Not planning to go until next spring/summer but I like planning these things as it gives me something to look forward to. Need to build up my stamina/fitness a bit first anyway.

It was a good week but personally I’d go to Scotland coz everything there is better

I go to Scotland several times a year and just fancy doing something different.

RestlessNative – Member

It was a good week but personally I’d go to Scotland coz everything there is better…apart from GuinnessI’m in Scotland and while it is wonderful, sometimes a change is as good as a rest!

grum – Member

Thanks barry that’s really useful.

Now thinking of doing something similar and trying to follow the coast as much as possible. How did you get to/from the start/end points btw?

I live in Northern Ireland so it was the train from Belfast to Dublin and then the train from Dublin to Cork, followed by a bus from Cork to Goleen. A full days travelling down to B&B number 1.

If I were coming from England I would take the ferry from Fisguard to Rosslare or Swansea to Cobh and enjoy some of the south coast scenery on the way to Mizen.

Depends where you are based I suppose

“I’m in Scotland and while it is wonderful, sometimes a change is as good as a rest!”

I’m in Scotland now, after having got stuck in Ireland for 3 years longer than I wanted

But yeah basically it’s hard to go wrong on the west coast