Week 1 Wales. We’re staying half way between Caernarfon and Bangor. Maximum of 3 riding days possibly fewer. I’m thinking About Stiniog, Penmacho and Gwydir Forest. I’ll do black routes that I know but given unfamiliarity and riding solo I would be happiest on reds (GT, Inners, Mabie is my usual). Hence discounted Llanberis. What order should I prioritise these three and/or should I swap one one out for something further afield, e.g Coed y Brenin?

Week 2. Ireland. Again three days max. Dublin/Galway/Ulster. Thinking Balinastoe or Glencullen to start with (though which is better?), then maybe Bike Park Ireland? Though I’m not interested in uplifts. Do they have good climbing trails? Then up north I do sort of know, and I’ll be doing a bit more exploring around Rostrevor. So same as before, which should I prioritise and have I even got the right shortlist?

Any and all advice greatly appreciated!

Bike park Ireland is all about the uplift really, who doesnt like a ride in an army truck. Lots of variety, blue to black (there is a climbing trail to the top)and a great day out. Unfortunately it is currently closed due to not being able to get insurance and  i really hope they get it sorted soon as they have invested a lot making it a great day out and must be losing a fortune at the moment.

Go natural in N Wales and ride Conwy mountain up onto Drum. Ace ride.

Galway = no idea.
Ulster = Rostrevor probably.
Dublin = Djouce is the best playground closely followed by 3 Rock. Ballinstoe is great but only 14km. A lot of trails in Ireland need local knowledge or GPS to find.

I would definitely spend a day at Coed Y Brenin, perhaps tackle the MBR and Tarw trails. The Gwydir trail is nice and could be combined in a day with Penmachno down the road but be prepared to get extremely wet at the latter.

If the weather is good I would seriously consider some of the natural riding though. The Conwy Mountain route already suggested is nice or you could just ride straight up and down Drum.

Don’t discount Snowdon either but perhaps just stick to straight up and back down the Lanberis path which is far less technical than the more popular Rangers path route (but still a great ride). Remember this can only be done very early in the morning or after 5pm (due to the bike ban).

Bike Park Ireland may not be open, they’re having a battle with our arsehole insurance industry right now.

up north in northern ireland you could try tollymore or ravensdale. rostrevor is all trail centre trails and not really that challenging. most of the natural stuff is gone, and ‘the bins’ is uplift material.
tollymore is a pretty epic day out

Penmachno is awesome – remote, volunteer-built and rocky. There were a handful of small diversions a few weeks ago but nothing to spoil the ride – do the whole thing, both loops in one, and don’t forget to put some money in the honesty box.

Coed-Y-Brenin also great – the slabs at the top of Tarw Du are fantastic, and MBR’s great too. Plus any family/non-bikers can walk, cafe, shop, all that.