As much as I had an ace campervan holiday with my kids, I couldn’t help spending a fair bit of time at the wheel pining for a day off and a half decent bike. Loads of French bikers there, but very few British.
OK, so Holyhead is a bugger to get to but once in Dublin the shiny new motorway gets you to Galway in 2 hours. The roads of Connemara are incredible. Galway to Clifden would be wicked on a bike, twisty roads, decent tarmac and amazing scenery. From Clifden pretty much all of the roads would be brilliant.
Add in decent food, Guinness, music in every pub, B&Bs pretty much everywhere and wild camping generally allowed – it’s got to be on the list for best (reachable) biking destination.
The main downside is probably highlighted by the Pilot Road 3 being the tyre of choice ……
Makes me want to plan a week away next year – top tips for newbie touring destinations most welcome.
And the Ace glory hole raises it’s purple head once again!! On the thread tho, that is one of the paces I would love to visit on a bike. Keep us informed if planning something for next year.
Drove around Co. Kerry a good few years back… remember the roads and mountains we a real treat…would be much better on my motorbike…Maybe next year…1 week…??
Have a good trip. The roads are ace although when it rains and blows it really does.
We had 10 days of glorious weather followed by one night of force 8/9 (gale) and 30 mm of rain. Most of the tents on the campsite ended up in the bin.
Roundstone is a cool little fishing village at the end of a very windy road. Depending on what you are looking for, Omey Island is beautiful and you may be able to ride to it on the Tiger at low tide. Would recommend Ardagh Hotel for dinner one night (nr Clifden) and Actons Beachside campsite if you want a bit of Wilderness.
Have some Euros handy for the motorway as they have two tolls, only a few euros, but annoying if your wallet is buried.
aww brilliant, i shall for sure look at going across low tide on el tiger if possible, im always up for a bit of posh dinner too, just gonna enjoy the roads and not venture to far out of that area!
Some roads are! The hedges aren’t cut - especially on the very minor roads so junctions can be lethal too in places. Local councils don’t have much cash to repair roads either so expect lots of holes and patched up pot holes and gravel at times.
The government have built / opened a few motorways in the last few years and they make getting to the better parts of Ireland (Cork) as well as the rest of it a lot better and are well maintained but bikes pay tolls (usually a Euro) on motorways.
If you take your time and choose your roads you can have a blast
Ring of Kerry and then on to Dingle, it’s really quite something. In fact, most of the West Coast of Ireland is breathtaking and in some parts of it up towards Galway, you can fish for sharks from the beach.
A lot of EU money went in to Ireland, so the road network is much better now, but as mentioned, back roads are brilliant in a car, but not so great on a bike.
Another vote for Kerry and Dingle here. Did Cork to Dublin via the west coast a few years back on the 'busa. Loved it. The roads do go from one extreme to another, but on the whole it’s great.
