Touring Ireland (from Dublin): Advice?

My wife and I will be traveling to Ireland in a few weeks and intend to spend about a week exploring the country on our tandem We intend to leave and return from Dublin and hope to cover 120-140K per day (that's enough with the Yak on the back).

We have the Lonely Planet guide to biking in Ireland but are seeking advice on how to make our trip a success (routes, accomodations, gear, etc.).

If you've been (or live in Ireland) let me have your thoughts. Thanks.

[Andreu]

It's a beautiful country north to south, but seriously I would avoid big towns/cities in the north in July as the marching season is in full swing and there can be "issues" between certain elements of the population which are best avoided to be on the safe side (you would have to be extremely unlucky to get caught out but better to be safe than sorry). Any other month and the north is fine.

The midlands can be pretty flat and boring from a cycling point of view. They have just had the Ras there (tour of Ireland - you could follow that route which is a circular route with Dublin on the circumference - not sure the coast road between Dublin and Belfast is a place I would want to be on a bike though).

I personally would head to Cork and meander up the west coast from there but that is just my personal point of view. See how far you can get....you may even make Donegal.

I am in Ireland in June next year for a two day tour which meanders in and out of the republic and the north along the border - not sure of the precise details yet.

Clothing: Expect wet weather.
Guinness is isotonic - at least in Ireland it is (expect wet palate).
Good luck.
Sláinte

A

[97CSI]

Always look to the right first (on-coming traffic is in the near lane to the right, not left, as in the ROW). Those guys drive on the wrong side of the road. Shouldn't be too big a deal on a bike if you pay attention, but roundabouts always make me think twice when driving in Ireland/England. Sounds like a great trip. Enjoy!

[Climb01742]

only ONE thing to remember: guinness in a dublin pub is the absolute nectar of the gods. you've never had guiness until you've had it in dublin. 4 pints makes a lovely dinner. and a very good night's sleep.

[Tom Byrnes]

If you can, try to include a trip around the beautiful Ring of Kerry and get out to the stark Dingle Peninsula. If you can, have a Guinness in a pub out west where they burn peat to warm the place. You may see through the smoke an old photo of John F. Kennedy hanging on the wall. Meeting lots of charming Irish people will be the best part of your trip, I bet. Enjoy.

Tom

Andreu's post about the "Marching Season" in the Northern six counties of Ireland may sound odd to some but he's giving good advice. I experienced that first hand five summers ago and it was disconcerting to say the least. Its really a matter of staying away from the marching areas -- but if you're not familiar with the territory that can be a problem :argue: . The marches and ensuing sectarian violence aren't confined to Belfast and [London]Derry, but to smaller cities and towns as well. Keep in mind its just in the northern six counties -- the rest of Ireland is as placid as you can imagine.
The west coast route is absolutely beautiful and rugged -- think coastal Maine or upper Nova Scotia/Cape Breton. Cork, Limerick, Donegal, Galway and the Arans are all wonderful for touring. Take your raingear, buy a nice Aran wool sweater while you're up on the west coast.
In late June of 2000, I stood in the rain and 47 degree cold, in front of the cottage where my ancestors lived for hundreds of years, and thought, THANK GOD THEY LEFT! Have a great trip!!

[jbay]

Originally Posted by jartzt

My wife and I will be traveling to Ireland in a few weeks and intend to spend about a week exploring the country on our tandem We intend to leave and return from Dublin and hope to cover 120-140K per day (that's enough with the Yak on the back). [...]

I'm from Dublin and make frequent trips back on tandem with my wife too!

Do you have any kind of a plan in mind at all? Cycling in and out of Dublin, while not terrible in absolute terms, would not be good use of a couple of days if you are only there for a week.

If you don't already have something in mind, I would suggest throwing the tandem on a train (which is no hassle at all) to somewhere like Cork in the southwest, cycling north along the coast and then catching another train back to Dublin. Ten-odd years ago, An Oige, the youth hostelling association, used to offer special deals on the train prices for doing trips of this style. This would need a little research though, as one-way train journeys are 95% as expensive as return trips.

Also, if you're going to be riding on any back-roads at all (which is what you should be doing!), doing 120km per day on a tandem with a trailer is probably optimistic by the time you factor in navigation (there are huge numbers of tiny little roads to explore).

-- John

[fiamme red]

Not relevant to the OP's question, but this may interest some:

http://www.velonews.com/pr/prn/articles/8329.0.html
http://www.celtictrails.com/

[scienceguy08]

I agree with Climb, Guinness is good for you