Hiring an F650GS from Celtic Rider in July with a rough plan of turning a wheel in Northern Ireland before heading to Sligo and Galway day one, Cork via Limerick and the Ring of Kerry day two and an easy ride back to Dublin on day three. Anyone know of any "must sees" en route or have alternative route suggestions?
Here ya go, make sure you don't just do the ring of Kerry but also get into the mountains in the middle. consider doing Beara (my favourite) and donegal as well, even instead. use bestbikingroads.com and biker.ie for more info.
Head to the Dingle Peninsula, stop in Dingle for some food, ride around the peninsula and be back for more food/music/drink. A MUST stop area. Andy
Ring of Kerry is nice. If you want to do it, do it clock-wise. All the big tour busses and coaches have to go anti-clockwise (because the roads are narrow in some bits and they'd get stuck otherwise). However on a bike you can easily pass a coach going the other way, and this way you don't get stuck behind a coach for hours. Though it's funner to go through the middle. Béara peninsula (right beside ring of kerry) is very nice too, and a bit less busy. Dingle is nice too. Wicklow mountains (just south of dublin) are nice too. If you wanna take an easy way back, then get off the motorway and try to go through the "Sally Gap" and "Wicklow gap"
Maybe I did not spend enough time in the Wicklow Mountain area but compared to the western part of Ireland, I found it rather boring. IMO, if time is precious, I would rather spend it elsewhere.
Agreed. I live in Dublin, so i can go to Wicklow Mountains for day trips. But the west is better than the wicklow mountains. However if you want to head back to Dublin and don't want to go on motorways the whole way, it's a good side diversion
Agree with the others re wicklow mountains. Kerry is great, maximise your time there. Looks like you would have hit the road today anyway. Sounds like you are doing very big days... Make sure you check out the Burren tomorrow on your way down to Kerry! It's definitely worth it, just south of Galway. Riding along the coast there was awesome, I have some footage in my videoblog, link in sig, check out Log 17, the footage from 5 min onwards :) Oh and I did it on the same bike
Just came down from Dublin to Killarney today, dodging the showers, some motorway, some A & B roads so I'm ready for the RoK tomorrow. Rain forecast for the morning but will head out and try to get up to Limerick to take in the Cliffs of Moher either late tomorrow or first thing Friday. My arse hurts; that F650GS seat is a bench! Should know, I swapped out my F800GS seat for a Corbin after one trip.
Yeah, not the best seat I must say... Check out the Burren after the cliffs of moher, seriously, definitely worth it!
If it fits your schedule, check out the little town of Kinvara across the bay from Galway. Some really good pubs and a nice thatched roof hotel-The Merriman.
I get asked all the time where to go in Ireland. Really, you can go anywhere and it's pretty. Relax, don't try and see the whole country in 2/3 days. It may be a small country but, there is lots to see. Getting lost and ending up in a farmers yard, getting invited in for tea, maybe a pint as well are more of the experiences that you will remember instead of racing around the country trying to see it all. Pick any side road, get lost, ask for directions and see what happens.
Actually from speaking to a company in Ireland who rents bikes, one problem is that some people (e.g. from USA) are used to massive distances betweem places, and think that it's all straight roads, and that since it's only 150 miles by 300 miles, it should be easy to go all over the place in a weekend. That is not the case. A german friend who used to live in Ireland was taking his boyfriend drivnig out west, and had to remind the boyfriend that these not too large roads were actually classes as "national roads". :) As wheatwhacker says, just relax take it easy. If you want good scenery go out west. Since Ireland is small, you can get across it in a few hours if you rush. If you have to get a plane/ferry, you'll be able to get there from any other part of the country in a few hours on motorways, so you're unlikely to miss it/
Ebel makes a good point, the roads there are slow going, only a few big roads between galway, belfast and dublin, the rest is slow going. Wouldn't be trying to do more than 300-400k in a day max - and that is a long day.
I've been to Ireland once for a couple weeks over a decade ago and I keep pictures on my desk at work of my wife, my kids, and the Dingle peninsula.
Rode the Gap of Dunloe and Ring of Kerry this morning before heading up to Limerick. Good riding but I'm wet. Very, very wet! Wouldn't mind but the seat on this F650GS is a literal pain in the arse! Could easily have ridden another two hours tonight but my butt just wont take any more. Hoping to get over to the Cliffs of Mohar in the morning before blasting back to Dublin (have to be there by 16:00 to get to the airport for my flight) so won't now get to Burren. Thanks for all the tips, guys. Can't fit it all in during a three day trip but picking off a few good rides and places you've recommended.