Tour Reports

Posts from the 'Biking Routes – Ireland' Category

New Self Guided Tours route packs available for 2024. All routes supplied as either generic .gpx files (works for all satnavs, most apps, google maps etc) or Garmin .gdp files. All the routes are created in Garmin BaseCamp and based on both my guided tours and personal gallivanting.

Motorbike Tours Ireland – Routes and prices update 2023 » This is the first set of routes in an all new concept I’ve come up with for those on all budgets wishing to get the absolute best riding experience without the many hours of research it takes to plan a trip or the the expense [...]

Motorbike Tours Ireland – Routes and prices update 2023 » New for 2019 – Ireland South, Dublin/Rosslare to Westport via Kinsale GPX Self Guided 6/8 Day Tour. As with the Killarney Base 6 day tour this is simply a pack supplied by email containing GPX routes and all the poi’s you could possibly need to [...]

By Dave Daniels I’ll start off with the overall plan. Leave the east coast of Lincolnshire and head for Holyhead, catch ferry to Dublin and stay there over night. Next day head for Cork and then stay there the night. After that pick up the Wild Atlantic Coast road and go until we fancied stopping [...]

By Eddie Smyth Snow. It covered the hill tops, lawns and cars. It was freezing as I stepped out of the door into the blinding sunlight. I don’t fancy crossing the moorlands on two wheels to get to Dublin in these conditions, there was ice aplenty. Good job my ferry is not scheduled until 14:30.

By Eddie Smyth Today I changed back to being a lone rider following a route plan of my own making as I set off for County Wicklow for an overnight stop in a Mountain View retreat before meeting up with the ferry that brought me here to take me back to the UK.

By Eddie Smyth It looked very much like the weather would hold today. Denis had worked out that a trip to the lesser known and more remote parts of this fabulous region would top off the trio of trips. There would be little coastline to work along and I was warned that some of the [...]

By Eddie Smyth It was seriously raining after breakfast today. The view towards the hills were obliterated by low cloud and curtains of rain sweeping across the valley. We left it an hour or so hoping for the forecasted break to appear. Thankfully, it did.

By Eddie Smyth After taking three days to get from Worcestershire to Killarney, via Dublin, Westport and Kilrush I now have three more days in the company of my good friend Denis who runs the biker website www.roadtrooper.com, with the promise of riding some of the most glorious touring roads you could hope to imagine [...]

By Eddie Smyth It rained so had during the night I thought the TV had switched itself on and was blaring out static. I slipped out to check the bike at 08:00. It looked like a miserable puppy caught in a downpour. If only I could get it inside the hotel side door and up [...]

By Eddie Smyth It was very cold outside but the sky was clear and I was optimistic that the original forecast for day would be wrong. The forecast I’d noted every day for this coming week before I set off said it would be 100% miserable.

By Eddie Smyth The excitement, to be loaded up and leaving at 07:00 on a cold grey Saturday morning was not dampened in any way because it wasn’t damp, despite a whole week of pouring rains and icy cold mornings. Spring is very late this year and April 10th felt more like February 10th except [...]

By Bernard Mc Dyre Irish translation: Inis Eoghain, meaning island of Eoghan. Eoghan Mac Neill was the son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, once High King of Ireland.

There are a few rumours floating around about what I’m up to next so here’s is the official news. I’m on the move yet again, this time I’m relocating from the Isle of Man to Killarney in the Kingdom of Kerry on Ireland’s West Coast.

I once had a fair flame named Clare in the long long ago. I’d like to think she was a real beauty but as the memory of her has long faded the reality was probably quite different as I was not overly fussy back then The County of Clare however is utterly unforgettable, and if [...]

Assuming you’re legally and physically capable of riding a motorcycle after a night in Matt Molloy’s in Westport (see previous post) this next stretch of the WAW brings you south towards Clifden and the mythical landscape of the Connemara National Park in Galway.

This excellent part of the WAW entails riding from the Donegal/Sligo border to Westport in Mayo, taking in Mullaghmore Head, Downpatrick Head, Achill Island and finishes in the most excellent party town of Westport, this is one hell of a ride. This route is approximately 600km, so if ye take on the full WAW coast [...]

Only the roving Saint Columbanus the patron saint of motorcyclists and the fairy folk know how much I love Donegal! There has always been something ancient and mythical about the place. I learned to horse ride here as a kid and the best way to see Donegal as far as I’m concerned is mounted on [...]

This is the first chapter in my Wild Atlantic Way Motorcycle Touring Guide, in this section I’ll be giving you an overview of what to expect from motorcycle touring along Ireland’s west coast and the Wild Atlantic Way tourist driving route. First off, the Wild Atlantic Way, or Slí an Atlantaigh Fhiáin in Irish is [...]

Well it’s just shy of one year since I bought the F800R, the honeymoon is well and truelly over. More often than not a year on from buying a motorbike I’m either bored, frustrated with it or both, either way I’m usually gunning for a change, but what about the F800?

This route starts just outside of Rathdrum simply because the stretch of road from here to Laragh is a great bit of crack if it’s quiet, there are a couple of really tricky turns on this road close to Rathdrum, you will know what I mean when you try them. Best to ride it slowly [...]

As a landscape photographer I get to spend a lot of time in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains and have gotten to know many of the most scenic back roads. So if you’re in the area why not check them out, as they are all within an hours drive from Dun Laoghaire port.

Starting from Tuesday morning (18-05-2010) I’ll be riding to Rosslare to catch the ferry to Cherbourg. From there I’ll be half on half off motorway to Avallon which is just north of Lyon where I will crash (hopefully not literally) for the 1st night.