antokelly

ok i'm just curious about this question, from all you folks that toured here in my country Ireland .
what was your likes and dislikes.
people,
weather,
food
campsites ,
roads,
prices .
and would you come back giving the chance.there is a really bad recession here at the moment and i heard a radio program on yesterday about how to get tourists back to ireland.anyway i would like to hear your thoughts just in case i ever meet a minister of our government.

NoReg

I've lived there in the past. I would like to come back and tour. When I lived there in the 70s, it was an economy destination. Later it got real expensive, and moreso since the last time I was back. Even when a country has severe economic problems the prices only dive a little. My feeling is it is probably still rather expensive. I was looking at real estate, and the prices are really high, even if the way in which they got there was largely as a result of a massive wind up.

Also, back when I lived there it was kinda still in the bogman, peat fires, Joyce and Yeats phase. Then it morphed through the cheap place to do business through to Celtic Tiger phase. Now it is kinda in the materialistic idiots soon to drop their dept on others phase. The north spent 40 years re-fighting their history and generally avoiding the 20th century, and the south is full of fiscal morons. I am not sure what the story is any more. I mean Canada where I live isn't moose, french separatists, maple syrup, "eh", and so forth. For one thing that stuff pretty much just accounts for 50% of the population. I just don't know what the Irish brand is anymore. Thinking back, one used to see a lot of Irish tourism promotion, but I can't remember the last time I saw that. Also, the kind of growth Ireland has been through often uglies up the place significantly, While that won't affect people who have never been before, I wonder what it looks like these days.

From the bike touring perspective, the best thing, at least based on my past experience, is that the place is a manageable size. When I toured there as a kid it was just as likely to see a local on a bike as a car. It has the right scale for travel by bicycle. Rain would be a downside, but not all parts of the country are rainy, just most.

NoReg

On the amenities, the thing i liked best was how undeveloped they were. There were masses of unattended historic sites, camping was at the side of the road or pulled into someone's field. It was wide open. So not a lot of cash was dropped, or economic transfer created. I only remember one campsite we stayed at, seaside amidst some dunes. We did use Hostels in places like Glendalough.

tarwheel 

I did a week long walking tour in Ireland (Dingle Peninsula) and spent another week in Galway and the Connemara area doing a lot of walking and hiking. I loved Ireland and plan to return again someday, but I'm not sure if I would feel comfortable bike touring there. The roads were extremely narrow, often without shoulders and with rock walls and hedges often right beside the roads. I also had trouble adjusting to driving on the "wrong side" of the road and following road signs and maps.

If I did consider bike touring in Ireland, I probably wouldn't do it unless with an organized tour. I'm afraid that I would get hopelessly lost (and possibly run over) if I tried to tour Ireland on my own. It's a lovely country with the friendliest people in the world, but not my first choice for unsupported bike touring.

axolotl

I toured from Dublin westward to the Dingle peninsula, then north to Galway. We had awful weather. It rained for at least part of each day. The people were wonderful. I thought the scenery was sometimes nice, sometimes uninspiring. Generally, areas near the southwest and west coasts had the nicest scenery. We stayed in hostels and B&Bs. The food in Ireland is perhaps the least interesting I've encountered on the planet. We cooked our own in the hostels, whenever possible. I visited before Ireland became the celtic tiger when prices were reasonable.

antokelly

thanks a lot folks some great views there no doubt.i guess to see the best of any country you need to see it in glorious sunshine certainly not rain.the landscape sure has changed over the years but blame the greedy bankers and builders for that one they between them done there best to destroy our country.
but i'm glad to say we are still overall a friendly bunch by and large .i met two Canadians father and son last year that was touring around ireland they said it was one of the best tours they ever had, but i never got a chance to ask why. anyway maybe i should load up my tourer and see for myself i really don't know my own country by bike .

Bacciagalupe

I credit-card toured there a few years ago, before the economy tanked. Just for 1 week.

People were generally pleasant. Food is OK but not stellar. Roads were a bit rough, but the vehicles were generally aware of cyclists and felt safe. The hotels were very good. Galway was full of drunken kids on Friday nights. The weather is what it is. A touring company ought to be straight forward about the fact that you will get rained on.

One benefit of cycle tourists is that they tend to wind up in smaller communities. I stayed in smaller towns in County Clare, e.g. Ennis, Kilkee, Lisdoonvarna that a normal tourist might overlook in favor of Galway or Dublin.

The hills weren't really that bad, just a lot of rolling hills iirc. Maybe one or two big ones here and there.

I would go back, but for a variety of reasons it's not the top of my list right now.

I suspect this is not an easy time to lure tourists, especially since money is still tight all over and Ireland's news is mostly about the bad economy. I don't know how you'd lure people, since I doubt the government can afford to invest much in tourism right now.

antokelly

there are plenty as far as i know touring company's in Ireland iron donkey been one ,i'm sure they do a good tour but it would not be my cup of tea i would much sooner find my own way around.
i guess city's are the same everywhere drunken people is plentiful.

fietsbob

'97, from last week in Feb, to May UK General election , crossed from Donegal to Derry ,
on the Blair/Labor Day 1 ..
Lived in my Rain Gear. Used the Independent Hostels in really Foul Weather,
Impromptu camped when practical.
tried to find places to Join in music , as I brought my very small Travel Mandolin.

then crossed over NI coast , to Larne ferry..to Scotland.

One odd observation: there were few places that had a proper Floor pump.
in all of western Ireland.. even the places that were running a bike rental,
only had a cheap hand pump at best.

QueueCT

Went in '96 during the World Cup on a 2 week credit card tour unsupported. It was my first tour since I was 16 (a 15 yr hiatus) and truly fantastic. My wife and I rode from Shannon to Doolin, across to the Aran Islands to Galway then through to Cashel, to the south cost, a little west then back to Shannon.
Best parts:

• Small country roads with little traffic
• Excellent, if sometimes repetitive, scenery
• Mostly friendly people
• Ending up in small towns that aren't on the tourist road map (Thurles, Clonmel, etc)
• Short distances between towns for refueling and sleeping
• Nobody believing we were American because Americans all ride in motorcoaches--we became honorary Dutch
• The weather--really, we had two days of rain out of 15

Worst parts:

• The food, hands down
• It was expensive

While we would love a return trip there are other places we want to go first

SteveA

The folks in the B&B told us to stay out of the lanes and to ride the hugely wide shoulder on the highway. We found just the opposite to work much better for us.

The people were great, the weather was nice during the day (early June) but the B&Bs had turned off their heat for the season and the nights in the stone lodgings were quite cold.

The landscape and sky were beautiful. It only rained one day for about fifteen minutes.

We did an unsupported tour and stayed in B&Bs with no previous reservations. Each morning the B&B folks would just call someone they knew who owned a B&B a few towns away and they'd set us up with a place to stay.

We loved Ireland - but because we only choose to spend the money for a trip to Europe about once every five years - we go to other places - just to see more of the world. If we could afford to go every year - we'd certainly go back again.

NoReg

"i guess to see the best of any country you need to see it in glorious sunshine certainly not rain."

I was in Ireland on a visit at one point, and driving from Belfast to Dublin. I remember feeling something was wrong, and feeling dissatisfied. After a bit it hit me that the countryside didn't feel right, and the reason was because there had been a long drought and the countryside was brown and green, like my native south Ontario in the summer. It didn't feel right for Ireland. Once I figured that out, back to the good times.

antokelly

well folks at the moment here in good aoul Ireland the weather is only beautiful great cycling weather.
this past few years may seems to be the best month for great weather so i must plan some kind of tour and make the best of it.
thanks for all the feedback good to hear the views of others good and bad,when you meet other tourists on the road you always assume there having a great time but that's always the case,
ah well guess you got to take the bad with the good .

dannwilliams

I asked a friend about his trips to Ireland, so I'll copy and paste his response: Briefly, I've solo biked toured in the west of Ireland in 2001 and 2010. Flew into Shannon both times and use the Jamaica Inn Hostel at sixmile bridge, run by Michael and Nula, as a 'portal' hostel, leaving my bike's cardboard box there.

Western Ireland has been a pleasure both times. I've had ZERO problems with traffic. Yes, the roads can be narrow. Mostly I've stayed off the busy roads when ever possible. I have a helmet and a rearview mirror mounted on my glasses. I also wear a bright flourescent vest to help the drivers see me. Everyone was courteous. Even when roads were busy, it usually wasn't for too long before there was an alternative. I usually stayed at hostels along the way.

The west is my favorite. Last May I choose to take a leisiurely ride and savor the place rather than cover too much ground (hell, it's a small island!) I rode west from Limmerick to Dingle, hanging around Dingle for 5 days staying at Broigin Farmhouse B & B. run by Anne and John Curran. Heaven. Biked out around Slea Head. Took a ferry out to the Blasket Islands. Then I rolled south and did a loop through Kerry. Dawdled around Cahersiveen, staying at the Sive Hostel which is a fine place. Went out to Skellig Michael (must see) and enjoyed the town.

Sometime when I go back, I'd like to do the 3rd western peninsula, Beara, where the Collin Ferrell movie, Ondine (2009) was filmed. Looks lovely.

I don't recommend going in a group. You are less likely to meet the people and psychologically isolate yourself to your tour group. Hostels are generally better than the B & B's for meeting people, be they Irish, German, French, etc.

The Irish people are wonderful. Engage them in a little conversation and they blab and blab and blab. Intelligent, curious and more. Sure, there are jerks and people who are pre-occupied with their own problems. But the vast majority are warm and generous. Even in these times of great economic troubles, they're still very human. In spite of my Irish name, I'm only a quarter Irish, was brought up a upper midwestern USA Lutheran (go figure?) so I've no real ties to the Island. But I do love it.

Personally, I don't spend much time at pubs. I don't drink so don't need that particular venue. But you can catch some music and food there. Some people love the night life. I'm not that into it.

I prepare ahead of time with good Michelin maps, have some general itinerary so I've got a general idea where I may go. But then I ramble... It always seems to work out well. I've been to Ireland 4 times, twice on bike. Never have had a negative experience. Within the last ten years I've also toured in Denmark, Italy, England and many regions of the USA. But western Ireland is my favorite. Because of the people.

antokelly

that's fantastic great to hear thoughts like that.he's right about solo touring you get to see more and get to know the locals much better when your on your own. i think us irish are only to willing to help strangers.
of course there are dodgy people everywhere but you soon know how to avoid them pretty quickly.
isn't it a great way to see and flavor any part of the world by bike.