Ireland

Early stages of dreaming up a trip:

1. Any cheap options of taking a bike over from England?
   
2. Or better to fly over and hire a bike for a little touring?
   
3. Where to go... circumnavigate coast and use train for parts / Wild Atlantic Way / Royal Canal Greenway / any other patches to visit for nice quiet riding?
   

West coast for its beauty . Ferry from birkenhead overnight you can get the merseyrail train to hamilton square and its ten minutes away. Or london to holyhead train and ferry from there . Holyhead doesn't have much to see and do there.

Belfast is Northern Ireland, the distinction is still relevant to some people on that Island...

When I did the rail sail option (admitedddly about 9 years ago) it was under £80 one way from London to Dublin, and the price was pretty much set I believe, because I didn't book one on the way back. More info in this thread:

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/304093/

https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/travel-information/station-and-route-maps/ireland-rail-map

I think I wrote some stuff in that thread about my favourite parts, but the west coast is hard to beat. I did a broad circumnavigation but did go inland a bit around Clonmel and Tipperary and it was worth it.

You could do mizen to malen if your a gluten for punishment . Much infrastructure is based or was on the coasts and crossing through the bog areas back to dublin was not to interesting. Dublin to Tipperary On the train was easy enough .

thanks pacef8, Holyhead might be the option. Wondering if a trip to Dublin first might be best and pootle around, then do West coast as seperate trip. @pastry_bot thanks for the links!

Sail and Rail is the cheapest route for sure. It's usually a flat price.

You can base yourself out of somewhere in South Dublin and do a lot of great rides in the Wicklow Mountains. Much more accessible than anything in London, and not too much traffic because the area itself is largely unpopulated. Cruagh or Stocking Lane are the traditional entryway climbs into the mountains, bringing you up to the Dublin/Wicklow county border. You should be able to find plenty of Audax routes in the area for some challenging rides.

The most popular cycling route/event in Ireland is the Ring of Kerry. However, it's a one-day event with road closures, and I really would not recommend riding it on any other day of the year. It's a very busy tourism route that's barely 1.5 lanes wide at the best of times and typically filled with tour buses.

There's a very long thread on boards.ie about cycling the grand canal, usually with frequent updates of the greenway progress. Haven't kept up with it lately but would be worth checking.

Thanks. Wicklow Mountains look good.

Agree with pacef8 that the midlands are skippable. If you go from the Dublin direction, the Wicklow mounta are great but after that it's kind of awful (i.e. Carlow) before you get anywhere nice (Kilkenny, Tipperary...).
Someone mentioned Clonmel, I remember it being really nice.
I don't really know Cork. People rave about west Cork.
It'd be kind of a shame to go all that way and not get to Dingle and the Dingle peninsula. It doesn't need any more tourists but it is an exceptional spot. I haven't cycled there much. There's two roads in, both mind-blowing. I have heard complaints about the state of the roads on the Ring of Kerry (the last thing a place like that needs is better facilities for cars). I think the idea that it's choked with traffic is a bit of an exaggeration.
The rest, I don't really know. I stay out of Mayo (family ties).
If you can manage it, I'd avoid larger towns in the West (Tralee, Castlebar, the list goes on).

Cliffs of moher for the bodies at the bottom . Well only one when we passed and stayed in dunoon that folky place. . Dublin is much like any other expensive city so quickly pass through . The wicklow mountains are great as well.

Thanks! Got loads to go on now.