Ireland

I'm in the south east of Ireland, working, doing some touring.
I don't want to get into generalisations about nationalities, but things are easy here. They'll put your bike on the coach, they'll put it on the train (there's a charge - but transport, generally, is cheap - none of this book six months in advance stuff). They won't look at you like you've offended the gods of bureaucracy of you just show up.
There's a route from Clonmel, around the Nire Valley, across a mountain, down a spot called the Vee and from there to a town called Lismore. Then a few kilometres to Cappoquin and from there down to the coast at Youghal. I think it's what Sean Kelly used to do (or maybe Stephen Roache).
The mountain bit is properly wild and panoramic and really gradual (like kids could do it), the bit into Lismore is a forest with a river running beside the road, from Lismore to Youghal is a bigger forest with a bigger river.
I don't want to get all poetic on your asses but it's mega pretty.
I think it's about 60k. Very beautiful and very easy. Nothing approaching an A road. You'll pass about ten cars and they'll go by you really slowly. And you go through a lot of varieties of landscape in a short time. Also, you can drink a Guinness outside a pub and people will say hello without anyone thinking that means there has to be a conversation. (Actually some lycra'd up guy did cycle alongside me one morning and started chatting. I was terrified. Never happened to me before. Turned out he was a nice, interesting chap.)
A lot of Ireland's beautiful. But this is fairly undiscovered. I think it's my favourite ride.
The boat train from London's £45.
Do it.

lets go.

Camped a few nights by Bray Head on the Wicklow mountains a couple of years ago. Beautiful. Swam in the bay, watched dolphins, wandered over the peaks with the stags, the lot. Everyone was very friendly, no trouble camping. Didn't get a chance to cycle though.

I hear the south west coast is stunning, too.

https://onewheeloneisland.wordpress.com/

I can add that Belfast (Norn Ire) has a couple of really nice shorter cycle routes as well, and for those OK with cycling on a bit bendy dual carriageway the route to Strangford Lough is stunning.

people will say hello without anyone thinking that means there has to be a conversation

That was one of the weirdest things when I moved to England - saying hello to people you passed in the street and getting a look of blind panic or a faceful of pepper spray.

I was in Donegal last week and it was a beautiful place to cycle. I would love to explore more widely.

I'm not sure all the drivers are equally courteous - one lorry driver passed me on a corner then started cutting in before he was fully past. It was a scary moment.

I’ve been vaguely considering a cycling holiday in Ireland for a while now. The features on cycling tips about last year's Giro make it look great too:

http://cyclingtips.com.au/category/roadtripping/

I’m guessing there’ll be some pretty quiet and scenic roads, especially in the south?

Also in The North, but do ask around a bit for those as our network is more patchy.

Some roads are ok outside rush hour for example, but during not so, but people know backroads usually.

I did Malin Head to Mizen Head 2 years ago and it was great. Very relaxed and the hostels we stayed at were great. You can cycle for miles without meeting anyone on some roads.

I'm from Kerry in the south west and it is beautiful around there. The Ring of Kerry is a really nice cycle route with some great scenery. If you can do it outside of tourist season though it's better as you get a lot of tour buses around.

They are trying to advertise the Wild Atlantic Way now for cycle touring which would pass through some amazing places.

^ http://www.todestinationunknown.com/ride-wild-2014/ride-wild-2014-route/

They are trying to advertise the Wild Atlantic Way now for cycle touring which would pass through some amazing places.

This was what I was riding a section of in Donegal

I really want to visit Ireland this year, although I'm a but worried about crap weather. I'll probably have to go in tourist season too. I'd quite like to do a bit of wildcamping as I can't be bothered with booking campsites and a week or twos worth of hostels is probably out of my budget. Keep posting route advice please :)

Wild camping is very doable.
Weather's the thing for sure. I guess places stay nice either because they're next to impossible to get to or because the weather's crap. I've been here a week and haven't seen a cloud.
When that happens, you're in the most beautiful place in the world.
When it doesn't, you're wet.
But it's less wet than, say, Manchester.

Ring of Kerry. If you live as close as London and you don't do the Ring of Kerry then you're an idiot. Whole other world.
I am sort of interested in the whole Norman side of Ireland though, the bit people don't really rave about or know about so much.
Of course what people should do is both. It's a small country. You could do Dublin, Wicklow and then from south east to south west in a week and still stop off wherever you fancy.

http://www.cycleni.com/long-routes/

Bit of info on The North.
In NI come before July...usually the rain worsens then and August is nearly always a washout.

I did it last year, to sort out some of my dad's business when he passed away.... They don't 'do' internet very much in my experience!
I got a railsail ticket for £84 return and just cycled onto the ferry and rode down to wicklow. Did what I had to do, then popped around to different relatives for 5 days or so. It was fantastic and great to be 'home' ..... I also learned more about my family's history in those few short days than I had in my previous 40 years.... Some of it quite eye opening!
I want to go back again soon.... And there is no better way than by bike.

I found out why there were so few cars. Ireland has more roads per head of population than any other country in Europe. It used to be highly populated with lots of little settlements all over. Then a lot of people died and a bunch of other people left in a potato-and-wankers related incident around 1848.
A lot of the wankers didn't want to give out free food to benefits scroungers because they believed in hard working families. So what did they make the starving benefits scroungers do?
Build more roads. Some of them to nowhere in particular.
Hence lots of roads. So you can go anywhere via an infinity of routes and encounter very little traffic.

" potato-and-wankers related incident"

#rep

What does rep mean?

Its a pity the uk public dont have the same mentality , cliffs of mohair, ring of kerry, doolan, the coast by sligo, or the south coast from Dublin through wicklo down to cork and across to killarney then two days back inland via a prison a large cheese factory and disused railway lines ?

Old forum thing where you could give people reputation points for things you liked, humour, being helpful etc.

It was not moved over to the new forum.

Been to Narn Ire yet? :)

That's a relief.
I thought I'd been reported.

Camped a few nights by Bray Head on the Wicklow mountains a couple of years ago. Beautiful.

Actually, it was kinda funny, because about thirty minutes later the most almighty storm rolled in and caught us out right on one of the peaks. Mad dash to get down to the pub below to ward off hypothermia.

No no :)

I had to laugh at the way you described it, there's so much "that can't be said" by politicians, but yeah, spot on.
Then what the Roman Catholic Church did to the Republic of Ireland is not a pretty story either.

Well, cycle lanes...
There's one near the trendy "Titanic Quarter" in Belfast now, nice view of two oil platforms and the cranes, then off to a bird watching house and it ends in a small pub area.
Another one goes to Castle Espie with bird watching via Comber, a nice small town with of course Cake
Lisburn townpath goes through forest next to the River Lagan and is stunning during spring/summer. If you're lucky...you get to see a king fisher :D

Yeah. The weather is 'changeable'.

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