Biking Ireland

My first Ireland trip, age 61, was by bicycle, self-guided, early June 2011. My husband and I rented from a bike shop in Limerick, pre-arranged from the U.S., and they delivered bikes to our B&B in Salthill, the suburb west of Galway. After a couple of days in Galway, we headed west, in pouring rain, to Rossaveal, and caught a ferry to Inishmore island for a night and two days. Another ferry took us back to the mainland, near Doolin, and we climbed up to Listowel for a few nights, making daytrips to the Burren and other parts of the area.

Leaving Listowel, we did a looooong climb up to the Cliffs of Moher visitor center parking lot (free for bikes!), had time there to view the cliffs and the museum, then descended to Liscannor for a well-deserved pint in a snug, dinner, and a night’s rest. We stayed for a couple of nights at an inn with cooking classes in Spanish Point, and then continued to work our way south, using the Killimer/Tarbert ferry at one point, eventually reaching Tralee. At Tralee, we loaded the bikes into the hold of a Bus Eireann regional bus, and took it to Dingle, Rick Steves’ “back door” destination for several days.

My husband biked all the way from our Dingle rented cottage and back for a trip to Skellig Michael, while I stayed and biked on the Dingle Peninsula. We took the bus back to Tralee, then another bus to Limerick, where we turned the bikes in to the shop we’d never seen before, nor they, us.

Western Ireland is a fabulous place to bike by pedal, although an electric motor would certainly make some of those climbs easier. And be prepared for rain. I don’t remember the name of the bike shop, but that was 14 years ago, and there must now be several. I don’t have personal recommendations for a tour company or outfitter.

Michael,

I can help in one regard, that of multiple self-planned, self-contained trips all over Ireland and Northern Ireland on a traditional road touring bike. I've never gone with a tour company or by e-bike.

90% of our trips (from July and into October) were along the West, Northwest and Southwest coasts, as well as the Aran Islands, where the best scenery, the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking pockets), the most rugged terrain and trad music opportunities dominate. By comparison, the East, Southeast and North coasts are flatter and less scenically appealing. However, the northeast corner of Northern Ireland is quite hilly. But no matter where you go, except for the interior counties, Ireland is a ruggedly hilly country with several challenging mountain passes to boot.

If you're looking for a gentler touring experience, though, I'd think that hooking up with a tour company would be your optimum option. It may even carry you gear from point to point as well as provide a well-researched route and reserved accommodations.

Well, I found the name of the bike shop from where we rented our bikes fourteen years ago - Emerald Cycles. Unfortunately, I can’t find them on the internet now, so they may no longer be operating.

It's been ages, but we did two trips with Backroads (and they now always have e-bikes) in Ireland and one with a company that is now known as Discovery Tours (it was Bike Vermont, which was always confused with VBT). Both were guided. These were always in the June/July time because those days tend to be drier. Indeed, we came back with sunburns on each of these.

Our Discovery Tours/Bike Vermont trip was on the West Coast; our first Backroads was on the Kenmare-to-Cork stretch; our second Backroads was on the West Coast.

Our Backroads trips were "plusher" and the Beara part of the itinerary was pretty challenging in a delightful way, but our Discovery Tours/Bike Vermont itinerary (and the guests!) were far more fun.

In our experience, Backroads guides, no matter where we went, were thoroughly trained in case of emergencies. The Discovery Tour people are well known to the locals on their Ireland route and could not only wrestle up emergency help but also be up for a spontaneous céilí outing.

Things change. Ask each company if you can call a recent guest for a frank opinion. I'm thrilled you are still on a seat. We've resigned ours.

Though I have not bicycled in Ireland, I've taken two 100-mile-long hikes on the Emerald Isle: County Wicklow in 1999 and the Dingle Peninsula in 2010 (Dingle Way, https://www.dingleway.com/). On Dingle, I met a group of people from England who were bicycling the peninsula for about a week. I used a group now called Ireland Walk Hike Bike (https://irelandwalkhikebike.com/) to arrange seven days of B&B stays and a baggage-carrying service. Perhaps they can help you, too.

I have a trip planned in Sept. with my sister and friends. West Ireland Cycling was recommended to us through a friends of my sister who have done a couple of trips there. We're doing the Connemara Express. They've been easy to work with and very responsive.