Driving to Dublin on the back roads

Arathorn

Hey guys I just got a car and I work in dublin, now im on L plates so im not meant to be on the motorway. Can anyone tell me the towns I have to go through to avoid the motorway. I know kildare and portloas but do I have to go through Naas, any direction on this would be great

muletide

From Kildare Town go through the Curragh to Kilcullen and then onto Naas after that it is pretty hard to avoid motorways into Dublin.
Try the arrow train service from kildare to dublin and leave your car in the car park.
Or alternatively do what alot of people do and ignore the law and drive away

RobertFoster

Have a look at AA Route Planning, tick the box to avoid motorways. They say it should take 3 hours 42 minutes, which is just an hour extra than using the motorways.

Arathorn

muletide wrote:

From Kildare Town go through the Curragh to Kilcullen and then onto Naas after that it is pretty hard to avoid motorways into Dublin.
Try the arrow train service from kildare to dublin and leave your car in the car park.
Or alternatively do what alot of people do and ignore the law and drive away

I dont make that journey everyday no way, im not that desperate for a job! Live in Dub travel home on weekends. I'll take a look at that AA thing cheers!

Inge Binge

try map24.co.uk
they have a route planner, tick there "avoid Motorways". then it gives you a route via Tullamore - Mullingar - Navan - Dunboyne - Blanchardstown on N7, N51, N3.





IB

bazz26

The M7 starts at Portlaoise but I think from Naas on into Dublin itself is not motorway but just the N7 dual carriageway with a 100kph speed limit. Just be careful if joining the N7 after Naas as they are currently upgrading this road with a third lane. The speed limit here for the best part is 60kph due to extensive road works and they do have speed traps in force. Also plan your journey with plenty of time to spare as traffic into Dublin is crazy at the best of times as you probably already know.

Henry Ford III

M7 is all motorway. L drivers are not allowed on any of it. Blue signs etc.

Fair play to the O.P. for trying to comply with the law. If everybody did so our roads would be much safer.

Lululady

Take down ur L plates for the trip!!!Thats what I do when I head to Dublin its too much hassle taking the other route

limerick_man

OMG, are you serious or just messing lululady???

Arathorn

Ya everyone is telling me to do that, apparently loads do it. I wouldnt really like to risk it if anything ever went wrong I'd be totally responsible. I can understand why people would do it though its probly much safer than the back way since its just a straight run and also the wait for tests is crazy. When I get the bus I watch out for L plates on the motor way and I see a lot so add this with the people who take down the L plates and theres probly a lot of learners who use the motorway!

chuckles30

Well just because L plates are on the car, it doesn't mean that the person driving the car actually has a provisional licence. When I was learning to drive, my fathers car had L plates displayed, even when he was driving. The rule relates to the drivers licence not the presence or absence of L plates.

mysterious

The best route which I have would be Portlaois via Athy onto the old N9 at Naas seems the best,closest and nearest to the existing N7

why go all the way to Navan ? I mean, if that was the case i'd cycle

Lululady

Its not the crime of the century not displaying L plates on a motorway !!!

bazz26

Lululady wrote:

Its not the crime of the century not displaying L plates on a motorway !!!

Maybe so from a legal point of view but your insurance may be void if you are involved in an accident while driving on a motorway with a provisional licence. Insurance companies may exploit a technicality like that inorder to avoid paying out on a claim.

While statistics show motorways are generally safer than most of our other roads they can still be very intimedating to experienced drivers not to mention inexperiened provisional drivers especially when most have 3 lanes, slip roads, merging traffic, etc plus the extra incentive of the speed limit being 20kph more than on national roads.