Favourite roads/drives

tc20

Ok, ive been meaning to throw in this thread but havent had a chance lately (too busy) and then that bugger Bob Montgomery from the Times ressurects his series on great drives in Ireland

So, lets say you're not confined to the M50 or similar daily commuting hell around the country. Is there a stretch of road that you love driving?
It could be that its an engaging piece of tarmac, that commands your involvement along its length.
Maybe its a place where the road just opens up and you can press the loud pedal (im not talking about reckless carry-on)
Or perhaps its through an area of natural beauty or nice landscape/seascape.
I know on roads like this its much better to be a passenger, so as to take it in more.
Possibly something you pass on your daily/weekend trawl that you see and makes you smile.
Could even be a combination of all of the above

Not everyone of us blatts cross country to work in a Lotus Elise, or on a Fireblade, but you can share your fave bits of bitumen here..

I'll get the ball rolling with the following -

the road out from Clifden, i think its known as the Sky Road. If you've been on it, you'll know why.

the Ring of Kerry and Beara peninsula. And around the same area, from Waterville to Caherdaniel

Glendalough to Glenmalure - should be a Special Stage on WRC

My daily commute is Greystones to Bray, (hardly qualifies as a commute, i know) so on the way home, just over the crest of Windgates and you see the sea and Greystones harbour below.

Pherekydes

Good thread!

Anywhere in Wicklow (except Bray). Up the Sally Gap, Wicklow Gap, Glendalough, Glenmalure and around the Glen of Imaal.

In Kerry on hols last year, so around the ring, with the exception of the nightmare that is Kenmare to Sneem. Moll's Gap, Bealach Oisín and the Skelligs' ring are all beauties. The drive from Portmagee to Ballinskelligs is fabulous, but not for the faint-hearted. Some nice leisurely spins on Valentia, too.

The drive from Mulrany north to Bangor Erris and then across the bog to Crossmolina is as remote as it gets. The only time I have driven this was back in '92.

Next week I'm off to Clare, so I'll be exploring the Burren in detail.

Owen

Healys Pass in Kerry and the Black Valley which very few drivers take, or know about - some of the scenery in the Black Valley is Lord of the Rings type stuff, incredible.

whippet

the ring of kerry would have to be my favourite in ireland .. but the best drive I have ever had was from Nelson (south island in NewZealand) to Wanaka via Greymouth and the west cost.

Takes a few days but you have everything from breathtaking mountains, rugged coastline, long undulating stretches and crazy tight mountain passes with challanging cambers and sheer drops.

NutJob

killybeggs to [SIZE=-1]Glencolmkill (scary road on icey day)

Atlantic drive Achill island
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unkel

The Connor Pass in Kerry on a beautiful day in August and not coming across a single other vehicle

crosstownk

The B33 through the Black Forest (and surrounding roads) is a beautiful drive - stunning scenery and very relaxing.

Also the Skyline drive in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia has spectacular vistas.

In Ireland, anywhere in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains offers great scenery as does most of Kerry. The Burren is another good one - different but great scenery.

cornbb

Great thread. I love the drive from Spiddal out along the coast to Invarin - great view of the Aran Islands and as soon as the road turns inland the landscape suddenly becomes breathtaking. I love driving out to Connemara this way and becoming hopelessly lost.

The coastline along the very north of Co. Clare is also fantastic, as are most of the little roads through the burren.

The new M1 is a great cruising road, a joy to drive on.

That suspension bridge looks really well at night too.

peasant

A somewhat obscure and "end of the earth" kind of drive is the Silvermines Drive (signposted!) in Tipperary, lots of great and virtually deserted scenery ...well worth it if you're on your way from D to LK and got a few hours to kill.

Westport to Leenaune and back via Louisburgh is a nice one too ...roads are shocking though.

Up in Sligo the Gleniff horseshoe is cool and then just cross the main road and do a circle round Mullaghmore.

Also in Sligo the drive across the Ox mountains via Lady's Brae is stunning and the road is rally material (even at 60 km/h you're going "fast":D )

Stark

Most motorways (I think we all know which one I'm making an exception of ).

Cork south ring road including the Ballincollig bypass, lovely road there.

The Limerick bypass is also another lovely piece of road.

The N11.

legs11

motorways and N roads dont constitute 'great drives'.....

the great ocean road down in victoria australia takes some beating.

colm_mcm

Road from Lemaneh Castle in County Clare through Carran and the Burren leads down a lovely steep windey road down into Galway bay. In the right car this is amazing!

Gatster

A82 from Glasgow to Fort William
Ring of Kerry
A18/A14 on the Isle of Man

Also, there is a route from Coagh in Tyrone across the marshes & moors to the border which is amazing scenery, road surface, and nice and twisty.

Altreab

cornbb wrote:

Great thread. I love the drive from Spiddal out along the coast to Invarin - great view of the Aran Islands and as soon as the road turns inland the landscape suddenly becomes breathtaking. I love driving out to Connemara this way and becoming hopelessly lost.

The coastline along the very north of Co. Clare is also fantastic, as are most of the little roads through the burren.

Lost? In Connemara? Thats impossible
A drive along the coast road gives fantastic views and some fantastic beachs (which the council seem hell bent on not signposting). 1 beach in particular has a mile of white sand when tide is out. Its Blue Flag Standard (or would be) if the council installed the required toilets and provided a Life guard.

The drive from coast road then out through Maam Valley, To Leenane, south to Clifden Via Cleggan along the Sky road ... Breathtaking scenery for a passenger ...... the driver needs to keep eyes on the road

gyppo

Slow coach wrote:

The drive from Mulrany north to Bangor Erris and then across the bog to Crossmolina is as remote as it gets. The only time I have driven this was back in '92.

Yep. Mind the sheep though!

milltown

LA to San Fransisco along the coast road, route 1 I think it was called. Did it on our honeymoon at a leisurely pace and stopped overnight in Monterey. Stunning views most of the way but a bit eerie in places where there's no radio reception due to having a few hundred foot of cliff to your right and the Pacific ocean to your left.

In Ireland I'd agree with Sallygap, Glendalough and the road from Naas to Blessington.

h3000

Gatster wrote:

A82 from Glasgow to Fort William

I agree I traveled this road a few years ago it is brilliant, scenery and corners.

Another road i love is Corkscrew Hill between Ballyvaughan and Lisdoonvarna Co. Clare.

tc20

Gatster wrote:

A82 from Glasgow to Fort William

Seconded. I drove around this area a couple of years ago, and then also in January of this year from Glasgow to Inverness via Aviemore (is it the A9?)
Great surface, spectacular scenery, the 2 + 1 lanes every couple of clicks.

Another that gets my vote would be along the north Antrim coast, from Bushmills to Portstewart/Portrush. Again good surfaces, twisties, straights and views. Dunluce castle is along this route, and when i was up there (around May) there were grandstands along part of the route - pardon my ignorance here but some bike roadracing goes that way (Northwest 200?)

Of course the Wicklow and Sally gaps, and the road/causeways out to Lettermullen and Lettermore in Galway

fletch

Anybody know where the Antrim Coast Road begins and ends?
"The Antrim Coast Road offers views more spectacular than the Grand Canyon in the US or Venezuela's Angel Falls, according to a survey."

MercMad

Westport to Leenaune and back via Louisburgh is a nice one too ...roads are shocking though.

......yes love it ! Even better in an old car with the roof down !

Done that Portrush run too, very special !

testicle

fletch wrote:

Anybody know where the Antrim Coast Road begins and ends?
"The Antrim Coast Road offers views more spectacular than the Grand Canyon in the US or Venezuela's Angel Falls, according to a survey."

"The single-carriageway road links the Port of Larne with the nine Glens of Antrim."

afatbollix

peasant wrote:

Westport to Leenaune and back via Louisburgh is a nice one too ...roads are shocking though.

Up in Sligo the Gleniff horseshoe is cool and then just cross the main road and do a circle round Mullaghmore.

Also in Sligo the drive across the Ox mountains via Lady's Brae is stunning and the road is rally material (even at 60 km/h you're going "fast":D )

that was pritty much my way to school every day in my later years of it if i got stuck behind a slow car or truck id just take the mountine route now that was a brillant drive...

the great thing is ive rallyed about 60 % of the roads your on about... molls gap, ring of kerry, load around sligo, westport, galway, donegal derry..
but the best has to be donegal, out towards adlantic drive, glen village, when your calling notes its almost hard not to just look out teh window for a second or 2 :D:D

theres also a rally stage just outside sligo the road goes around a lake great for photos and video.

Rowley Birkin QC

The Vee in Co. Tipp. turn right in cloghen, great drivers road and spectacular views.

However the greatest drive I've undertaken was through forestry on a quad bike at around 11pm one night. "c'mon lets go night quadding"!! 40-50mph (sounds slow but feels like 110mph on a quad) in between trees on dirt tracks with sheer 40-50ft drops down onto stone. Ended up at the top of a mountain looking onto an army firing range,class!!

Also freaked out a few young lads out courting young ladies by flashing lights on and off at points on the mountain looking down onto the carparks!!

6ix

peasant wrote:

Up in Sligo the Gleniff horseshoe is cool and then just cross the main road and do a circle round Mullaghmore.

Did you know that this is a "magic road" ala Fr Ted? I know it's an optical illusion, but if you go there, and park the car on a slight (seemingly) uphill stretch, it'll start to roll UP the hill. It's a crazy feelin. I once visited when I was younger. Actually, according to this, it's magnetic forces that pull the car up the hill

Actually, I just looked i up and Wikipedia had the following to say:

Wikipedia wrote:

The magic road is based on a real life location in Co. Sligo, where an optical illusion makes a road appear to defy gravity. This very location was advertised in a Sligo tourism video presented by Dermot Morgan, some years before Father Ted was filmed.

Wishbone Ash

bigkev49 wrote:

The Vee in Co. Tipp.

I'll second that (although I thought it was in Waterford?).

A circuit of Horn Head, Dunfanaghy, Co Donegal is hard to beat also.

maidhc

My daily commute from Lisgoold village to just outside Midleton.

Perfect surface and a lovely windy road going through a valley with trees. You can do 50/60mph in parts but it also has a few chicanes and something close to a hairpin bend... and there is a straight where you can smoke the truck/punto that you caught up with on the twisties.

bazz26

My favourites is Conor's Pass in Kerry on the way from Tralee into Dingle. The sights from there on a cloud free day are onreal. Not a very wide road on the side of the mountain and sometimes you can find yourself behind a tour bus.

Also the Ring of Kerry as you come down the mountains the view of the lakes of Killarney is just superb.

Another one not too well known is the road between Newcastle West, Co Limerick and Castleisland Co Kerry on the way to Tralee. There is a nice layby at the top of the mountain where you can park and look down at the countryside.

navigator

I think my favourite is the road between Louisbourgh (co. Mayo) and Delphi... it goes through a wild glen, between bare mountains, lakes, no human sign... fantastic! absolutely breathtaking

Fiona

Sky road is AMAZING!!

My guilty pleasure is a Sunday afternoon spin down the N81 towards Blessington then shoot off and go up to Sally's Gap / Military Rd with a box of fags, some techno blasting on the ipod and 3 packs of Softmints :D



On me own with nobody to annoy me :p:p

CiniO

navigator wrote: »

I think my favourite is the road between Louisbourgh (co. Mayo) and Delphi... it goes through a wild glen, between bare mountains, lakes, no human sign... fantastic! absolutely breathtaking

Over last 5 years I think I've done over 50,000km over this stretch.
I still love it.
When you reach top of Doo-lough lake, the view looks totally different everyday.