Best Irish roads for driving?

robbie99

Top Gear had an episode devoted to finding out which was the best road for driving on. I think they came up with Stelvio's Pass in the Alps as being it.

But what about Ireland? Do we have any roads worth going out for a spin on?

Cookie_Monster

Enniskerry to Glendalough via Sallygap

Alun

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Enniskerry to Glendalough via Sallygap

A pretty route, agreed, but the road itself is pretty crap, especially the bit coming down from Sally gap back into Laragh. To me a good driving road combines beautiful scenery with a reasonably wide road with lots of twists and turns and dips and a reasonable road surface as well.

milltown

Blessington to Naas used to be a great drive a few years ago. Haven't done it in a long time though.

hi5

Dungarvan to Clonmel.

Flyer1

There isn't one......

Parkie

Naas to Ballymore, or Carlow to Stradbally and then on to Athy.:D

superjosh9

Nassau St!

Hotwheels

Old Circuit of Ireland Stage across the Partry Mountains...
Lough Nafooey, old Galway International rally stage....

Ballyallaban -> Corkscrew Start at the Top of Ballyallaban, hint don't cut at the carpark...:D going up or down Ballyallaban...

There are a few old International Stages round/near Kinvara that are very nice..
The full length Blackroad stage that takes in wastelands..very nice..

Time to take out a few auld roadbooks and go for a spin...:)

Parkie

Hotwheels wrote: »

Old Circuit of Ireland Stage across the Partry Mountains...
Lough Nafooey, old Galway International rally stage....

Ballyallaban -> Corkscrew Start at the Top of Ballyallaban, hint don't cut at the carpark...:D going up or down Ballyallaban...

There are a few old International Stages round/near Kinvara that are very nice..
The full length Blackroad stage that takes in wastelands..very nice..

Time to take out a few auld roadbooks and go for a spin...:)

Holy Mother of God, done a charity run a few years ago ("The 2 tonne run") that brought us over "corkscrew hill", and experiance to say the least. Think its the same place, but the scenery up top was breathtaking.

crosstownk

I usually stick to the main roads but of the ones I use, I like the road from Newcastlewest to Tralee. I'm also a fan of the N5 from Ballahadreen to Castlebar. The N4 from <can't remember town name> to just before the dual carraigeway before Sligo is also a nice drive - provided no slow moving traffic is in the way......

homer90

Westport to Leenane via Louisburg . $hite road but stunning views :cool:

Esel

Antrim Coast Road. Google it.

afatbollix

all the classic rally stages i think are the best... challenging roads + good senery and a nice car under you and it feels great

the adlantic drive on achill island.
drive up molls gap in killanrey..
adlantic drive in donegal
Westport to Leenane via Louisburg but take the back roads.. you go over two moutines and down the back of crogh patrick... now that road is heaven... used to drive it to school every day... knew it like the back of my hand

Capital Slow

N71, Cork to Kerry, drive in the midnight with the full bim on, u see trees, coasts and deers and of course, no slow traffic

Cookie_Monster

Belfast to Giant's Causeway.

Mix of windy coastal road with stunning views and nicer newer road when away from coast, thats even used for rally stages.

LEIN

The M50 north bound between Red Cow and Blanch at 5pm Mon-Fri :pac:

Cookie_Monster

Alun wrote: »

A pretty route, agreed, but the road itself is pretty crap, especially the bit coming down from Sally gap back into Laragh.

Hones your rections too:D

You can either drive it like a granny or
drive fast, react fast or break you car:p

chickenhawk

hi5 wrote: »

Dungarvan to Clonmel.

Yea a lot of roads around here are good. There is a nice road around Portlaw that is a good drive as well.

crosstownk wrote: »

I usually stick to the main roads but of the ones I use, I like the road from Newcastlewest to Tralee. I'm also a fan of the N5 from Ballahadreen to Castlebar. The N4 from <can't remember town name> to just before the dual carraigeway before Sligo is also a nice drive - provided no slow moving traffic is in the way......

Its a small village called Castlebaldwin down to Collooney. Some nice bends on it but it can be dangerous. Two lads crashed there last Sunday morning. Still in intensive care.

Alun

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Hones your rections too:D

You can either drive it like a granny or
drive fast, react fast or break you car:p

The first km or two just after the gap before you start descending has some pretty dramatic whole road-width bumps in it .. the suspension destroying kind. To me that doesn't make it a 'driving road', sorry. I drive that road quite often, and know where most of the nasty bumps are by now, fortunately.

There are some good driving roads over in the North of England across the Pennines, very similar scenery, but properly built roads that won't break your car that can be driven at decent speeds. So maybe the best driving road in Ireland is the one that leads to the Dun Laoghaire ferry port

Hotwheels

Parkie wrote: »

Holy Mother of God, done a charity run a few years ago ("The 2 tonne run") that brought us over "corkscrew hill", and experiance to say the least. Think its the same place, but the scenery up top was breathtaking.

Yup the view from the Picnic table (its gone now) about half-way up is stunning..
The only way to do Corkscrew is in one of these...:)

nogoodnamesleft

Molls Gap from Killarney heading down in to Kenmare, classic scenery over the lakes and mountains either side. Beware of sheep who are not afraid of cars, roaming wild deer (its a national park after all) and large tour buses full of americans and germans that go round the route the incorrect direction.

mumhaabu

The best road fro driving - any motorway or dual carriageway. It is only boy racers describe bad roads as good and this demographic of society is often the most responsible for the majority of our road deaths.

I think the mods should rename this the "Worst Irish roads for driving?" Anyway in my opinon the worst road in Ireland is the N72 from Killarney to Mallow and it is exceptionally twisty, narrow and constantly littered with all forms of Tractors and Lorries cutting cross country on it.

I drove it yesterday to Mallow and it took me nearly one and a half hours to travel 70KM with the added bottleneck of Mallow and the excellently timed roadworks and confusing diversions.

The N73 from Mallow to Mitchelstown is equally as bad and both of these routes are by far in my opinion the worst routes in all Munster if not Ireland. Oh behold the Joy of the joining the M8 outside Mitchelstown enroute to Cuffesgrange, Kilkenny for the Ploughing Championships. I'd happily €3k a year roadtax if we had Motorways crisscrossing the country.

LEIN

The new N11 Gorey by-pass at night when no one else is around.

bennyc

There is a road between Ardara and Mass in Gleaties Co Donegal. Its is pretty narrow and full of twists and turns ups and downs. The day after I got my current car (Volco s60 Sport Suspension) I brought it down that way for a spin and you really get to feel what you have under you. Although it is a narrow and windy road it runs over a hill of bogland so you see about a mile ahead of you at all times and the scenary is not too bad either.

Tawny

Sligo to Bundoran. Benbulben where it meets the sea is the most beautiful view ever.

robbie99

mumhaabu wrote: »

The best road fro driving - any motorway or dual carriageway. It is only boy racers describe bad roads as good and this demographic of society is often the most responsible for the majority of our road deaths.

I think the mods should rename this the "Worst Irish roads for driving?" Anyway in my opinon the worst road in Ireland is the N72 from Killarney to Mallow and it is exceptionally twisty, narrow and constantly littered with all forms of Tractors and Lorries cutting cross country on it.

Mumhaabu, if you want to start a 'worst roads in Ireland' thread or a 'anyone who enjoys driving must be a boy racer' thread then please do so, just please refrain from hijacking this one.

Thanks to everyone who has offered up some great roads. Only a couple of weeks ago I drove up to the giants causway via the Antrim coast road and it was an amazing driving experience. Scenery was fantastic - looking out over the Irish sea to Scotland. The roads were hilly and twisty in some places, long and straight others, allways smooth, wide and well marked. Not much traffic and an absolute pleasure to drive on. You didn't have to worry about boy racers as there was plenty of good road available to share!

I suppose I'll have to schedule a weekends for Killarney, west Galway, and the north west before hitting the Alps!

Thanks again for all the suggestions.

blackbox

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Enniskerry to Glendalough via Sallygap

Great route - also if you swing left at Sallygap and head for Roundwood.

Your progress is largely determined by your suspension - Years ago I found that a quick Citroen BX (GT16) could cover it quicker than most as you didn't have to back off for the bumps and it never bottomed out.

I have a more powerful car now but I have to slow down to avoid amashing the front spoiler.

I'd be interested to hear from any boardsies with an Elise - can it handle the bumpy roads? (I might be tempted...)

The Wicklow gap is a nice drive (smoother!) if you can get there when there is no traffic.

Cookie_Monster

blackbox wrote: »

The Wicklow gap is a nice drive (smoother!) if you can get there when there is no traffic.

Wicklow gap to Glendalough without using the accelerator is interesting

Even more so if you try to not use the brakes too:p

biko

homer90 wrote: »

Westport to Leenane via Louisburg . $hite road but stunning views

This would be a favorite of mine too.

And Antrim coast road.

dimrod

The drive up Molls Gap the morning of the Killarney Rally and then back down the Gap of Dunloe is definately one of the best.

Another of my favourites is from Athlone to Mullingar via Ballymore and then on to Delvin, Athboy and Kells.

-Corkie-

homer90 wrote: »

Westport to Leenane via Louisburg . $hite road but stunning views :cool:

As the op says top gear says. The new episode of top gear which airs in summer features the above road through maam cross. The boys concluded that this was one of the best driving roads in the world let alone ireland. It will be on bbc2 shortly so keep an eye out

Voodoomelon

Some craic on the roads in the Cooley mountains, nice scenery too.

samsemtex

My favourite road is the Mitchelstown-Ballyporeen road and then continuing on to Clogheen and heading for Lismore through the Vee. Lovely wide cambered corners with good visibility and the surface is actually quite good. Easily wide enough for two cars as well. Then you get to the Vee and the views are stunning.

I also like the R512 from Kildorrery to Limerick.

ardmacha

The best road fro driving - any motorway or dual carriageway. It is only boy racers describe bad roads as good

Nonsense.

Bob Montgomery had an occasional series in the motor supplement in the Irish Times identifying such routes, including many discussed here. If anyone has access to the archives they might search for these.

heffomike54

Both myself & my mate who is a biker love this road, it always reminds me of a street track from need for speed or something, it has class bends, dips & a great surface. The traffic can be very heavy on it at times but when it's not too busy, it's a very enjoyable road to drive on at any speed.

Surprised noone has mentioned the Healy pass in west Cork yet.





The scenery is stunning too.

bmw535d

all would be fine till youd hit a pothole big enough to bath a donkey in!

jaffa20

Jeez, time flies when you're on boards.:)

connachteagle

I agree Athlone to Mullingar is a great road at 5 in th mornin when its safe and your not putting yourself or other users in denger.

vincenzolorenzo

+1 on the classic rally stages. Probably the best road I've ever driven is the road from Portsalon to Rathmullan in Donegal. Part of it is used on the Knockalla stage every year, unfortunately with tragic consequences this year. But it is a fantastic road, great surface, more than wide enough all the way along, plenty of dips, crests and turns and stunning scenery all the way along. Fantastic road

dunleakelleher

Capital Slow wrote: »

N71, Cork to Kerry, drive in the midnight with the full bim on, u see trees, coasts and deers and of course, no slow traffic

agreed, but turn off in Kenmare on to the N70 through Sneem, Caherdaniel, Watervill. Man oh man what a drive.

MadYaker

Drive from Galway to Ballyvaughan via the wild atlantic way. Nice twisty road with a great surface and lovely views of the burren and the sea. Just make sure you do it at 5am on a sunday before the tourists and the farmers get going.

dmc17

MadYaker wrote: »

Drive from Galway to Ballyvaughan via the wild atlantic way. Nice twisty road with a great surface and lovely views of the burren and the sea. Just make sure you do it at 5am on a sunday before the tourists and the farmers get going.

And continue on from Ballyvaughan around Black Head to Fanore which is a lovely drive right by the Atlantic Ocean and then keep going until you reach Loop Head

Hachiko

guys

can anyone tell me the condition of the roads in munster?

I am looking at the above route, would love to do it

http://www.cycle-route.com/routes/Glengarriff_to_Healy_Pass_Loop-Cycle-Route-5054.html

that and the ring of kerry

over for a week in July, ferry a rip off, £300.

so much for British/Irish tourism relations.

YbFocus

Hachiko wrote: »

guys

can anyone tell me the condition of the roads in munster?

I am looking at the above route, would love to do it

http://www.cycle-route.com/routes/Glengarriff_to_Healy_Pass_Loop-Cycle-Route-5054.html

that and the ring of kerry

over for a week in July, ferry a rip off, £300.

so much for British/Irish tourism relations.

North of Adrigole on that is a fantastic road over the healy pass. Switchbacks and good sighting means you can have great fun in a rwd.

Molls gap on the ring of kerry is amazing.
Narrow but do it early or late to get rid of the tourists and it will blow you away.

Roads are ok. My e36 handled both fine and it would be quite low compared to the 250.

Hachiko

sounds good so.

YbFocus

Hachiko wrote: »

sounds good so.

The healy pass, need I say more....

Hachiko

ya, post a proper pic

but if its anything like the one posted earlier its worth a trip itself.

YbFocus

I had to dig through a few folders to find them but here we go.

This again is a Healy Pass pic I took.

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/279499/352760.jpg

The others are the Gap of Dunloe, you can go up Molls gap and down the Gap for the ultimate 2 hour blast

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/279499/352761.jpg

And people on here say I can't take pictures!

https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/279499/352762.jpg

Hachiko

fantastic, how long to do the pass and ring? can you do both in a day?