Cycle Belfast to Dublin Advice

BurntRose

Hi All, 

I am hoping you can give me some advice. I am trying to persuade my mum to accompany me on a mini tour cycling from Belfast to Dublin. She said to put together a route and she would let me know.  I have created this route: 

mapmyride.com/routes/view/1598469841

and was wondering if anyone who is familiar with the areas could have a look and advise on scenery, hills, traffic, terrain, bnb's, etc. 

I have never been to Ireland and have put this together by having a look at routes other people have created for cycling shorter sections. As neither of us have done much touring before we are keeping the days to under 50 miles. so far I am thinking: 

 Day 1  Belfast - Newcastle 50 miles
Day 2  Newcastle - Dundalk 43 miles
Day 3  Dundalk - Skerries 40 miles
Day 4  Skerries - Dublin 20 miles


Any advice/tweaks to the route to make it easier/more scenic/quieter/better in any other way! is much appreciated :) 

Thanks, 

B

macadam

BurntRose wrote: »

Hi All, 

I am hoping you can give me some advice. I am trying to persuade my mum to accompany me on a mini tour cycling from Belfast to Dublin. She said to put together a route and she would let me know.  I have created this route: 

mapmyride.com/routes/view/1598469841

and was wondering if anyone who is familiar with the areas could have a look and advise on scenery, hills, traffic, terrain, bnb's, etc. 

I have never been to Ireland and have put this together by having a look at routes other people have created for cycling shorter sections. As neither of us have done much touring before we are keeping the days to under 50 miles. so far I am thinking: 

 Day 1  Belfast - Newcastle 50 miles
Day 2  Newcastle - Dundalk 43 miles
Day 3  Dundalk - Skerries 40 miles
Day 4  Skerries - Dublin 20 miles


Any advice/tweaks to the route to make it easier/more scenic/quieter/better in any other way! is much appreciated :) 

Thanks, 

B

Dundalk to Skerries, take a left in Castlebellingham towards Annagassan coastal route the whole way to Drogheda choice of coffee shops in Termonfeckin terrain is virtually flat the whole way. Enjoy the trip.

LennoxR

Two piece of advice, per above, avoid the main road between Dundalk and Drogheda as there are two much nicer back roads available; one along the coast and another the R170.

Secondly, AT ALL COSTS avoid the road from Lusk to Swords in north County Dublin. This is honestly one of the most unpleasant roads I have ever ridden on, as a result of bad surface, very heavy traffic and multiple roundabouts. Traffic can also be very heavy on the roads into Balbriggan and Skerries.

I would take the road south out of Drogheda towards the Naul, and then through Oldtown and St Margarets, much more peaceful and enjoyable route in my experience, albeit also hillier in the stretch between Drogheda and Naul. The hills are well worth the scenery and the peace and quiet though in my opinion.

I hope that helps and enjoy the ride!

triggermortis

Can't help with the NI part as never cycled that, but as macadam said, follow the coast from Drogheda to Balbriggan and Skerries.
Skerries to Dublin, you could head via Man o War and cross the old N1 (now called R132)towards Naul but take a left to go via Ballyboughall or Oldtown. Lots of options this way with quiet roads. Like LennoxR said, the R127 can be busy and is quite narrow and this brings you onto the R132 at Blakes cross, which can be very busy before the motorway roundabouts.

Quickpip

Hi,  I'm from county Down so I'd be very familiar with quite a bit of that route. Firstly its not bad at all and I can only think of one big change near the end( I'll come to that later ). I'll break the route into smaller sections and include some attractions etc.
Belfast to Newtownards ..   As you are cycling from the city centre will be fairly busy roads. First point of Interest as you leave Belfast is Stormount Estate. Well worth a quick visit to see the grounds and Castle. As you go into Newtownards you will see Scrabo Tower on your right on an elevated hill. Its a bit of a climb to get there but pretty cool to see.
Newtownards - Portaferry..  Lovely scenic rolling route. Can be a little busy on weekends. Some lovely villages as you travel down east shore of Strangford Lough. Highlights if you have time would be The National Trust Mount Stuart Gardens, Grey Abbey Ruins and possibly Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry. All are well signposted and lots of Cafes etc.
Portaferry- Downpatrick... Cross the ferry to Strangford. From there your route takes you through N.T.  Castleward Forestpark. A number of scenes from the Game of Thrones series were shot here and there are a number of attractions/tours. From this point on Saint Patrick (patron Saint of Ireland) dominates proceedings. There are historic churches in Saul and Downpatrick and also the Saint Patrick Centre which is well worth a visit. I would also stop into the Downpatrick Railway Museum which also operates a working steam train(not sure times dates). Many other attractions in and around Downpatrick like Inch abbey that might take you a few km out of your way but worth it in my opinion.
Downpatrick- Newcastle... Nice rolling countryside but not that many attractions until you reach Dundrum. Dundrum castle is beautiful again some G.O.T scenes shot here and some nice cafes/restaurants. Rolling past Dundrum you will have seen Slieve Donard which is the tallest mountain in the Mournes and Newcastle sits at its base. Again some nice cafes etc.
Newcastle- Rostrevor...  Small change of plan here!!
Out of Newcastle you will have a fairly steep but worthwhile climb until you reach Tollymore Forest Park. Do please stop here as it has some pretty spectacular walks/cycle and gardens etc. Onwards to the climbing now of the Trassey road and Connecting to the Slievenamen Road until you reach the summit and highest point of your journey. Turn past Spelga Reservoir and head turn the very fast S bend towards Hilltown. About 1km I would advise you to take the SANDBANK ROAD on the left to Rostrevor. This is a much quieter road and more scenic than the route you have selected. Travel on down to Rostevor. Lots to see and do here. One of the best Mountain bike trails in Ireland as well. Flat route from here onto Warrenpoint with lovely coastal views of Carlingford Lough and then flat run to Newry and join your cycle route again.
        Just one more thing a new ferry service is starting from the start of June 2017 connecting Greencastle in County Down to Greenore in County Louth. In this way you could avoid having to head to Newry at all!!

BurntRose

Wow, some fab advice there! Nothing beats local knowledge I will take all of this on board and tweak the route, all of your advice much appreciated - especially as regards avoiding busy roads and places to visit.

If any of you are heading to Edinburgh/Lothians area of Scotland I'm happy to return the favour!

Thank you all!

Inquitus

I know NCD and Meath well, I'd recommend going Ardee -> Collon -> Tullyallen ->Donore -> Duleek -> Bellewstown -> Naul -> Ballyboughal -> Margaretstown -> Back of the Airport. And then make your way to wherever in town you want to go, it's a far nicer cycle than Triggermortis's more easterly route, with some great views along the way. You can also stop at the site of the Battle of the Boyne for some lunch or a coffee.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/1600271356

LennoxR

BurntRose wrote: »

Wow, some fab advice there! Nothing beats local knowledge I will take all of this on board and tweak the route, all of your advice much appreciated - especially as regards avoiding busy roads and places to visit.

If any of you are heading to Edinburgh/Lothians area of Scotland I'm happy to return the favour!

Thank you all!

Make sure to write us a report!

ford2600

BurntRose wrote: »

Wow, some fab advice there! Nothing beats local knowledge

http://cycle.travel/

This might.

BurntRose

I have now tweaked the route - one thing I wasn't sure of, after avoiding the road from Lusk to Swords was the route into Dublin fine? I have switched it to come in round the other side of the airport, is that a bit quieter? It looks like it is well away from the main entrance so thought it might be... obviously coming into a city from any direction things are going to get a bit busier anyway...

Changes have added a little mileage but not necessarily a bad thing, and I'm sure more than made up for by quieter roads and beautiful scenery 😊.

Quickpip, I have left in Newry at the moment but will definitely keep in mind the possibility of the ferry crossing! Very handy to know.

BurntRose

ford2600 wrote: »

BurntRose wrote: »

Wow, some fab advice there! Nothing beats local knowledge

/cycle.travel

This might.

Thanks I'll check it out - first quote on the page states it is the next best thing to local knowledge though 😜 those weird characters were a tongue out smiley!

BurntRose

Inquitus wrote: »

I know NCD and Meath well, I'd recommend going Ardee -> Collon -> Tullyallen ->Donore -> Duleek -> Bellewstown -> Naul -> Ballyboughal -> Margaretstown -> Back of the Airport.

mapmyride.com/routes/view/1600271356

Thanks Iniquitus - it won't let me view the map though as the privacy is set to friends!

I'd like to stick to the coast a bit longer than but based on this and others above have changed the route coming into Dublin round the back of the airport.

BurntRose

LennoxR wrote: »

Make sure to write us a report!

Will do! If my mum isn't up for it I'm sure there are a couple of friends I can persuade to join me....

Feeling quite excited about it!

ford2600

BurntRose wrote: »

Thanks I'll check it out - first quote on the page states it is the next best thing to local knowledge though 😜

I've cycled a 100km plus route between the same two end points at least 10 times a year for 6 years.

I'm pretty map obsessed and have done it a lot of different routes over the years but that site came up with a brilliant route I never thought of on lovely quite roads

macadam

The back of the airport is very busy and boring, you would be much better going in through Malahide maybe take in Howth Sutton and on in via Clontarf.

Quickpip

BurntRose wrote: »

I have now tweaked the route - one thing I wasn't sure of, after avoiding the road from Lusk to Swords was the route into Dublin fine? I have switched it to come in round the other side of the airport, is that a bit quieter? It looks like it is well away from the main entrance so thought it might be... obviously coming into a city from any direction things are going to get a bit busier anyway...

Changes have added a little mileage but not necessarily a bad thing, and I'm sure more than made up for by quieter roads and beautiful scenery 😊.

Quickpip, I have left in Newry at the moment but will definitely keep in mind the possibility of the ferry crossing! Very handy to know.

Good stuff. Newry is not known as a big tourist destination(though lots of shoppers do flock there). There is a small museum near the lidl store as you enter newry from Warrenpoint and it's a worthwhile visit. Obviously you do need to pass through it to go further south. There are some other nice attractions in South Armagh that you will pass through. I'll have a look at the route again and see what is interesting.

LennoxR

macadam wrote: »

The back of the airport is very busy and boring, you would be much better going in through Malahide maybe take in Howth Sutton and on in via Clontarf.

That is true, but you can't have everything.

The route near the coast to get to Malahide from say, Balbriggan is fairly hellish on a bike. Naul, Oldtown and St Margarets is imeasurably more pleasant.

The tossup is that, yes, you enter the city through Finglas on a road that is busy and undistinguished, but for my money still the better choice.

Of course, you could take the Naul road then go through Swords to Malahide if you didn't mind adding on a few km. Then from Malahide follow the coast road into the city, which is quite scenic and has an off road bike path from Howth onwards. It would be quite a detour though.

ThisRegard

Why the back of the airport rather than Kinsealy via say Baskin Lane and onto the coast?

LennoxR

ThisRegard wrote: »

Why the back of the airport rather than Kinsealy via say Baskin Lane and onto the coast?

Didn't know that route to be honest. It looks good. I must try it myself. But, still a bit of a detour.

stecleary

If i was trying to get from Balbriggan to the city and avoid the heavier traffic and fit in the coast this is the route I'd use
https://www.strava.com/routes/8941566

BurntRose

Thanks, will take a look at the suggestions for getting into Dublin and discuss it with my mum, we might just keep a few options in mind and see how we feel on the day  good to have an idea of which roads are better than others though!

BurntRose

Hi all, just wanted to give you a wee update!

My mum decided that as she hasn't cycled much in the last couple of years she would give this one a miss, but since I'd got so far in the planning well...I decided to go ahead solo, and figured I might as well just cycle from home instead of training it to the ferry!

I started on Thursday, and should be in Belfast by this evening if you are o. Twitter my handle is @b1rntros3, and I am using #newbiecycletourer to tweet about the trip. I am also keeping a blog here - https://b1rntros3.blogspot.co.uk looking forward to my first visit to Ireland!

B

Quickpip

Just to add the new feŕry from greencastle in county down to greenore in county Louth opened yesterday! Hope you have a great time. Weather looks favourable as well. Good luck

BurntRose

Quickpip wrote: »

Just to add the new feŕry from greencastle in county down to greenore in county omeath opened yesterday! Hope you have a great time. Weather looks favourable as well. Good luck

Fab, thank you!

macadam

When do you expect to hit Newry Dundalk region??