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Old 19-08-16, 07:39 PM   #1
DJ123
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Default Mini Ireland Tour-Copper Coast & Peninsula's

I had to go to Ireland for a Funeral and decided to take the bike and make it into a mini tour & go to a place i've never been before.
I planned my route out on Tyre, from start to finish & made sure i was covering the best roads, beautiful scenery & breath taking views as i could in the short space of time i had.

The plan was to ride the South Coast, then all the Peninsula's on the West Coast and the follow the Atlantic Way right the way up the West of the Island. Unfortunately i didn't have much time to stray and explore new paths, but with it being weekdays i wasn't unlucky with the traffic.

This is the route i Took:


I left home at 19:30 on Tuesday riding the 200+ miles to Pembroke Dock to catch the 02:45 Ferry on Wednesday morning. I ended up going for a cabin as i didn't catch any sleep at the dock.
I disembarked the Ferry approx 7:30 am on to Irish Soil. The first part of the journey up till Cork was simply to get past the big towns and off onto the Windy stuff. I stopped for lunch along the South section about 11 am on the beach and to take in some views of the Scenery. I was lucky that the weather was playing ball; blue skies, 20+ degrees of sunshine, low humidity & a gentle breeze.
The next stretch along the N71 and up to the start of the Beara Peninsula was biking Heaven. I've never enjoyed a 'main' road and scenery so much. There were very few vehicles on the road and progress was good, as were the lean angles on corners . . . . .
The Beara Peninsula; What a place! The roads, the scenery, the scale, it is all beyond expectation & what i had seen before. Crystal Blue Ocean, Large rocky mountains, tight twisty roads & landscapes that are reminiscent of ancient times gone by. There is a cafe, monastery & Spa on the West Coast, up a reasonably step climbing Hill; great fun on the bike as it's a fairly technical road with camber, gravel & single track. I stopped here about 2 pm for some tea & cake and to admire the views across the Ocean.
After finishing the Beara Peninsula my next stop was to find a campsite. The original aim was somewhere near Killarney but that would have taken me too far off my track & time. So i decided to head for the Ring of Kerry and find one up there-unfortunately there are't as many as you think! I stayed at one near Caherdaniel, beach front called Glenbeg Camping & Caravan. I arrived about 6pm or so, a good 10 hour day on the bike.
I'd recommend it 110%; The campsite was pretty full, so theyopened a new field just for me to stay in . . . always the thing needed for a good night sleep is solidarity! A reasonable price at €8 for the night. There was also a Pub and a restaurant there too, so dinner and a couple of beverages were easy to get.
I was up early the next morning to make the most of the my last day on teh road as i had to be in Portroe for 4pm. I left the campsite at 7:45 and carried on round the ring of Kerry. It's a very popular tourist destination with lots of coach tours. Thankfully they go anti-clockwise and i was going the opposite direction and managed to miss the majority of them. Like the Beara Peninsula the scenery is breathtaking. The only difference here is there is a bit more traffic on the road and it is a wider main road.
Next up was the Dingle Peninsula. This was more like the Beara in terms of the landscape and the road type. Much more to my liking with light to no traffic, good biking roads & spectacular views.
I rode right to the West of the Peninsula to complete a loop, and then did Connors Pass to take me to the North side. Connors Pass is a beautiful road which follows along a cliff/mountain side and over looks a Valley. This pass does have a sign which states; any vehicles over 1.8T &/or more than 1.8m wide do not use this road. Of course all the campervans ignore this and proceed anyway causing traffic due to the infrequent passing points.

That was my short and sweet trip to Ireland taking in a good chunk of the south in 16 hours of riding or so.
Before going i researched a few bits to prepare myself for what lay ahead.
True: No fixed Gatso's, only radar guns manned by the Garda.
False: No petrol stations; I was mostly off the beaten track and there was at least a petrol station in every or minimum every other village. The price was aligned with UK prices, although with Diesel a nice bit cheaper
False; Bad road surfaces; again i was off the beaten track mostly and i had no complaints. Most were as good as if not better than a typical British B Road. I even managed to do a bit of green laning.
I didn't bother with a GB sticker and never had any issues.
I stuck to the lower limits 50/60 kms, and used my common sense in the rest as to what was sensible.

Ferry Company; Irish Ferries. Good service at either Port & on board the Ferry. Would recommend travelling with them.

Overall a great trip, and given me a taste to go back and explore the rest of it. A few pics of the trip:

Some green laning


Brekkie in Dingle


Dinner at Glenbeg


The other Irish Drink


The view from my tent at the campsite











The Atlantic






Connors Pass


Jesus; i think he died in a car crash
















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Last edited by DJ123; 19-08-16 at 07:41 PM.
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