WAW - Does this look OK and help with digs

SIM

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Hi all

Following last years cancelled trip, Irish ferries will not carry the ferry tickets over another year, so I will be heading over to Ireland back end of September

Rough route is as follows

Day 1 Dublin to Kinsale
Day 2 Kinsale to Dingle
Day 3 Dingle to Co Clare
Day 4 Co Clare to Leenane
Day 5 Leenane to Achill Island
Day 6 Achill Island to Sligo
Day 7 Sligo to Dublin

Does this seem a reasonable for a good days riding

Any suggestions for pub or b&b accommodation and restaurants in or around these areas would be greatly apprecated.

Cheers Simon
 
Dingle is great, the harbour lodge is priced ok and close to the village. Instead of leenane I'd stay in Westport, the helm is great for accomodation and food. It also has gated parking for the bike.
 
We had no problem finding digs at any point on our trip a couple of years ago.

Just turn up in the village, find the pub and ask at the bar!

You will usually find they either have accommodation upstairs, or someone will be drinking in there who knows someone who has rooms to rent. Alternatively you could using Booking.com, but that would ruin the whole experience.
 
Kinsale to Dingle - are you taking the direct route or trying to do some of the Ring of Kerry and the WAW?

Direct you are missing some (all??) of the best bits in a rush to get to Dingle.

Scenic route is way too long for 1 day and you won't get time to step off the bike and take a look at anything. This should be 2 or even 3 days.

Bridge Bar at Portmagee has nice rooms, though the food not as great as it used to be. Royal Hotel, Knightstown, Valentia nice rooms and great food. Driftwood cafe and Skelligs Chocolate factory at St Finians Bay also worth a detour (all on Skellig Ring). Ballinskelligs beach one of the most scenic, along with O'Carrolls cove.

I'm biased though, just back from 2 weeks at family on Valentia.
 
joness7 said:
Kinsale to Dingle - are you taking the direct route or trying to do some of the Ring of Kerry and the WAW?

Direct you are missing some (all??) of the best bits in a rush to get to Dingle.

Scenic route is way too long for 1 day and you won't get time to step off the bike and take a look at anything. This should be 2 or even 3 days.

Bridge Bar at Portmagee has nice rooms, though the food not as great as it used to be. Royal Hotel, Knightstown, Valentia nice rooms and great food. Driftwood cafe and Skelligs Chocolate factory at St Finians Bay also worth a detour (all on Skellig Ring). Ballinskelligs beach one of the most scenic, along with O'Carrolls cove.

I'm biased though, just back from 2 weeks at family on Valentia.
Click to expand...

What he said.

Kinsale to Mizen, to sheeps head to beara to kerry to dingle.... There three days there. Or two any way. Dingle to Clare half a day, nowt to see...

Actually, if it was me, I would start at Kinsale and ride, once it was time for beer food and a bed, I would stop. That is a great plan. Let the road decide
 
Thanks guys for the reply,

I agree with the just ride and see where you end up, it was just a rough idea of what maybe doable in the week I have,

I am happy dropping bits off at the end so long as I ride the coastal routes and then cut back across to Dublin at any point at end of trip.
 
SIM said:
Thanks guys for the reply,

I agree with the just ride and see where you end up, it was just a rough idea of what maybe doable in the week I have,

I am happy dropping bits off at the end so long as I ride the coastal routes and then cut back across to Dublin at any point at end of trip.
Click to expand...

Way to go, the five peninsulas down the South West deserve time, the first three being the best of them... If it was me I would consider for overnight stops Goleen, Allihies and Portmagee Ending up in Dingle, and there I would stay further west somewhere as Dingle is a bit Disney land...

From Dingle up to the ferry across the Shannon is an easy drive not much of interest until you get to the Burren when the fun begins again. This is of course only my opinion
 
richie said:
Way to go, the five peninsulas down the South West deserve time, the first three being the best of them... If it was me I would consider for overnight stops Goleen, Allihies and Portmagee Ending up in Dingle, and there I would stay further west somewhere as Dingle is a bit Disney land...

From Dingle up to the ferry across the Shannon is an easy drive not much of interest until you get to the Burren when the fun begins again. This is of course only my opinion
Click to expand...

That's brilliant exactly what I wanted, people that know what they are talking about giving some advice on route and accommodation

Thanks very much
 
SIM said:
Hi all

Following last years cancelled trip, Irish ferries will not carry the ferry tickets over another year, so I will be heading over to Ireland back end of September

Rough route is as follows

Day 1 Dublin to Kinsale
Day 2 Kinsale to Dingle
Day 3 Dingle to Co Clare
Day 4 Co Clare to Leenane
Day 5 Leenane to Achill Island
Day 6 Achill Island to Sligo
Day 7 Sligo to Dublin

Does this seem a reasonable for a good days riding

Any suggestions for pub or b&b accommodation and restaurants in or around these areas would be greatly apprecated.

Cheers Simon
Click to expand...

Ask for you mony back, dont be railroaded into taking a trip because they wont refund you
 
Santa-2512 said:
Ask for you mony back, dont be railroaded into taking a trip because they wont refund you
Click to expand...

Your right, I would have asked for my money back if I did not want to go (may not have made it clear enough on opening post), Its my bike trip for the year, been looking forward to heading over for 18 months, waiting for Covid to ease
 
Just to echo what some of the lads have said, the roads down that part of the WWW are slow and every corner can bring new beautiful vistas. It would be a shame to just blast through it, better to take your time and enjoy it.
 
I also agree that the route is too ambitious.
A few sections I suggest to consider for pruning:
Kinsale to Skibbereen. The "Mild" Atlantic Way. Busy, slow.
(Dublin Port to Skibbereen is a long journey though, even using the m-way. ~5hrs)
Skip South Clare, Loop Head. (in favour of The Burren and North Clare)
Thus, Slea Head (Dingle Penn.) to Burren North Clare - a direct transit journey.

Even at that I think there will be some harsher pruning needed.
But it's sure to be a great trip. Go n-éirí an bóthar leat!
Heading west in the morning myself - with a tent.
 
I did a bit of WAW last week, near Ballycastle

Superb it was

306b4278cec668e8df02410889012de5.jpg
 
Cheers fella, certainly realising I have been over ambitious.
Happy pruning, just been in Dale’s this evening and some of those smaller roads can be very slow, in places like Littondale.

This is why it does make sense not to pre book accommodation

That looks great JB
 
FWIW I did part of the WAW 2 years ago and was out for 8ish hours most days. I didn't rush, took the time to look at anything that caught my eye for as long as I wanted to and stopped as often as I felt like it. It's fair to say my progress was steady as it took me 5 days to get from Muff to Sligo, I was expecting to get Mayo and Galway in as well but failed miserably in that respect so if you're on your own I'd just say point the bike in the direction you want to go and get to wherever you get to whenever you get there. Despite not covering many miles I had a fabulous time, hopefully you will as well.
I'm umming and aahing about heading over on Friday for another week to carry on where I left off.
 
Mild thread hijack. I had a fantastic rain free trip in 2006 which inc ferry from Holyhead into Dublin (and thru the city) to Connemara via mway, then dropped down via:
Alcock& Brown Monument, Clifden, Burren / Cliffs of Moher, Kilmer/Tarbet Ferry, Banna Strand (Casement Memorial), Connor Pass, Inch Beach, Gap of Dunloe, Skellig Visitor Experience then...... I have absolutely no recall until ferry out of Rosslare to Fishguard! WTF?? :blast

Anyways, for anybody doing a round (anticlockwise) WAW trip, which also ties in a lot of Welsh scenery en-route (hence in at Dublin & out at Rosslare), what is the collective advice for sightseeing on interesting roads between say Skellig Visitor Centre and Rosslare. Many thanks and apols again for the mild thread hijack! :bow
 
As has been said you're trying to do a lot in the time you have. Day 1 & Day 5 are about the only 'handy' ones ;)
You'll be lucky to average 30MPH on most country roads never mind on the WAW. And that's without taking a picture, having a wizz or even some tay :rob
The WAW ain't going anywhere so you can always come back another time
By late Sept the kids are back in school & most of the tourists, or at least the non-package holiday types, will have buggered off so you should have no problem finding places to stay a couple hours before you want to stop
Booking.com or B&B Ireland are your best bet unless you enjoy just popping in somewhere. We don't have quite the same percentage of pubs with accommodation as youse do but you will find some

This guy has some interesting info, including POIs for pubs, restaurants & accommodation along the route. Plus he has bits, like Father Ted's House, off the WAW itself if you fancy a little diversion

Leenane was looking lovely last weekend -



If you make it that far the Leenane Hotel is well used to bikers, a gang of us will be there at the weekend :cool:

Enjoy, take your time & come back for more :beerjug:
 
Thanks all, pretty clear I have over estimated what I can do.

Interesting that there are not as many pubs with accommodation as the uk

Cheers
 
Just to chime in, it once took me 5 days ...full riding (inc many beauty and coffee stops) to go from kinsale to lahinch.

Dont sell yourself short by missing out on the peninsulas L roads!
We stayed in Kinsale
Bantry
Castletownbere
Dingle
Lahinch

Must do is the healy pass(over and back lol)
South Pole in at Anascaul
Tarbert ferry
Gap of Dunloe but to name only a tiny few



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Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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