Cycling UK Forum

i will be touring ireland come this May from mizen to malin and then on to giants causeway from there to dublin.
i'm looking for info on good campsites starting from mizen probably within 50 miles thats a planned milage for the day all going well i know theres loads of campsites down south but looking for the quieter site no loud music and such is that going to be realistic.
thanks for any info.
jags

There is a really nice site near Durrus, on the way to Bantry. Last summer, I cycled round the Irish coast from Larne, going anti-clockwise as far as Rosslare where I got the ferry to Wales. Most of the sites seem to be concentrated in the south-west of the Republic and I did a fair amount of wild camping, including at Malin Head.
Other sites I used include at Glenbeigh on the Ring of Kerry, Ballyshannon in Donegal, and a particularly friendly one near Leenane, Connemara. I 'island hopped' using the Aran Islands to avoid Galway,having read bad things about the treatment of cyclists by traffic planners.
There are some spectacular sections but also some dangerous roads that are hard to avoid.
I wrote a description of the trip, here, which has more details.
Have fun!

les just a quick thanks i'll read your report later as its late now thanks a million for the info.

Well les me auld flower you sure paint a dismil view on cycle touring in Ireland. i dont think there was one place where you said it was fun. seems by your report it must have been the worst tour you ever been on.
sorry i cant help but laugh but its amazing how people see another country, ah i suppose the rain didn't help but you would have known that it does rain in ireland the traffic seemed your biggest gripe but hey not everyone rides bikes .
anyway thanks for the link but to be honest i'm sorry i read it now but maybe I'll have better fun going the opposite way from mizen to malin at least i sure hope i do.
cheers
jags.

Hi jags, don't let me put you off, my tour last year wasn't as bad as it looks, it's just that it was wet and windy all the time I was in Ireland. Also, after years of traffic-free cycling in Europe, I wasn't ready for the Irish roads, so perhaps a bit over-critical – overall, it was a good tour (especially the Scottish and Welsh bits). Maybe I should have selected my roads a bit more carefully. Another thing, I'd just moved back to the UK after years in Germany and was wondering about my survival chances as a cyclist ...
Anyway, I'd love to hear your opinion of it when you get back.
I'm off in a few minutes to do the Killhope Grimpeur 100km audax, over the eastern Pennines. Now there's a ride and a half!

cheers Les ah rain wrecks my head to be honest at the moment here in Irelandthe sun is out and it's just beautiful..
i guess i'm just used to cycling irish roads thats busy with traffic well used to it . i don't know the other side of my country at all i live on the north east coast so it wil be a bit of an adventure for me
anyway les thanks again for the report i'll fill you in when i do mine
well enjoy that audex ride you guys are mental with some of the distances you cover be careful.
thanks again.
cheers
jags.

Les, thanks for sharing that link. I have my own plans for a Tour of Ireland and that was really helpful (and even with all the rain, the country still looks beautiful). Did you pre-plan your routes with a cue-sheet, or did you simply go by a map the day-of your rides? I am trying to plan my Tour with as much flexibility as I can so the mileage can vary based on how I am feeling - I imagine this will result in some Wild Camping (which I have never done before) and camping.

I always work out a rough route and never book anything in advance. Then, when I'm getting tired, I look out for a campsite sign and ask local people. The only real difficulties finding a site in Ireland was the north-west, but folk seem friendly enough to direct you to suitable places.
I would have considered B&B but doing this on my own, it would have been expensive.

One big problem was after leaving Malin Head, the ferry from Buncrana across Lough Swilly was unexpectedly not operating and I had an awful ride skirting Londonderry and back into Northern Ireland. This accounts for some of my criticism – the traffic was awful! Plus I had to rethink my route.
So I would definitely be flexible. On the really wet days, you can curl up in the tent and write your journal, listen to the radio etc.
I'd really like to go back, despite my negative impressions, but I'd need to avoid some of those very busy roads. Maybe better route planning is the answer.
Ireland has some amazing scenery and is worth the effort.

Map - I bought a Collins touring map of the whole of Ireland (north and south) before the tour and used it to plan a rough route. Unfortunately, it doesn't show campsites but the map which did was only for the Republic.

les theres a camping booklet you can get cost 5euro shows all the campsites northern ireland included.
CampingIreland.ie..

That would have helped. I researched some info on the internet and marked some on my map but found it difficult to plan each day's ride to end up in the right place – strong winds etc. I guess I was optimistic in expecting to find sites spread out at nice intervals, but plan B was always to camp wild. There are also a few hostels.
How are you getting to Ireland?

Me? I plan on starting in Lands End and heading to Holyhead in Wales, which means taking a Ferry to Dublin. I'm thinking of then cycling up the coast to N.Ireland, then over to top - much like your path in that section. So I was thinking the Malin/Mizen Head route, but I guess it turns more into a Coastal Tour as I will essentially be riding all the way around the coast of Ireland.

Well, I hope that both of you publish accounts of your tours so that I can get some ideas for my next visit in that direction!

Les i live in ireland , it is reckoned the best route to take is mizen to malin prevailing winds favour that direction.
i have a spare booklet on the campsites if either of you want it pm me your address and i'll send it on.also the map i'm using is the ireland touring map by ordnance survey scale1..450000 it gives by the looks of things scenic routes. .

Thanks, I'll remember that for my next visit – maybe next year. My map is 7.5 miles to the inch which saved weight on carrying stuff but didn't give me enough detail to follow the very minor roads, so I ended up getting lost a few times (like a lot of others touring the Republic ).

It's a pity there don't appear to be any long distance cycling routes. Even going round the Ring of Kerry meant cycling on major national roads.
I agree about south to north being best but my nearest ferry connection is near Stranraer so it made sense to go anti-clockwise (to avoid Belfast). I had westerlies most of the time, so sunny spells and showers.