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Riding in Northern Ireland
I have negotiated a weeks cycling holiday with my wife. (Not cycling with my
wife, negotiating with her, Cycling with my mate) Shall I start again.:-{ We (My mate and I) are having a weeks cycling holiday this summer and we fancy Ireland. For ease of access from NE England we thought of getting the ferry from Stranraer to Larne or Belfast and riding around the coast to Londonderry and back. What do you all think? Is this a good idea? We are open to suggestions. Eire or France are other options. I will let you decide, I am in your hands. Cliff -- Remove my Bra to reply |
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Cliff, it's a very nice coast. If you do it, do see a couple of the Glens of
Antrim, especially Glenariff and Glendun. I cycled much of this about three years ago. Being from Southern Ireland, I didn't find the locals very friendly. I suppose they're wary of strangers after the terrible time they've been through. Co.Donegal is lovely too, but very hilly to cycle. The locals there are lovely people, the friendliest in Ireland. A cycle that I'd really recommend is through Glen Eley (Elley?) in the Sperrin Mountains in Tyrone. I drove that bit but it was magical. |
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in message , Cliff
') wrote: I have negotiated a weeks cycling holiday with my wife. (Not cycling with my wife, negotiating with her, Cycling with my mate) Shall I start again.:-{ We (My mate and I) are having a weeks cycling holiday this summer and we fancy Ireland. For ease of access from NE England we thought of getting the ferry from Stranraer to Larne or Belfast and riding around the coast to Londonderry and back. Warning: Northern Ireland is a very, very odd place. Do not even think about going there in July. The 'troubles' may be over, but that merely means that normal life is resumed, and normal life in Northern Ireland in July is deeply scary. Think apartheid South Africa three days after Sharpeville. Yes, the people are individually exceedingly nice. Yes, the scenery is often spectacular. But the inter-communal hatred is tangible. What do you all think? Is this a good idea? We are open to suggestions. Eire Donegal, Sligo, Clare (particularly the Burren): recommended. Probably a lot of the rest of it too, but I haven't been there. Exceptionally nice people, outstanding scenery. Main roads (especially the three-laners) are a bit lethal, and generally road surfaces are not maintained to UK standards. -- (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/ ;; in faecibus sapiens rheum propagabit |
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Simon Brooke wrote:
in message , Cliff ') wrote: I have negotiated a weeks cycling holiday with my wife. (Not cycling with my wife, negotiating with her, Cycling with my mate) Shall I start again.:-{ We (My mate and I) are having a weeks cycling holiday this summer and we fancy Ireland. For ease of access from NE England we thought of getting the ferry from Stranraer to Larne or Belfast and riding around the coast to Londonderry and back. Warning: Northern Ireland is a very, very odd place. Do not even think about going there in July. The 'troubles' may be over, but that merely means that normal life is resumed, and normal life in Northern Ireland in July is deeply scary. Think apartheid South Africa three days after Sharpeville. Yes, the people are individually exceedingly nice. Yes, the scenery is often spectacular. But the inter-communal hatred is tangible. What do you all think? Is this a good idea? We are open to suggestions. Eire Donegal, Sligo, Clare (particularly the Burren): recommended. Probably a lot of the rest of it too, but I haven't been there. Exceptionally nice people, outstanding scenery. Main roads (especially the three-laners) are a bit lethal, and generally road surfaces are not maintained to UK standards. I have never had a bad experience on my two visits to Belfast though each time I have been accompanied by a local or two to keep me right. I'd happily visit N Ireland again. |
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We (My mate and I) are having a weeks cycling holiday this summer and
we fancy Ireland. For ease of access from NE England we thought of getting the ferry from Stranraer to Larne or Belfast and riding around the coast to Londonderry and back. I did this route last August, but actually caught the ferry at Magilligan' point and did the tour of the Enishowen peninsula up to Malin head. From there it was back down to Londonderry and over the Sperrins to Antrim and finally Belfast International airport. About 6days cycling I think. The section from Larne up the east coast was actually the dullest bit, the coast road is not very exciting in parts, although it was still enjoyable. There are some glens off this road that a previous poster mentioned but I didn't manage to do them. Once you get up to Torr Head you're in for some serious climbing and spectacular scenery. The climbs are not that high, but tend to be quite steep. I enjoyed them, the views are awesome across the mull. Once you get over the Torr you're on route to pass the Giant's Causeway, which is well worth an hours visit. The Inishowen peninsular is superb; quiet roads, fantastic scenery and just great cycling. If you head north towards Malin head you'll be in for some climbing, but it's worth it. There's a superb little hostel at the Malin that is really worth a visit: http://homepage.eircom.net/~malinheadhostel/ I'd recommend that you actually take your bikes on the train up to Derry and do Inishowen as a circular tour. http://www.visitinishowen.com/scenictour.html If you wanted to see some photos I could email some to you. There's a great web site about cycling in the Northern Ireland area: http://www.gotobelfast.com/link_open...andbeyond.com/ You'll be glad you went. I can't want to go back and cycle some more of Donegal. tom. |
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Cliff wrote:
We (My mate and I) are having a weeks cycling holiday this summer and we fancy Ireland. For ease of access from NE England we thought of getting the ferry from Stranraer to Larne or Belfast and riding around the coast to Londonderry and back. My wife and I cycled in "Norn Irn" in 1999. After crossing from Holyhead we rode up from Dublin to cross the border from Co. Monaghan. We didn't find Dungannon or Cookstown particularly nice, though the weather didn't help. Once we dropped through Glen Ballyeamonn to reach the coast at Cushendall we had a great time. The Antrim coast is beautiful. We spent a few days there visiting Cushendall, Cushendun, Ballycastle and the Giant's Causeway. We left on the Ballycastle-Campbeltown ferry which doesn't sail any more, unfortunately. |
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Mike Smith wrote in message ...
Cliff wrote: We (My mate and I) are having a weeks cycling holiday this summer and we fancy Ireland. For ease of access from NE England we thought of getting the ferry from Stranraer to Larne or Belfast and riding around the coast to Londonderry and back. My wife and I cycled in "Norn Irn" in 1999. After crossing from Holyhead we rode up from Dublin to cross the border from Co. Monaghan. We didn't find Dungannon or Cookstown particularly nice, though the weather didn't help. Once we dropped through Glen Ballyeamonn to reach the coast at Cushendall we had a great time. The Antrim coast is beautiful. We spent a few days there visiting Cushendall, Cushendun, Ballycastle and the Giant's Causeway. We left on the Ballycastle-Campbeltown ferry which doesn't sail any more, unfortunately. The road from Larne to Cushendall is breathtakingly scenic and flat as it hugs the coast that far (about 30 miles). It goes inland after that but the views are class as well, but try to avoid morning/early afternoon on bank holidays and sundays in good weather as the traffic is chronic going in that direction. Most of the population of Belfast seem to drive this route from Larne to Portrush when they get a day off work and they all go in the same direction before returning inland. If you make it as far as Derry without getting distracted by too many pubs you should try to sqyeeze in a day in Donegal which is just beyond it and easily accessible. |
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