United Kingdom - Suggestions for an Ireland/Scotland tour?

Wife and I can spend up to 3 months on this tour, so we're looking at a liesurely Ireland/Scotland/England tour. Included will be Cork, County Mayo, County Donegal, Fermanagh, ets in Ireland, then Glasgow, Motherwell, And Skye among other locations in Scotland. The England part will definately include Dover and London, other suggestions will definately be welcome!

Suggestions need to cover camping facilities and access, etc.!http://www.smiley-channel.de/grafiken/smiley/camping/smiley-channel.de_camping001.gif
http://www.v-rodforums.com/forums/images/smilies/ride.gif

Wife and I can spend up to 3 months on this tour, so we're looking at a liesurely Ireland/Scotland/England tour. Included will be Cork, County Mayo, County Donegal, Fermanagh, ets in Ireland, then Glasgow, Motherwell, And Skye among other locations in Scotland. The England part will definately include Dover and London, other suggestions will definately be welcome!

Suggestions need to cover camping facilities and access, etc.!http://www.smiley-channel.de/grafiken/smiley/camping/smiley-channel.de_camping001.gif
http://www.v-rodforums.com/forums/images/smilies/ride.gif
A few years ago I used to work as a van driver delivering all over southern england and I always thought the west country (http://www.westcountrynow.com/) was the prettiest.

Some links you might find useful are:

Sustrans (http://sustrans.org.uk/default.asp?sID=1089735289781) a national cycle route network, scroll to the bottom of the page for a PDF map.
The National Byway (http://www.thenationalbyway.org/welcome.asp) a national route around "sites of interest".
The CTC (http://www.ctc.org.uk/), a bicycle touring club.
A slightly odd tour (http://www.tallbiketourbritain.com/index.htm) of mainland Britain on Tall bikes!

Enjoy your trip :-)

Thank you!

You might also want to look at:

The London Cycling Campaign (http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp)
Cycling in White Cliffs country (http://www.whitecliffscountry.org.uk/cycle/home.asp) (a link found on Dover council's (http://www.dover.gov.uk/ddc/gettingaround.asp#cycle) website.)

Camping in the UK is quite expensive. If at all possible try to come out side of school holidays as everywhere gets booked up. My girlfriend and I went to Scotland this summer (driving) and reguarly had to drive between lots of places to find some where to camp. The tourest board do NOT have a very compleat listing of campsites, but they do have numbers to ring ahead, you are better off with detailed maps and looking for the camping sign.

Landranger O/S maps are perfect for cycling and list campsites e.t.c but are very expensive if you are travelling about alot. Some large road maps also have campsites listed like this one I think.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Superscale-Britain/dp/0007225016/sr=1-11/qid=1159951934/ref=sr_1_11/202-4851877-2712647?ie=UTF8&s=books

Best off checking and buying a map when you arrive in th U.K.

you can also check out web sites like www.ukcampsite.co.uk/ (http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/) or
camping.uk-directory.com/


London you will have no chance of camping unless you want to travel in from a way outside and spend lots on trains which may be picky over letting you on with bikes unless you wait till the middle of the day. Best off getting yourself a b&b some where around zone 2, 3 or 4 (these are transport zones in London concentric circles with 1 being the centrer and 6 being the outside). That way you will be far enough out that it will not be silly expensive but close enough that you could cycle in within 30 - 60 min* , or get the underground in easaly within 30 - 60 min* and you will be easaly be able to get back late at night if you choice to go out one night. Don't be fooled by people with campsites out side London that say, it's only 40/45 min on the train to London, because you will be spending another 30 min traveling across the center or something from the train station to get to that musume you want to go to, plus you will have alot of extra waiting time a spend alot on the train. The best way to see London is with a AtoZ
(http://www.amazon.co.uk/Z-Mini-Street-Atlas-London/dp/085039256X/sr=1-1/qid=1159953255/ref=sr_1_1/202-4851877-2712647?ie=UTF8&s=books)
and a good lock on your bike.

+1 on the west country. My personal favourate part of England. Check out Exmoor. Dose get crowded though in high summer. If you are doing Eire, Scotland and England, you should really pop in to Wales if you have time even if it is just a day trip to Cardif on the train from some where you are staying, then you would have done a compleate U.K + Eire tour. Remember the U.K and Europe in general can change very rapidly over a short distance and from city to city because it is so crowded. Where ever you go hope you have a good time and i hope you meet some good people who will enhance your trip.

*depending on if what you want to go see is on the other side or not. 60 min is if you are in zone 4 and need to get across London.

re southwest scotland if you need any help email me :-)
i can see why you want to vist glasgow but motherwell ??????
steve r

re southwest scotland if you need any help email me :-)
i can see why you want to vist glasgow but motherwell ??????
steve r
Well, thanks!

Motherwell is where my Grandmother is from....a bit of family roots there. No relatives left there I know of, but that's where she's from!

Well, thanks!

Motherwell is where my Grandmother is from....a bit of family roots there. No relatives left there I know of, but that's where she's from!


When you're in Scotland please resist the urge to wear a tam-o'shanter.

TOM your insane - come to Australia mate :)

When you're in Scotland please resist the urge to wear a tam-o'shanter.
Oh Hell! You just took all the fun out of it! I was going to ride through Glasgow and Motherwell in a "Prince Charlie" Formal Kilt in MacDonald Tartan, playin' the Great Highland Pipes as well as wearing a Tam!

TOM your insane - come to Australia mate :)
Oz is in the works as well!

If you are camping in Ireland, it is only slightly more expensive to stay in a B&B. Campsites are about €15-25, and you can get B&Bs for €30-40.

For my trip of the Republic of Ireland last summer, I bought a campsite guide: Alan Rogers Britain and Ireland Camping and Caravanning. It was very good. Lists only 4 star (lol) campsites. I emailed most of them in advance once I plotted my route, and many were fully booked at weekends, but fine during the week. I used the Irish Tourist Board website, and searched for only 4 star + campsites. That's how I got the campsites' email addresses -- from links on the Tourist Board websites. The book was useful once I got to an area and had a choice of campsites. It helped me narrow my choice.

For Fermanagh you can search the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. Fermanagh looks like Canada to me. Lots of water and trees. Very nice.

Hope you have a great time. Three months would be about perfect, I believe. :)

if you're going round scotland i'd highly recommend taking in the western isles by bike. depending on your speed, allow a a week or two from barra to stornoway (in lewis). very different from anywhere else in the UK, and great to do by bike, with ferry or causeway crossings between all the islands in the chain, as well as some great camping spots and great little hostels.

see caledonian macbrayne website for ferry details.

cheers,

-duncan

hi there vist the orkneys
well worth the vist
if in the orkneys you have got to vist sanday and stay at ayers rock hostel
laid back great scenery what more could you ask for http://picasaweb.google.com/steve.rooney/OrkneyTour06

lot's of great riding in a 50 mile radius of Edinburgh (East/West Lothain, Borders, Fife, etc).

might be an idea to contact the scu, or perhaps post a message on the edinburgh road club website.

If your going to be in south west Ireland. Try the beara peninsula. It brings you around west cork. Bantry or glengarif would be good bases.
In any case enjoy. hope the weather stays fine.

By the way if you intend to tent. All around west cork I see (and do it myself), tents pitched at small beaches and coves, in sand dunes etc.. Its free and there's never any hassle. If you prefer there are lots of mobile home parks with tent facilities. There are also lots of well priced B+B's. And a few hostels.