A famous Irishman once said, "It's not a big country, but I wouldn't like to walk round it", So we have decided to take a week, and use motorcycles, this way we get to see the best that this beautiful island has to offer. 

This tour is fully guided by a highly experienced local rider who can show you the best routes, places to see and places to go when off tour.

The tour begins and ends in Dublin, though the ferry to Dublin from Holyhead, return is included, (Alternatively, for those in the north, we can arrange a Stranraer/Larne crossing, and then you can ride down to Dublin) Anyone coming from abroad can fly in to the UK, we will arrange a bike and route to the port and you will be with us in Dublin. See below for rental bike table.

 
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Tour Title

The Jewels of The Emerald Isle

Highlights

Rock of Cashel, Middleton Whiskey distillery, Ring of Kerry, Dingle peninsula, Connor pass, Cliffs of Moher, Clifden Sky road and many more, not to mention the famous craic of Ireland.

Dates: Tour 1

11th June to 18th June

Inclusions

Ferry crossing, Holyhead to Dublin return, 7 nights accommodation in 2-3 star hotels and guest houses on bed and breakfast basis, services of very knowledgeable local guide and expert motorcycle rider, group size limited to 12 bikes, additional marshal rider (subject to number of participants), evening meal on final night in Dublin, maps and route guide and souvenir T shirt.

Optional extras

Travel insurance £28.50 per person, Breakdown cover £91.75, Motorcycle rental from £395

Itinerary

Day 1 Sunday

Meet up at Holyhead for a midday ferry crossing to Dublin, head to our hotel where we can refresh before an informal bar meeting to familiarise and brief everyone on the trip ahead.

Day 2 Monday

Depart Dublin approx 10am. We travel south to “Sally” and “Wicklow gap” mountain loop. Then travel further south to take in “Mount Leinster” from here to Ballyhack and we take our first inland ferry to county Waterford. Getting off the ferry we roll on down to overnight in the exquisite fishing village of Dunmore East.

Day 3 Tuesday

Today we rock! We depart Dunmore East at 9am, riding northwest across the “Nire Valley” to the famous “Rock” of Cashel, proving that its not along way to Tipperary, from Cashel we return southwards to Cahir and climb into the Commeragh mountains to the “Vee”. We then drop down to Lismore Castle, before riding to the Middleton Whiskey distillery (a sister of the Bushmills distillery) for a tour and taste. From here a short ride around Cork City brings us to the second rock of the day the “Blarney stone”. Then it’s on to our overnight destination by crossing over the Cork and Kerry Mountains to Killarney, Co Kerry.

Day 4 Wednesday

Today we depart Killarney at a more leisurely 10am, we head out onto the Ring of Kerry going clockwise and thus avoiding the tour bus’s, this is one of the most scenic parts of the world and we take our time to enjoy it. As we get to Caherciveen we detour left and head out to Knightstown, crossing onto Valentia Island by road, the location of the first trans-Atlantic cable, we traverse the island and return to the ring by the second inland ferry of our trip. We complete the ring and ride to the Dingle peninsula and to Dingle itself via inch beach, (the only place in the world where an inch, is a mile long) we overnight in Dingle and some fine watering holes.

Day 5 Thursday

We depart Dingle via the “Connor pass” at Mount Brandon and on to Tralee. From here we travel north to Tarbert and catch our third ferry across the Shannon Estuary to Killimer in West Clare.  We travel north trough Milltown Malbay and onto the Cliffs of Moher, after a look over at New York we leave here heading north to Ballyvaughan travelling along black head and the Burren. This area is a national park and is the closest thing on earth to the surface of the moon, after this lunar landscape we go through Kinvarra where the “Galway Hookers” tie up and onto Kilcolgan, here we turn left and scoot to Galway city for overnight.

Day 6 Friday

Depart Galway city 10am heading west to the Connemarra national park. Our first destination is Clifden. Departing here we take the Skye road, and head north through Tullycross, through to Killary harbour. This is the location of Irelands only Fjord. We ride around the fjord and head onto our overnight in Westport Co Mayo.

Day 7 Saturday

Today we say our goodbyes to Irelands west coast. We travel back to Dublin via Newgrange, the location of the druid solstices, and the hill of Tara where the last high kings of Ireland sat.  We overnight in Dublin with a final group meal together as we say our farewells

Day 8 Sunday

After breakfast, it's out to the port for return ferry and return to our homes.

Prices

Rider Sharing Accomodation

Pillion (Passenger) Sharing Room

Rider Solo Sharing Room

Rider Solo Single Room

£625

£395

£625

£775

Motorcycle Rental

It is not possible to hire a motorcycle in the Republic of Ireland, but we can get you a bike from a range of outlets in the UK, where you can pick up the bike and meet us at Holyhead, returning the bike to whence it came after the trip, below is a sample of bikes available with prices for the 8 days.

Motorcycle

Cost

Included

Honda VFR or ST1100

£525

Unlimited mileage, insurance, non UK use surcharge, taxes.

BMW R1150RT or RS

£595

Yamaha Fazer 600

£480

Please contact us for further details on any of the above, other bikes are also available, but very limited. For more details of hire bikes and pick up locations, please see the UK hire page, here: UK MOTORCYCLE RENTAL