Your opinions on best places to ride in uk or Ireland?

richie1973

Hi,
The wife and I are looking at a break away with our bikes. First though we may only have a long weekend but turns out we can probably make it a full week so looking to get away somewhere with scenic views, flats as well as good climbs. We like to ride 70 to 100 miles per day. (Maybe for 4 or 5 out the seven)

So, what are your opinions on the best areas?

Cheers all.

navrig2

Scottish Borders/East Lothian.

Fife.

Argyle.

Perthshire.

Dumfried and Galloway.

All live up to your requirements but you may notice a theme ;-)

richie1973

Navrig2 wrote:

Scottish Borders/East Lothian.

Fife.

Argyle.

Perthshire.

Dumfried and Galloway.

All live up to your requirements but you may notice a theme ;-)

thanks for the reply

what theme? what makes these areas worth a visit? to be honest i was maybe thinking scotlnd or irland.

charlie_potatoes

Depending on when you are going Scotland may no longer be part of the UK so you may want to look at alternatives.

Just saying!

richie1973

Charlie Potatoes wrote:

Depending on when you are going Scotland may no longer be part of the UK so you may want to look at alternatives.

Just saying!

Going in a few weeks so nothing should change before then, lol.

Any more opinions guys?

BobScarle

I would go for Wales. How about doing a variation on the Lon Las Cymru? That's 230 miles long so plenty of mileage left for a return leg. Lots of good climbing in Snowdonia or the Brecon Beacons. Elan Valley (I'm going there in a couple of weeks).

vs

Exmoor: Peaceful. Beautiful. Coastal. Brutal.
http://instagram.com/p/S8a61sOtNs

sloppyschleckonds

vs wrote:

Exmoor: Peaceful. Beautiful. Coastal. Brutal.
http://instagram.com/p/S8a61sOtNs

Splendid

magoo289

If you are thinking about Ireland/Northern Ireland this might help http://www.cycleni.com

You could even do the Giro routes!

richie1973

vs wrote:

Exmoor: Peaceful. Beautiful. Coastal. Brutal.
http://instagram.com/p/S8a61sOtNs

wow, great pic. wife would have her nails stuck to the cleffs on the left side, lol

Thanks all, so real great replies.

Mikey23

Cornwall and Devon

swcr

I'd second South Wales, but then I'm biased as I live here. We have the mountains offered by the Brecon Beacons national park like Black mountain and The Devils Elbow, the Gower Peninsular and the mountains and valleys made famous by the dragon ride like the Rhigos and the Bwlch...all within riding distance of each other! What more could you ask for weekend or week away with the bike?

Cheers,

Nic

richie1973

swcr wrote:

I'd second South Wales, but then I'm biased as I live here. We have the mountains offered by the Brecon Beacons national park like Black mountain and The Devils Elbow, the Gower Peninsular and the mountains and valleys made famous by the dragon ride like the Rhigos and the Bwlch...all within riding distance of each other! What more could you ask for weekend or week away with the bike?

Cheers,

Nic

loving the sound of this one

LegendLust

Even though I live very close to the Yorkshire Dales, I would say that Northumberland is the best cycling county in the UK. Plenty of great roads, hardly any traffic, good cafes and stunning scenery

briantrumpet

Mikey23 wrote:

Cornwall and Devon

...though not too much of the 'flat' stuff requested by the OP. But glorious if you are happy with rolling to lumpy.

dave in swansea

Base your stay in Carmarthenshire. 100 miles will see day trips to Pembs coast, Brecon beacons, gower etc.
Carms itself is beautiful green countryside that is pleasant and rolling. Undiscovered mountain lanes, look east of llandeilo and ammanford.

gethinceri

Or perhaps the Swansea area?

Brant

West coast of Ireland, Co Mayo.

sniper68

Lake District-Northumberland-Yorkshire Dales-Peak District.

navrig2

richie1973 wrote:

Navrig2 wrote:

Scottish Borders/East Lothian.

Fife.

Argyle.

Perthshire.

Dumfried and Galloway.

All live up to your requirements but you may notice a theme ;-)

thanks for the reply

what theme? what makes these areas worth a visit? to be honest i was maybe thinking scotlnd or irland.

I haven't got time to go into all of the above but they have decent roads, good climbs, great scenery and loads of holiday accomodation.

http://www.cyclescottishborders.com/

drewduncan

Have a look at:

http://www.ayrshirealps.org/

Generally good surfaces, very quiet roads. Great views.

Also close to Island of Arran - 60 odd mile cycle round the whole island.

ai_1

There's lots of good cycling in Ireland.
I'd probably recommend the west coast for the most spectacular scenery!
If you plan to move about you could start somewhere like Achill or Westport and travel south via Connemara, the Burren and head for the Ring of Kerry. There's plenty great cycling terrain down the east coast too especially in the Wicklow mountains but the west coast is a bit special and a great place to get away for a holiday. There's a good selection of accomodation, food and entertainment in the small towns all the way down the west coast too. Towns like Westport, Clifden, Dingle, Lahinch, etc are all good spots for getting out in the evening, especially in summer.

Here's a couple of recent threads on a similar topic with more suggestions and info for cycling spots in Ireland:
viewtopic.php?f=40003&t=12962679
viewtopic.php?f=40003&t=12967888

Wherever you go, have a great time.

markhewitt1978

If you want stunning scenery, hardly any traffic and challenging roads then head for the North of Scotland, the further north the better! Or for something different do a tour of the Wetern Isles!

navrig2

markhewitt1978 wrote:

If you want stunning scenery, hardly any traffic and challenging roads then head for the North of Scotland, the further north the better! Or for something different do a tour of the Wetern Isles!

True however if you are prepared to stick to B roads and avoid busy A roads you needn't go that far. I've lived in East Lothian, Fife, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness plus holidayed all over Scotland. You can get all you suggest in plenty of other parts of Scotland. That said the north has a certain emotional attraction, especially when the sun shines.

richie1973

Thanks a million people, some good places and ideas suggested and thanks for your well wishes. Some good shouts for Ireland and Northumberland. Wife fancies exmoor and butlins minehead as a base.

Still to decide yet so keep your opinions coming, great to read people's opinions and the reasons, very interesting.

Thanks
Rich

vs

richie1973 wrote:

Thanks a million people, some good places and ideas suggested and thanks for your well wishes. Some good shouts for Ireland and Northumberland. Wife fancies exmoor and butlins minehead as a base.

Still to decide yet so keep your opinions coming, great to read people's opinions and the reasons, very interesting.

Thanks
Rich

You won't regret a trip to Exmoor. I did this event on Sunday: http://www.strava.com/activities/148092074 you could 'google man' the area to give a flavour of what's here. The ride used some of the more popular roads, but there so many fantastic ways to cross the moor once you start exploring the lanes.

richie1973

vs wrote:

richie1973 wrote:

Thanks a million people, some good places and ideas suggested and thanks for your well wishes. Some good shouts for Ireland and Northumberland. Wife fancies exmoor and butlins minehead as a base.

Still to decide yet so keep your opinions coming, great to read people's opinions and the reasons, very interesting.

Thanks
Rich

You won't regret a trip to Exmoor. I did this event on Sunday: http://www.strava.com/activities/148092074 you could 'google man' the area to give a flavour of what's here. The ride used some of the more popular roads, but there so many fantastic ways to cross the moor once you start exploring the lanes.

Thanks for the link, Yeh. I use "Google man" when mapping 90% of my rides. I did get bought out a few times by being sent down a dirt track when in unknown areas, no more thanks to Google man! Lol

IrishMac

Kerry in Ireland, if you're on hybrids/mtbs/tourer,go to Molly's Gap from Killarney, turn right when you get there, go slightly round the corner and take a right down a smallish laneway, it'll bring you down in through the Black Valley(think that's what it's called,) follow the road and it'll bring you over the Gap of Dunloe, stunning ride and an exhilarating ride down towards Kate Kearney's Cottage from the Gap.
I wouldn't bring a road bike down it though, too stony for them, cyclocross style bike would be fine too
Plus there's the Ring of Kerry, bit self explanitary that one The roads can be a bit rough though.

gubber12345

Have a look at county fermanagh in n ireland.some of the most beautiful scenery to take in here around lough erne.plenty of b&b's in the area and you could take in the world famous belleek pottery, and from there you can cycle into southern Ireland.us irish are famous for our friendly nature, you cant go wrong IMO richie.....but then maybe I'm biased lol

jotko

vs wrote:

Exmoor: Peaceful. Beautiful. Coastal. Brutal.
http://instagram.com/p/S8a61sOtNs

Is that the Valley of the Rocks near Lynton/Lynmouth??

Exmoor has some amazing scenery and brutal climbs, went to Heddon valley the other week (without the bike) - stunning. All round here had good climbs, eg http://www.strava.com/segments/900618

Ron Stuart

Scotland would be fabulous but has a high risk of foul weather, Southern England is a quart into a pint pot, Northern England is the wet (near Scotland), Ireland is where the Scots originated from and brought the weather with them and no surprise it's known as the 'Emerald Isle' because of all the rain that falls on it.

Try the Welsh Borders you can go flat, North Shropshire/Cheshire/Herefordshire or Lumpy South Shropshire/Wales with greater prospects of decent weather and quiet lanes. I know I live here