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| Dingle Peninsula |
The last segment of our grand European Vacation was a self-guided bike tour of Southern Ireland. Since our first cycling tour in 2005, we have completed 20+ guided bike tours together. About half of those tours were van-supported, with small groups (4-16 people) and two dedicated guides (www.ciclismoclassico.com) The other half were cycling cruises with a mobile hotel (the ship), larger groups (60-300 people), and preplanned routes and itineraries (www.santanaadventures.com). We looked to do van supported Ireland trip trip but could not find one that fit our timeline.
Cycling friends of ours had tried and liked Lifecycle Adventures which provide self-guided trips and they offered tours in Southwest Ireland. You tell them how many days you want to spend and they arrange the itinerary, provide a selection of routes for each day, and make hotel and luggage transfer arrangements. After a couple of iterations we landed on an 8 day self-guided tour of Ireland. Spoiler alert: It was a BLAST!
Dublin to Tralee
We left Salzburg and flew to Dublin with one stop in Frankfurt. We were a bit concerned about the new entry/exit process in the EU and selected a flight with a 3.5 hour connection. Of course there were no lines and we went right through, had lots of time in the flight lounge, and arrived in Dublin with all our bags.
NOTE: You must make a separate reservation for your bikes, they don't cost anything, but there are only a few spots on the trains and during the summer they sell out fast. I booked ours the day the you could make reservations for our travel dates, exactly 90 days in advance!
We arrived in Tralee and walked a few hundred meters to The Ashe Hotel. It was recommended by Lifecycle. They are used to cyclists staying with them and gladly stored our bikes in an unused meeting room. The hotel was fantastic and we had our first of many delicious meals at the hotel restaurant.
After dinner we strolled around Tralee, toasted our success at traveling with bikes on the train (and not killing each other) and called it a day.
Emma, our guide picked us up at the hotel in Tralee (she lives in Tralee) and put our bikes in a van to take us to the starting point in Camp. During the drive she made sure we understood the iPhone App with the routes and daily tour information and gave us a refresher on riding on the left side of the road! Since we brought our own bikes, and were using our own Garmin Navigation devices, and are familiar with RidewithGPS, the software used by Lifecycle, the orientation did not take long.
Camp to Dingle
She made sure we were set and rolled out from the drop-off point at The Filling Station coffee and farm shop. We had a brutal reminder about how bad our wireless coverage was in Ireland, when our phones and Garmin devices didn't sync up. No worries, we decided to take an early coffee stop and used the WIFI in the coffee shop to get the devices ready to roll. Yes, I should have double checked them at the hotel but had been doing it on the fly in Europe with no problem, but yes a fail to start the day!
Even with the GPS glitch, we had plenty of time and since our bags wouldn't arrive until 3 in Dingle, we took Emma's suggestion and added an out and back to the route on Castlegregory Peninsula.
It was a lovely 10 miles of flat riding along a scenic coastline with lots of beaches, campgrounds, and watersports vendors. A great way to warmup and get back into cycling rhythm.
Too bad it was too early for this pub to be open, looks like a great place to hang out.
We had already seen many sheep along the way with spray paint markings, but this herd was painted for a different reason.
We would be cycling in County Kerry for most of the miles of this trip and last week was the All Ireland GAA Cup featuring County Kerry vs. County Mayo. These green and yellow Co. Kerry flags were everywhere and most homes had at least one displayed. Here is one attached to a highway sign right next to the green and yellow painted sheep! More on the cup and GAA football later on!
We rode to Brandon on Brandon Bay to a recommended lunch stop at Murphy's Pub. It was a great lunch featuring seafood chowder and a ham and cheese toasty, and of course a pint of Guinness!
The big climb of the day was Conor Pass. 4.5 miles at 6% average grade. It was relatively steady climbing but featured increasing grades as you neared the summit. These handy markers let you know what the next km had in store!
At the pass we were all smiles. No rain, cool temps, and the big effort of the day was behind us.
From the pass, it was all downhill riding to Dingle, the only problem was the fresh chip seal coating that had recently been put down. Not an issue, if you controlled your speed, but after a big climb its hard to have to stay on the brakes on the way down on somewhat loose gravel.
We arrived at the Emlagh House a bit before 4 pm and found our bags in the lobby and went right to our room on the first floor. It had a lovely patio right outside our room where we could secure our bikes and set out our laundry! With the laundry done and drying on the patio we set out for dinner at the highly recommended Land and Sea Restaurant. We made reservations a week before and barely got a table.
OK, I don't consider us 'foodies,' but we enjoyed many fantastic meals, so on this report you may have to endure more food pictures. Dingle announced its self 'Foodie Capital of Ireland' on its welcome to town sign and we certainly had great meals there!
The Emlagh House was a small B&B and the earliest breakfast seating was 8:30, so we had a later start than we are used to. But the breakfast was good and soon we rolled through town and started our loop ride for the day.
Throughout this tour we would be riding on and off of the Wild Atlantic Way scenic route.
The Wild Atlantic Way is also a very popular road for motorist and bus tours, so the Lifecycle tours often used secondary roads and farm trails that followed the Wild Atlantic Way. Every bit as scenic, but much more enjoyable with less traffic,
The Rathanne Castle was built in the 15th or 16th century by the FitzGeralds. In 1602 towards the end of the Nine Years War the castle was taken by Sir Charles Wilmont during the Cromwellian conquest. It sits on the site of a 7th or 8th century ringfort. We didn't stop in, but enjoyed the views from a distance.
The next stop was a farm where you could pet and feed sheep, goats, lamas, and other farm animals. You get a 'free' container of food with your 2.50EU entry fee!
Back on the Wild Atlantic Way along the coast of the Slea Head Peninsula the views were spectacular.
This is the Gallarus Oratory, built in the 7th or 8th century is the only perfect remaining example of a number small corbel-built on a rectangular plan. These simple structures are drystack stone and the bed joints of the stonework direct the rain to the outside. Its amazing that is stands and is still waterproof today!
We modified one of the routes so we could continue north along the coast to the town of Ballydavid.
Our objective was TP's Pub, purportedly the best fish 'n chips in Ireland could be found there. We found the pub and ordered the signature plate and while we didn't cover all of Ireland, this was the best fish 'n chips we had on both our tours of Ireland and the British Isles!
Back to GAA football. TP's was also flying the flag of the County Mayo team that met the County Kerry team in the All Ireland Cup a week ago. This was the first time we spotted a Mayo flag as most of our tour was in Kerry. It was a historic game, Kerry was the defending champion and overall favorite. Mayo had not won the cup in 75 years! Locals told us that 75 years ago a witch cast a spell on the Mayo team that would last until all the players on that ill fated team passed. Do the math, and suddenly Mayo is on top, so it must be true! More that one Kerry fan told us, they hated to lose the cup this year, but if they had to lose, they were happy to see Mayo finally on the winning side!
If we stopped at every historic farm compound we would have never finished the trip. The dry stack stone fences would extend as far as the eye could see!
We rolled into town and back to the hotel. After getting cleaned up we headed out to find dinner. We planned on Murphy's Pub, but it was fully booked. We continued on to The Fish Box, another highly recommended place and were able to get a table. Debby had the fish of the day, and I enjoyed these lovely fish tacos, another winning dinner!
Wow! Are you still with me? I just decided to stop here and publish Part I of the trip.
Dingle Loop
After dinner we strolled through downtown Dingle and found a nice Gelato stand near the water. While we enjoyed our Gelato, we also had an isolated rain shower pass by. Dang, the clothes were still out! Luckily it was just a light sprinkle and they completed the dry cycle hanging overnight in the room.
Part II is on the way.
Steve
