Ireland Guided Motorcycle Tour

Eight nights around Ireland, guided, starting and finishing at Wexford with riders on their own bikes.

Wicklow Mountains National Park comes first on the way north to Sligo, granite uplands and bog within an hour of Dublin, then the Wild Atlantic Way down to Lahinch by way of Downpatrick Head, where a sea stack stands off the cliff with a blowhole in the ground beside it.

A free day at Lahinch covers the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands by boat, both included. Tralee follows by way of Loop Head and the Conor Pass, the highest road pass in Ireland, narrow and walled with the Dingle Peninsula below it and the Slea Head loop beyond. Another free day takes in Killarney National Park and the full Ring of Kerry, then Kinsale by way of the Ring of Beara and Mizen Head, the most south-westerly point of the island, with Cork and Blarney Castle on the last day’s ride back to Wexford.

Eight nights of bed and breakfast in four-star hotels, six evening meals and the Aran Islands excursion are included, along with GPX routes and the usual paperwork; the ferry over, fuel, parking and admissions are not. Nine days at this pace leaves two free days, which is the right allowance for a coast where the weather decides what is worth riding on any given morning. The Conor Pass is single track in places and best not met with a camper coming the other way. Waterproofs are not optional on this one at any time of year, and the ferry wants booking as early as the tour does.