Amy and I contacted Ireland by Bike to create a 21 day custom bike tour combining several of their tours of the Wild Atlantic Way, Donegal and the Causeway/Antrim coastal route. Seamus and Nora were a pleasure to work with and were excellent communicators. They were more than willing to create an itinerary and route that met all of our expectations and more.
We had originally planned to ride the tour in May of 2023, and had paid for and booked the trip and flights. Unfortunately, we had to cancel due to a bike crash injury Amy had prior to the trip that needed time for rehab. No problem! Seamus and Nora cheerfully returned our funds and said to contact them when we were ready to ride again.
We booked for September and again, Seamus and Nora had our logistics and tour route ready to go. We had a four day layover enroute to Dublin in Reykjavik, Iceland to get synced up with the time zone change ( 8 hours forward!) and jet lag relief. We strongly recommend this option as we were ready to ride when we arrived in Ireland.
We met Seamus in Sligo to get our tour briefing and e-bikes. We had a nice visit with him and went over our itinerary, GPS and bicycle operating details. He was very informative and helpful, providing us with all we needed to start our tour.
All of the routes and side trips were just what we hoped for. Amazing scenery, abundant historical sites to visit and, most importantly, back roads with minimal vehicle traffic. I can honestly say that we encountered more sheep and farm tractors than other motor vehicles. While we had to ride some busy highways, they were of short duration and usually had a bike path or lane for us to ride on.
The lodging they arranged for us was exceptional! We enjoyed our stay and meals at all of them, and the hosts were very friendly and helpful. Their local knowledge of places to hike and visit and evening meal options were invaluable. Our luggage was always waiting for us at our evening destination.
Our rental bikes, GPS and guide books provided by Ireland by Bike were accurate, dependable and easy to use. That's not to say we didn't manage to occasionally "create" our own routes, but that was operator error, and we
never got lost.
We had the pleasure of meeting Nora in Carrick at the company building while riding to Glencolmcille. Seamus met with us again in Letterkenney to provide a GPS and guide books for the back half of our tour ending at Cushendall.
It's hard to say which part of the tour was our favorite, as every leg had it's own unique, exceptional character and scenery. The hiking days we had scheduled at Slieve League and Glen's Head are memorable and were a nice break from being in the saddle.
The side trips and ferry rides to Arranmore and Rathlin Islands were spectacular, as was the riding and scenery.
We would not hesitate to recommend Ireland By Bike for those wishing to book a bike tour. Ours was truly a trip of a lifetime, and everyone who has
viewed our photos agrees!