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4-Day Trip:
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Introduction: Our Irish Ferry tale tour is to be sure as
fine a tour you will get, sampling some of the most scenic and entertaining
roads in the south of Scotland and Ireland. The route is awash with breathtaking scenery
across moorland, forest, open country and coastline riding. Our bed and
breakfast providers offer the usual warm and open Irish welcome, keen to share
their home-place with us and giving excellent value for money. Although the
theme of our tours is that of a sedate, relaxed nature, you will have several
opportunities to open up the throttle if you wish.
Approx
800 miles over four days
Day
1 The Drive Oot (Approx 200 miles):
We Start the day at our head office "The Chain Bridge Farm" in Melrose, around
09.00am with a departure time of no later than 09.30am. With full tanks we make
our way to Stranraer for the Belfast Ferry, the first of four ferries we
will experience on this Celtic trip.
As we
travel we take full advantage of the meandering valleys across to Dumfries and Galloway region using quiet
rural roads, passing through several small villages including Twynholm,
the location of
the David Coulthard Museum and Pitstop Diner.
After
refreshments
we are soon back on the road, continuing to
Stranraer and our pre-booked Stena Line Ferry, normally the Caledonia.
The crossing takes around 3hrs giving us
time to have a meal and reminisce on a great day. On arriving at Belfast
Ferry port we head for our overnight accommodation.
This is subject to availability but is all booked in advance and normally within
a 1hr ride from the ferry.
Day 2 The
Jig-Aboot (Approx 170 miles):
Fresh from our
overnight stopover, and Irish hospitality we head north to take in some great
coastal views, a little bit of local culture, with some magic roads for bikers.
This is a taste of Ireland day, entertaining roads with
several stops along the way, these may include
Carrick-A-Rede,
a rope bridge strung 30m above the sea, the Giants Causeway, a natural
phenomenon of hexagonal volcanic rock, Dunluce Castle, Bushmills Distillery and
of course a small ferry crossing. At the end of our "Jig-Aboot" we get settled
into our B&B, with a group meal out at a local restaurant, finishing off the
evening back at our B&B with the usual Irish refreshments! (Remember we are
biking the next day!)
Day 3 The Run-Aboot
(Approx 200 miles):
After a full hearty Irish breakfast we head out for a "Great Run-a-Boot" round
some of Ireland's great inshore roads, including sections of the "Tandragee 100
Road Race". As we ride through the day, we once again enjoy running fine coastal
roads, taking us to our third ferry and on to our B&B. Our final evening follows
a similar format to the previous one - a group meal at a local restaurant
and typical Irish hospitality. Remember not to over-indulge, we're biking
tomorrow and on the "Big Ferry" crossing home!
Day 4 The
Way Hame (Approx 180 miles): Its time to go hame, but its not the end of the
"Tale". Once again after a Irish breakfast we say farewell to our hosts and ride
out to the Larne Ferry. The crossing takes about 3hrs and we land at Cairnryan
where we head east back to the Borders. We take full advantage of the varied
road options to cut across the south of Scotland,
meandering our way east
eventually stopping at Moffat. There
is the opportunity to end your tour here as there is access to the A74(M) south
to Carlisle and the M6, or north
to Glasgow, or Edinburgh,
for those of us that are left, we continue our way back to Melrose
and back to your overnight accommodation, (subject to previous arrangement) or
to head home.
General Information:
The theme of all our
tours is for a relaxed and unhurried trip, taking in local scenery and points of
interest. We try to run at a pace to suit all within the group but
appreciate that some may wish to go faster than others and will endeavour to
accommodate such riders on appropriate sections of the tour.
Dining out: We are always happy to advise on
where to dine and when at all possible we like to dine with the whole group.
