I,ve been all over northen Ireland so know it quiet well . my question is what would be a realistic time to travel from Belfast to rosslare . it,ll be on a 30 year old r80 so wouldn't think it,ll be flat out all the way down more like around the speed limit cheers ,,,,,,,,,mike,,,,,,,,,,

This is all mostly motorway / dual carriageway (if you want) so could easily be done in 4 hours  (200 miles). From Belfast to Dublin is easily done in 2 hours without exceeding any speed limits. Bear in mind the toll bridge near Drogheda which only takes euro coins.

There are of course much more scenic roads than taking this direct route.

cheers ringfad just trying to work out ferry times . stranraer/ Belfast . rosslare/ roscoff

jings wrote:cheers ringfad just trying to work out ferry times . stranraer/ Belfast . rosslare/ Roscoff

Watch out for the fact that Irish Ferries [Oscar Wilde] go Rosslare Roscoff but not all of their sailings go to Roscoff, many go to  Cherbourg. Their departure times vary too so when you opt for a specific date the times may not be the same if you move your travel date by a week.

There is also a Cork Roscoff service with Brittany Ferries [Pont Aven] on Saturday afternoons at about 4pm, arrives Roscoff early Sunday mornings as in off the ferry for 8am. Its a good service, excellent ship and popular, food and cabins are ok too. Returns are Friday nights late evening. Allow about 5 hours Larne port to Cork port for this on speed limits, plus stops. Motorway all the way, to within about 5 miles of the ferryport in Cork.

I have used both on many occasions and since Irish Ferries put the Oscar Wilde on the Roscoff route there is little enough to choose between them except for the early arrival time from Cork if you want to cover big miles the day you arrive.

Roscoff is a lovely port, but when you are coming back, if you plan to eat, it can be quite hard to find somewhere open to eat before boarding the Irish Ferries 6pm ferry as most places close or stop serving food in the afternoon. Brittany Ferries can be quite nice as its a chance to stop and eat in Roscoff before sailing. 

Toll is a single €1 coin.......if you go via Cork you need 3 of them, Rosslare you only need the one for the M1.

Let us know when you are travelling, always a coffee on offer somewhere.

Jings, I live very close to the N11, near Gorey, North Wexford. You will have dual carriageway all the way from Belfast to Camolin just South of me for all bar 12 miles where there are unpgrading roadworks in progress. Enniscorthy can be a bit of a black spot for traffic and is very narrow even for filtering on the bike. When I was last up you way on the k100 it took me approximately an hour from Belfast to the Castlebelligham Services just South of Dundalk. From there to Kilmacanogue (N11 just south of Bray) for a fuel stop was 1 hr and 20 mins cruising at 140 - 160 kph. Time from there to Gorey, Co. Wexford is 40 mins and on to Roslare and National speed limits is another 1 hr and 25mins. 

All in, I would say, on a fully loaded R80 I would allow 5 hrs riding time plus stops/breaks.

Hope that helps,

Will

thanks for the replys its been a great help was planning to go to the wheels and waves do in Biarritz on the 12th to 14th june but looks like family commitments have scuppered it this year . living in Dumfries south west Scotland the rosslare or cork ferries look the best option and saves the trudge down through England and across northern france . cheers ,,mike,,

jings wrote:thanks for the replys its been a great help was planning to go to the wheels and waves do in Biarritz on the 12th to 14th june but looks like family commitments have scuppered it this year . living in Dumfries south west Scotland the rosslare or cork ferries look the best option and saves the trudge down through England and across northern france . cheers ,,mike,,

Sorry to hear. Was down at the World Surfing in Lacanau-Ocean a few years ago, happened to be there when it was on, been down that way many times and south west France is a fantastic place. Biarritz is a very interesting stop off too. But the good thing is that trip will keep. For Biarritz Roscoff is the best choice by far but Cherbourg is not too far behind.

So now you will just have to wander over to the Irish Eccentrics for a few days.........

when is the next Irish Eccentrics day if I can finally stop the waterpump leak might come a run over on the k75

jings wrote:when is the next Irish Eccentrics day if I can finally stop the waterpump leak might come a run over on the k75

For the last two years we have taken a weekend up North in September. Comberjohn has a link to the weather gods and in fairness to him we seem to enjoy sunshine for all our outings. You would of course be very welcome.

We also seem to have a meet up on the Saturday after the August bank holiday weekend which falls on the first Monday in August. Some of us have been making it a camping weekend. Again, very welcome.

There is some talk of a May/June meet which will likely happen, just planned yet. There was a comment about a trip to the Flying Boat Museum at Shannon. Its motorway from Belfast to within a few miles of it.

88KE and myself booked a trip to France on 13 May, returning 20 May and staying down at Bikerboy. Comberjohn and Sgmayhew may well join us. Our Ks are being sorted for the trip right now. I also booked in for the ABR weekend on May 31. Could be a good weekend for you, some lovely places and only about an hour from Larne.

If you have a particular time that suits you let us know and we might be able to work around it. We have tended to meet at Stradballly but have gone for other places too. A few of us love a camping weekend too and if you are keen we know some excellent and idyllic camp sites.

all sounds good . will have to look into the flying boat museum that does sound intresting ..cheers ,,mike

92KK K100LT 193214 wrote:

jings wrote:when is the next Irish Eccentrics day if I can finally stop the waterpump leak might come a run over on the k75

For the last two years we have taken a weekend up North in September. Comberjohn has a link to the weather gods and in fairness to him we seem to enjoy sunshine for all our outings. You would of course be very welcome.

We also seem to have a meet up on the Saturday after the August bank holiday weekend which falls on the first Monday in August. Some of us have been making it a camping weekend. Again, very welcome.

There is some talk of a May/June meet which will likely happen, just planned yet. There was a comment about a trip to the Flying Boat Museum at Shannon. Its motorway from Belfast to within a few miles of it.

88KE and myself booked a trip to France on 13 May, returning 20 May and staying down at Bikerboy. Comberjohn and Sgmayhew may well join us. Our Ks are being sorted for the trip right now. I also booked in for the ABR weekend on May 31. Could be a good weekend for you, some lovely places and only about an hour from Larne.

If you have a particular time that suits you let us know and we might be able to work around it. We have tended to meet at Stradballly but have gone for other places too. A few of us love a camping weekend too and if you are keen we know some excellent and idyllic camp sites.

The Flying Boat Museum is in Foynes in Limerick, not Shannon. It's on the opposite side of the Shannon Estuary.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=foynes,+ireland&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Foynes,+County+Limerick,+Ireland&t=m&z=15

Oops.....Thanks for that AvengerGT.

That looks a nice route down the river and take the cross river ferry at Tarbert over to Killimer and down into Miltown Malbay and a few other places well worth seeing on a K.

The museum easy to get to coming from any direction.

Have you been down to it?

I've passed it many times, never been in there though.

Well, if we set something up we will fix it for you to come along too. After all you are one of the few Eccentrics we haven't met! We will keep you posted on it. It is also suitably accessible for Hover K100 too.