Best stretch of road in Ireland?

Seth Brundle

AdrianII wrote:

M4 lucan to mullingar - put the foot down, great road

It must be nice to be easily satisfied!

Dish wrote:

Outside monaghan between der and meath i think it is! Thwer is a huge stretch of straight road! Unreal for speeding! But watch for cops! Get a detector! Ya neva know!

It took me a while before I could understand this!
Oh and apart from them being unreliable, detectors are illegal to own, use, install, buy, etc.

Wishbone Ash wrote:

...A straight road is not a 'drivers' road. Anyone can drive in a straight line!

Exactly!

unkel wrote:

Was it there those boys did the chicken run?

I was thinking the same myself.

Panda Moanium wrote:

Glad to see that nobody has mentioned my favourite piece of road yet.

Great surface, flowing bends you can see around, and best of all, next to no traffic.

Hope it stays that way (no traffic) as long as possible which is why I have no intention of saying where it is on here. You'll just have to find it for yourselves

You think that because it is mentioned here it will suddenly become like the M50 during rush hour?

Maxav

Here's a couple...Sligo to Enniskillen, great driving road but easy to get stuck behind something cause as with all the best driving roads IMHO overtaking opportunities are limited!
Sligo to Dromahair and back to Sligo around Lough Gill, doesn't matter in which direction, 25 miles and almost nothing straight. Fun road but Dromahair is a sleeper town for Sligo so avoid 8-9am and 5-6pm, almost empty otherwise.
One more thing, the world rally in November will be in and around these roads so it's not just me that likes them LOL.
Also the short run around Mullaghmore is a spectacular drive and incidentally the final stage of the rally, can't wait to see a helicopter shot of a WRC car at full pelt 10 feet from the cliffs!!
One last suggestion I would make, a rear wheel drive two seater or a two wheeler make all the above even better.

RainyDay

mike65 wrote:

Lemybrien to Carrick on Suir, not a well known road but quite good with a mix of undulating windy stuff and some potentially fast straights.

Ah happy memories. I worked in Dungarvan for about 9 months so I was driving this road about 4 times a week. I got to know every bend & straight like the back of my hand. I remember giving a lift back to Dublin to a guy who asked me when we got to Carrick if I was into rallying.

ninty9er

There's a nice windy road up from Patrickswell to Crecora (fairly short though) off the racecourse exit on the N18 south that brings you back in towards Patrickswell on the old road. I've a freind that lives on it...great at night because you can see lights but a lot more care needed during the day with the places some idiods park on it!!

Dish

tuxy wrote:

Tard, let me guess you do this while wearing your Celtic jersey,baseball cap and you have your seat tilted at a 90 degree angle.
Do you think you are the new drdre or something?
Every post you talk about idiotic boy racer crap and use as many exclamation marks as possible.

Nothing wrong with wearing a celtic jersey for a start! 90 degress and i wudnt be able to see! I have it 75 degrees. **** off are words that come to mind for u!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<- Like my exclamations!

Yea im dre. Thats right! U seem to be like a 60yr old cranky shyt!

dave2pvd

Any road that was a Rally of the Lakes stage.

Caragh Lake. Ardroom. Molls Gap. Healy Pass..... And some of the connecting roads, like Gap of Dunloe.

wet-paint

I like the road from Kilcolgan through Kinvara, and up through the hills to Carron and Kilfenora, and on to Lahinch. Especially after turning off the main road after Kinvara through the Burren.

tuxy

wet-paint wrote:

I like the road from Kilcolgan through Kinvara, and up through the hills to Carron and Kilfenora, and on to Lahinch. Especially after turning off the main road after Kinvara through the Burren.

Is this the one with many very sharp hairpins right after each other or am I thinking of a different road in that area?

Wossack

Dish wrote:

Nothing wrong with wearing a celtic jersey for a start! 90 degress and i wudnt be able to see! I have it 75 degrees. **** off are words that come to mind for u!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<- Like my exclamations!

Yea im dre. Thats right! U seem to be like a 60yr old cranky shyt!

geez, they let anyone onto the internet these days

Dades

kbannon wrote:

There are several roads around the country that provide great drives.
Bob Montgomery did some great write ups in the Irish Times - one particular favourite he covered is the one from Rathfarnham, passing Sally Gap into Laragh and then on towards Blessington.

Thirded for the Sally Gap!

I drove to Blessington this way in my old Fiat Spider and was the best fun you can have with your clothes on.

mike65

RainyDay wrote:

Ah happy memories. I worked in Dungarvan for about 9 months so I was driving this road about 4 times a week. I got to know every bend & straight like the back of my hand. I remember giving a lift back to Dublin to a guy who asked me when we got to Carrick if I was into rallying.

Sadly I have'nt had any reason to be on it for quite some time - about two years but I guess I could just drive it for the hell of it some time!

Mike.

wet-paint

tuxy wrote:

Is this the one with many very sharp hairpins right after each other or am I thinking of a different road in that area?

TBH I'd say there's more than one road like this in the Burren, but this is going up a fairly steep hill, and has AMAZING views over Galway, tour buses often stop here (you'll also meet them on that road, so keep an eye out, the drivers like to bomb it down in my experience) and let the yanks take a gander.

It's a fantastic drive once you turn right at Kilcolgan with the sun going down, and you know you've forty odd miles awaiting you, and I only drive a Festy. Really loving driving at the minute, and the fact that I blew the amp in my headunit is making long journeys a killer.

tuxy

Ya the one I am thinking of is very steep. Not sure of it's exact location though.

Andrewf20

Last months Top Gear magazine had a big section on some of the worlds greatest driving routes. One of them was in Ireland, and it was the main route (I think) from Galway city to Clifden.

I was mountain biking in Donegal 2 years ago and there were some great, almost deserted driving routes west of Letterkenny which were like driving on mini Nurburgrings. See 1 pic attached!

Carawaystick

The roads from Leenan to Westport are pretty good, windy but good visibillity and surface. Either around Killary and north from Delphi or the more direct route.

My favorite is the N65 for about 3km north of Kilimor, large winding road with hard shoulders. you can take a racing line most of the time.

In Wicklow, ther's a road that goes over the south shoulder of Croughanmoira,couple of tight bends over bridges. take the road south out of Greenane and then it's a right turn half way to Macreddin.

If you're in cork city, Lovers walk is a bit of fun. 50kmh limit but very steep and very tight.

Robbo

Carawaystick wrote:

My favorite is the N65 for about 3km north of Kilimor, large winding road with hard shoulders. you can take a racing line most of the time.

I absolutely love that stretch. I nearly had a fit one day when I came up behind a tractor at the start of it. The nerve of the agrarian brute to ruin my driving pleasure.

Most of the trip around Lough Corrib (Galway-Headford-Cong-Cornamona-Maam Bridge-Maam-Cross-Oughterard-Galway) is great, in particular the twisty hill section between Cornamona and Maam Bridge.

mike65

A rather challanging road runs from Lismore in Waterford to Clogheen in south Tipp over "the Vee", the section on the high ground is esp fun in winter being shouded in mist and fog. The road is narrow with dry stone walls either side and plenty of sheep to slalom through

Mike.

Rowley Birkin QC

mike65 wrote:

A rather challanging road runs from Lismore in Waterford to Clogheen in south Tipp over "the Vee", the section on the high ground is esp fun in winter being shouded in mist and fog. The road is narrow with dry stone walls either side and plenty of sheep to slalom through

Mike.

Met two yellow reg M3's up there the last time I went for a spin that direction. Looked like they were having fun! Theres a "magic" road up there too as far afaik.

Theres the 5 mile stretch of motorway I drove at about 90mph friday evening, hasn't been opened yet though so its all nice and legal. Tar was about 4 hours old!

Pherekydes

Laragh to Rathdrum, anyone?

My kids call it the rollercoaster road. You can push yourself and your car without exceeding the limit.

Another spectacular driver's route is Portmagee to Ballinskelligs, though living in Dublin I can't get to drive around Kerry as much as I'd like.

Wishbone Ash

Andrewf20 wrote:

I was mountain biking in Donegal 2 years ago and there were some great, almost deserted driving routes west of Letterkenny which were like driving on mini Nurburgrings. See 1 pic attached!

Andrewf20 - I think the road in your pic is the R251 that I referred to in post no. 22 .

(You should have seen it years ago! ).

ninty9er

dave2pvd wrote:

Any road that was a Rally of the Lakes stage.

Caragh Lake. Ardroom. Molls Gap. Healy Pass..... And some of the connecting roads, like Gap of Dunloe.

Caragh Lake seconded. I even had fun in the Corsa :eek: :eek: Started at the Red Fox and wnt around the lake back in to Killorglin by the River at the bottom of the town...neverending stretch of road:D

cianclarke

Carawaystick wrote:

The roads from Leenan to Westport are pretty good, windy but good visibillity and surface. Either around Killary and north from Delphi or the more direct route.

The roads around Killary and up through Doo Lough are lovely okay.
Also out around Lough Tay there's some nice driving.

As mentioned before Co. Waterford has some lovely spots. Up around Mahon Falls and then up to Cruchaun is a nice one - follow the signposts for "Comeragh Drive".

The road from Lemybrian to Carrick on Suir as mentioned before is a good one, but there's a great shortcut to be found on that route. Coming towards Carrick, there's a bad bend with a signpost for the golf club - take the left just before this bend and you'll pass the golf club. Continue down the hill into Carrick. Lovely road - if anybody else can give better directions feel free to!

Of course all the above are good driving roads - and that's a scenic twisty road which is a pleasant drive, not necessarily a 90mph drive.
If you're looking for a good road purely from a transportation point of view the only thing I'd consider any way decent is the road from Dublin to Belfast - M1 isn't it?

Andrewf20

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Andrewf20 - I think the road in your pic is the R251 that I referred to in post no. 22 .

(You should have seen it years ago! ).

Maybe so. I remember its on the the way to Glenveagh National Park from Letterkenny. Loads of other great roads, but I didnt take any shots unfortunetly. Too busy driving! I love the sense of loneliness in that photo.

Tigger

Panda Moanium wrote:

BTW, why do so many so called motoring enthusiasts on here seem to think that straight roads and motorways represent the ultimate in driving roads?

because they think the secret is to buy a car withbig numbers and shiny paint

ToxicPaddy

Andrewf20 wrote:

Last months Top Gear magazine had a big section on some of the worlds greatest driving routes. One of them was in Ireland, and it was the main route (I think) from Galway city to Clifden.

I was thinking that exact same route myself.. fantastic drive but you do get caught behind the odd campervan along the way.. Some fantastic views (Watch for the sheep though, they like to sit on the tarmac as its warm when the sun is out, so could have a nasty incident with one if you cut the corner too much :eek: )

The one from Lemybrien to Carrick on Suir is another classic, even better now they have resurfaced some of the bad patches..

Rathfarnham to SallyGap.. another fav of mine..

Tox

el tel

Best stretch of road to take a car for a drive is anywhere where there are plenty of impressionable birds in short skirts and ideally with their panties showing.

mickd

Louisburgh(Mayo) to Leenane (Galway) breathtaking scenery, need to have good cornering ability so take it handy in places.

ardmacha

maybe the Dundrod circuit (and do the Castleblayney-Newtownhamilton twister on the way up.

nialler

Killarney to Kenmare via Conor's Pass (is this right). Followed a local one day in my brand new (1997) Opel Corsa back through the pass at speed, needed new underwear but by god that woman could drive, haven't been that direction since but will try it again sometime.

milltown

Slow coach wrote:

Laragh to Rathdrum, anyone?

My kids call it the rollercoaster road. You can push yourself and your car without exceeding the limit.

Yep, a lovely drive, whatever the speed.

I was also going to suggest the Naas to Blessington road but I haven't been on it in years so it may have been ruined/sanitised/policed to death since. I just remember it being bliss on a sunny morning. My idea of a great driving road is one where the rewards come from being smooth more so than quick.