The Great Western Greenway

[classic33]

magnificent views in the West of Ireland

The Greenway traverses Ireland’s Atlantic coast between Westport town and Achill Island and visits the picturesque villages of Newport and Mulranny (Mallaranny). It passes by some of the West of Ireland’s most dramatic mountains and offers magnificent views of Clew Bay and its many islands.

 

[Twinks]

Wow looks stunning. Thanks for posting.

 

[ScotiaLass]

Wow! I so want to ride this!!

 

[Broadside]

magnificent views in the West of Ireland

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The Greenway traverses Ireland’s Atlantic coast between Westport town and Achill Island and visits the picturesque villages of Newport and Mulranny (Mallaranny). It passes by some of the West of Ireland’s most dramatic mountains and offers magnificent views of Clew Bay and its many islands.

It has apparently done great things for Newport and is very widely supported by the locals, my dad is from Newport so lots of those locals are family. Though I have no experience of it myself there is a good bike hire shop in the town since the Greenway opened. I plan to get over and ride it on my next trip to Newport.

 

[Zofo58]

Just did it on Saturday from Westport to Achill Island. It is a fantastic route with a great diversity of scenery.

 

[TheDoctor]

At 42k it's hardly all that epic a trip.

 

[classic33]

At 42k it's hardly all that epic a trip.

No, but its one way of getting visiting family groups out of their cars.

 

[TheDoctor]

I doubt that. These visiting groups will drive there, after all.

 

[Zofo58]

I doubt that. These visiting groups will drive there, after all.

No it's not an epic trip distance wise, but if you need to do epic distances the world is a big place. I met several groups between 15yrs and 25yrs out cycling, one group of Scouts up to 30 in number. This is Epic in my view, that it will get younger people interested in exploring on a bicycle.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

My husband and I cycled it back in March 2011 on our big tour, it hasn't been completed then but it was still really nice to ride.

www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=Sh&page_id=182975&v=iX

 

[The Jogger]

It seemed a long way to me when I was in the car as a kid, "are we there yet"

 

[classic33]

It seemed a long way to me when I was in the car as a kid, "are we there yet"

Used to make regular trips between Co. Clares' East Coast and Co. Mayo.
I'd have to admit to similar questions being asked. Done the same trip on two wheels a few times as well, since then.

 

[Broadside]

I'm going to Newport next week and plan to ride the Greenway http://www.greenway.ie at some point. @Zofo58 @SatNavSaysStraightOn is it suitable for 23mm tyres? Deliberating what bike to take, would prefer to take my road bike if poss because there are some other road routes I want to take in at the same time. The other option is to take hybrids with 32mm tyres but trying to avoid that.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I recall it being tarmac and the fresh tarmac being in better condition than the road was, but it is 4 years since I did it and the only reference to the surface that I made in my journal was that it was better than the road! But I am pretty certain it was tarmac and certainly all the photos on their website show it as tarmac if you look carefully, but I an tell you that if you are looking for something that you can maintain the same speed on as a road, forget it. There are plenty of gates and barriers from what I recall and the road will certainly be faster. It depends on what you are after. It is not a speedway more a leisureway if you get my drift.

 

[Broadside]

It depends on what you are after. It is not a speedway more a leisureway if you get my drift.

Thanks, that's very helpful. My plan is to take my roadbike for some nice (bumpy) road rides. I am planning on riding on the Greenway with my kids at a very leisurely pace, just wondering if I can get away with a roadbike on the Greenway. Sounds like I probably can