To be honest Tendays has it about right.
But it all depends on when you're intending to come over, how long you're staying, if you're camping or not, what you want to see and the roads you want to travel.
tendays said:
In Norn Iron you should do the whole coast road and take in Fair Head and the GC. Then Donegal, down to Connemara, Galway, Clare & the cliffs of moher etc, down to the famous sticky-out bits which are worth taking the time to explore, then Cork. The E coast is not so amazing but there are spots worth visiting e.g. Glendalough, Wicklow Mtns. Dublin. Also worth a visit are the Mourne Mtns in Co Down if you want a breath of fresh air before you get back to Belfast. Are you going to be camping? Late spring is often the best time of year I reckon. Try to take in a road race?
Have Fun!
But if you're prepared to take my advice, here we go -
The A2 coast road from Belfast to Coleraine is defintely worth doing. On the way there's a damn good chippie on the front in Ballycastle (by the now unused ferry port for crossings to the Kintyre Peninsula), the Carrickarade Rope Bridge and the Giant's Causeway. The A2 continues through Coleraine to Derry/Londonderry.
From there, there's the run into the Republic down to Donegal town. A bit of a short run if you stick to the main road. If you've a mind you could take in Slieve League, which are reputed to be the highest sea cliffs in Europe, before you double back to Donegal Town itself.
From Donegal the roads runs south to Sligo and on to Galway. You could turn off at Charlestown and head on the N5 ('N' main roads in the Republic) through Castlebar to Westport which is a really nice spot. There are various routs from Westport down to Galway depending on the roads you want to travel, the distnce you want to cover and the sites you want to see. The run from Westport, through Louisburgh down the Doo Lough Pass (the "Famine Road") to Leenaun (good grub in Leenaun). From here you have a few options - either west to Clifden (and the "Sky Road") or a more direct route south to Galway. There's also some much smaller roads through the Partry Mountains which give a superb view of Lough Mask.
From Galway, instead of heading directly south to Ennis and then Limerick, you could head west through Kinvara towards Ballyvaghan - basically the south side of Galway Bay. From Ballyvaghan you could continue west around Black Head to Lehinch, then continue south along the coast to Kilrush where a little way out of town you can get the Tarbert ferry across the Shannon. The Foynes Flying Boat museum is a few miles further up the estuary - if that's you kind of thing.
Or from Ballyvaghan you could head south across the Burren towards Ennis and then east to LImerick or westish to Kilrush
From here I'm not so clued up about the roads and sights - after all I've only lived here for 10 years and don't really know the south of the country at all. But as Tendays says, the sticky out bits are worth doing and Kerry's suposed to be very nice.
As far as the East goes I only really know the Wicklow mountians around Tinahely where we have friends. And Dublin is somewhere to ride through or around to get to the ferry.
You could always ask on the
xrvireland.org forum for recommendations for the "bottom half" of the country - they're good lads and would provide some good recommendations, I'm sure.
If you come by Galway, there's a bed for the night if you want it and I'd be more than happy to show you some of the remoter parts of Connemara.
Tony