This year, Velo-city, the premier international planning conference on cycling, will take place in Dublin, Ireland on the 25th to 28th June 2019. If you are going to stay on the emerald isle that is hosting the conference, why not reflecting on what you have learnt from these four days full of cycle-related ideas, by exploring the island on two wheels? Ireland is crossed by two EuroVelo routes that you can follow: EuroVelo 1 – Atlantic Coast Route and EuroVelo 2 – Capitals Route.

EuroVelo, a successful initiative from the ECF, is a network of 16 long-distance cycling routes connecting and uniting the whole European continent. Following the EuroVelo routes, you can cycle from the North Cape to Malta, or from Dublin to mysterious Moscow. The idea of establishing a European cycle route network was first discussed in 1994, and since then this colossal project has been under development. Little by little the network has taken shape, thanks to the common efforts of ECF and our many national partners: the EuroVelo National Coordination Centres and Coordinators, who will have their annual meeting hosted by Fáilte Ireland in Dublin on Monday 24th June, the day before Velo-city, and the EuroVelo route project partners.

In Ireland, you will meet two EuroVelo routes: EuroVelo 1 – Atlantic Coast Route which goes around the island, following the coast, and EuroVelo 2 – Capitals Route, which crosses the centre of the country, from Galway to Dublin. If EuroVelo 2 is still at the planning stage in Ireland, EuroVelo 1 is being developed and promoted by the ongoing AtlanticOnBike project, a three year project funded by the EU Atlantic Area Interreg programme.

This project expects to contribute to  low carbon tourism development (car free tourism). Its rationale is to stimulate, structure, promote and to take part in the development of cycling tourism  along EuroVelo 1 – Atlantic Coast Route, in order to generate and monitor economic benefits at territorial and transnational level. The Irish project partners are Sligo, Mayo and Donegal County Councils, as well as the Sport Ireland organisation.

From North to South, the Atlantic Coast Route in Ireland will bring you from the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland around the Atlantic coast to Rosslare on the East coast, where it is possible to connect with a ferry to Wales and continue on the Atlantic Coast Route through the United Kingdom. In between, the route goes along the windswept West Coast of Ireland, infused with wildness and offering wonderful seascapes at every turn. You will find many great pubs along the way, welcoming you with traditional music and of course a large pint of Guinness!

In Donegal and Wexford, respectively the first and last counties through which the route goes in Ireland, are signed with EuroVelo signs, making the route very easy to follow. In the other counties (from North to South: Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Clare, Limerick, Kerry, Cork and Waterford), the route is not yet signed, but is either significantly developed or under development and very usable. You can find information about EuroVelo 1 sections  at the links as follows: in Donegal at Donegal Cycle Route  in Mayo at Great Western Greenway ,  in West Limerick at Great Southern Trail Greenway website, In Waterford at  Waterford Greenway and in Wexford at EuroVelo 1 Wexford.

All that remains for you to do now is to grab a map or a GPS device and to hop on your bike, before or after Velo-city Dublin. Do not miss this opportunity to visit the great attractions that the route has to offer, such as the Cliffs of Moher which are among the world’s most impressive cliffs, towering at 200 meters above the Atlantic Ocean!

If you need a GPX file for any section of the route please email dcorrie@sportireland.ie.