Glasgow Sightseeing

Your accommodation in one of Glasgow's city centre best quality 4* hotels. As clients will arrive at various time of day and this is intended to offer rest for those who have travelled long distances and gives others a chance to do some sightseeing in Glasgow.

There is much to see and do in Glasgow. For those wanting somewhere free and indoors we have the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum other museums and art galleries include The Riverside Musuem of Transport and Travel, The Burrell Collection, The House for an Art Lover, Huntarian Art Gallery, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Gallery of Modern Arts, Glasgow Science Centre, The Peoples Palace and Winter Garden, The Botanic Gardens and Kibble Palace, Scotland Street Museum, The Police Museum, The Tenement House and many more. The city has a plethora of historic buildings and if you simply want to perambulate the streets and look up and down you will find no shortage of interesting architecture. Glasgow means 'dear green place' and hosts many large and interesting parks. If you want entertainment you will find live entertainment in many of the city's bars, concert hall and theatres. If you are into sports there are many stadia and arenas. The city also has places of worship for all religions so there are cathedrals, churches, synagogues, mosques etc. In short you will find little difficulty finding something to do in Glasgow.

Glasgow To Stranraer - 100 miles 3.5 hours riding

We depart Hillington heading south to Barrhead then onwards to Stewarton before reaching Ayr where depending upon the interests of the group we can visit the birth place of Scots poet Robert Burns, or a little further on Culzean Castle.

Along the route we cross the "electric brea" where an optical illusion makes you think you are heading uphill when in reality you are going down.

We pass the fery terminals at Cairnryan where we cross to Ireland tomorrow but today we continue a little further to stop overnight in Stranraer or Portpatrick.

Ballycastle, Giants Causeway, Londonderry, Letterkenny 150-160 miles about 4.5 hours riding

We shall typically cross from Cairnryan to Larne but occasionally land in Belfast. If the later we head north passing Carrickfergus Castle which sits on a rock that legend has is killed King Fergus when his ship ran aground before reaching Larne.

From Larne we move northwards to the seaside town of Ballycastle where we alter course to the west and some might want to take a walk to across the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge and other take a refreshmaent at the Weighbridge Tearoom, then we make our way to the Giants Causeway.

Continuing our route west to Portrush and on to Londonderry where depending on the ferry landing point we have two options. If we arrived in Larne we will deviate north to explore part on Co. Donegal before reaching our overnight spot at a nice spa hotel in Letterkenny, otherwise we go directly to Letterkenny from Londonderry.

Letterkenny to Ballina 170 miles about 4 hours riding

The day begins on a road aptly named “around the Donegal Mountains“ as we make our way north to the coast before descending south again to Lettermacaward where we take a light refreshment at Elliotts, a traditional Irish bar (better visited when we are not about to ride!).

Our route then continues to Donegal where we break for lunch beside the towns historic castle.

The final leg of this day continues southerly through Sligo to end the day at an Irish Castle which is now a 4 star hotel. This will be our base for the next two nights.

Wild Atlantic Way Circuit 170 miles about 4 hours riding

Departing Ballina we hear north westerly along parts of the Wild Atlantic Way first making our way to Dún na mBó cliff-top viewpoint looking across the Atlantic Ocean with the Eagle Island Lighthouse in the foreground.

Sticking to a lighthouse theme we head south to Blacksod where we can climb the 15 year old lighthouse and hear a guided tour about the building and its history. We shall stop for refreshments at Belmullet before making our way around the Ballcroy National Park as we head towards Mulranny, then eastwards to Westport where we stop for lunch.

The return leg brings us to Lough Conn and Lough Cullin as we progress back to our hotel.

Ballina to Dublin 160 miles 4 hours riding

Today we move away from the rugged coastline and head east across Ireland using a good mix of roads. Some are poorly maintained with grass growing up the middle and by contrast as we near Dublin we shall be on a motorway.

The Leitrim and Cavan counties of Ireland that we pass through offer an insight into more typical Irish rural life. The inland loughs and rivers together with the surrounding forest are popular among anglers, walkers and cyclists.

At Carrick-on-Shannon we cross the river Shannon where we take a brief stop before continuing to Ballinamore for a light refreshment then onwards to Killashandra and Ballinagh to Trim in Co Meath where we stop for lunch close to the ancient Norman Castle on the banks of the River Boyne.

The final leg of this route brings us into Dublin to a city centre hotel and after parking up the bikes we shall take in some city sights including a visit to the Guinness Factory.

Dublin to Belfast 150 miles about 4.5 hours riding

To help emphasise the contrast between east and west coasts in the island we head north from Dublin to Belfast largely hugging the coast. If anyone particularly wants to spend extra time in the cities of Dublin and Belfast it should be noted that the motorway connecting the two in about two hours whereas the route we shall take will be more than double that but far more scenic.

As we head north passing Dublin Airport we reach Drogheda with the Boyne frows into the Irish sea and later at Dundalk we cross the Castletown river as it too flows into the sea. At Greenore we take a scenic ferry across Carlinford Lough to continue our east coast trail.

Those who are fans of the Game of Thrones might appreciate a stop at Castle Ward which was the scene of Winterfell in the series though please be aware that considerable CGI is used to augment what actually exists.

For the final section of todays journey we cross Strangford Lough and make our way to Belfast where the hotel is located in the former Harland and Wolff headquarters building alongside the dock where the infamous Titanic was built.

Belfast to Glasgow 150 miles about 4.5 hours riding

The day begins with a short ride to the ferry where we cross from Belfast to Cairnryan. The journey takes about 2.5 hours so a relaxing start to the day. From Cairnryan we head across Dumfries and Galloway to Thornhill where we stop for morning coffee. Thornhill is a charming village built by the Marquis of Queensbury in the early 1700’s. Drumlanrig Castle on the edge of the village remains the home of the Duke of Buccleugh and Queensberry. where we break for lunch.

Our next leg takes us through Leadhills, Scotland's second highest village which nestles in a high valley in the Lowther Hills. As the name suggests it was once a lead mining area. as we descend from the hills we make our was to Douglas and onwards to Larark where we take a refreshment break at the New Lanark World Heritage Site founded in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and housing for the mill workers.

The final leg of the journey heads west to Strathven and then north to bring us back to Glasgow.