Holidays to Ireland this summer 2022

Hello, good morning,
My name is Judith Tutusaus and my family and me, we are interested in visiting Ireland this summer.
We are 4 people: my two sons ( 15 and 12 years old), my husband and me.
We plan arriving at Dublin airport mid August and stay in Ireland two weeks more or less.
We want to stay 3 or 4 days visiting Dublin, and the we will go to visit green landscapes: Northern Ireland. We love green. We are interested in visiting the North. We live in a small village near Barcelona and we cycle very often in family. I was wondering if renting some bikes could be a good idea to visit a bit the North. I don't know if it's a nice idea. 
The idea is renting some bikes for 2 or 3 days and then, rent a car to visit the rest of interesting places. I don't know. Maybe visiting Belfast and surrounding areas by bike? or there are interesting green landscapes near Belfast? We will travel from Dublin to Belfast by train. We plan to rent the bikes in Belfast. Do you recommend us visiting Belfast walking or by bike? The idea is cycle a bit, but also discover as much as possible about the Norther Ireland.
Thanks a lot in advance for your help and patience,
Greeting from Begues (small village near Barcelona),

Judith Tutusaus

Hello Judith,

How wonderful to hear you'll be visiting Ireland with your family this summer. 💚

When you're visiting Belfast, you can either use the shared bikes or walk around, considering it's not a big city. Both options are great to get around!

If you love green landscapes, two gorgeous bike routes in Northern Ireland are The Northern Loop and Mourne Loop. To get to both of them from Belfast, you can either take public transportation or go by car, and then rent bikes once you're there. On this page, you can find some great information about cycling in Ireland that might come in handy. 🚲

I'd also like to share some other bicycle routes in Ireland, in case you're in the mood for a little adventure when you're traveling somewhere else. 😄

You can also find lots of inspiration for your journey on our trip ideas page. 

I hope this was helpful. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to reach out!

También puedo ayudarte en español si prefieres. 😊

Greetings,

Lucía ☘️

Hello Judith, 

Delighted to hear you are planning a lovely family trip to Ireland this year - and allowing plenty of time to fully explore which is great! 

There are plently of beautiful cycle routes across Northern Ireland that you could explore - sustrans is a great site for finding more information on these and as Lucia stated, the Shared Belfast Bike scheme in Belfast City would be a great option for exploring with docking stations across the city enabling you to explore top attractions.

An option for continuing to explore everything that the North has to offer would be the great public transport links. You could travel by train or bus from Belfast to Coleraine, hopping on the Causeway Rambler service to visit top attractions along the North Coast including the Giants Causeway and Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge. You can then head back to Coleraine to hop back on the train and travel into Derry~Londonderry. This section of the journey is particularly beautiful as the train follows the coast and has been described as one of the most scenic train journeys in the world by Michael Palin. 

You can spend a day or two exploring the historic Walled City of Derry~Londonderry before heading to explore the largely untouched landscapes of Inishowen and Donegal.  From here you are perfectly positioned to continue your journey along the Wild Atlantic Way - a 1600mile route along one of the longest defined coastal routes in the world; which would enable you to circle back to Dublin before heading home. 

I wish you all the best with planning your adventure, and if you need any further information then please do not hesitate to get in touch. 

Kind Regards 

Naiomh

Thanks a lot for your recommendations. Really appreciated!
I will review the links suggested by you to find more info and some fun ideas. Thanks a lot!!
After thinking a bit more about the trip, I was wondering if visiting Ireland just with public transport (train) and renting bikes, it is possible. Maybe we could cycle a bit more as we have expected on the beginning. I will think about it.
We love cycling, my husband and I have been travelling across Europe for many years (on summer holidays), but with the children, it's a bit more difficult. We spent several days cycling with them but never aboard. We hope that cycling across Ireland will be an amazing experience for all of us, but I am a bit scared about it.
Thanks a lot guys for all your recommendations,
I will have a look as soon as I have a minute, and I will let you know,
Greetings from Barcelona,

Judith

Hi again Judith,

I completely understand where you're coming from! 

I hope you enjoy this family adventure and I'd love to hear all about it when you're back home. 😄

Greetings, 

Lucia ☘️