Not much traffic; great roads, many with long straights for easy overtaking; good driving habits (eg little or no tailgating, ditto aggression); fine scenery.
No speed cameras (as far as I could tell), though a few camera warning signs. Didn't see a cop outside Belfast (though each town had its heavily fortified cop-shop), apart from what appeared to be one traffic patrol car on an emergency.
Recommended.
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PS If you can, fill up in the Irish Republic: about 77p per gallon, diesel 2p a litre cheaper than petrol!
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Seconded! Passed through on my way to Donegal over the Easter weekend. Best enjoyed if you're not in a hurry on the A roads - the locals rarely are, and (on the way to the Giant's Causeway, at least) few feel the need to reach, never mind pass, 60mph.
Along the border with the Republic, you have to stay alert to the changes in signage as the road crosses over and back between the Republic and Northern Ireland, and the speed limts and signposts switch over and back between kilometers and miles!
Tip: When you're filling up, look for a branded petrol station as far from the border as possible. The prices are lower, and quality more consistent.
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Don't forget to enjoy all that beautiful countryside and meeting possibly the most friendly and hospitable people in the world.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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No speed cameras (as far as I could tell), though a few camera warning signs. Didn't see a cop outside Belfast (though each town had its heavily fortified cop-shop), apart from what appeared to be one traffic patrol car on an emergency.
They use the traffic camera signs as scare tactics, they only have a few fixed cameras, but plenty of mobile out the back of transit laser jobs.
The unmarked traffic cars are quite busy, they have a tasty W8 passat or two kicking about.
In comparason to the mainland, very quiet roads and great senery, nowhere near the traffic enforment, but by no means a free for all.
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'm over regularly enough and have noticed quite a dramatic increase in enforcement in the last few years. As you say only a handful of Gatsos but there were specs and many more mobile units than one I've experienced in the Home Counties. Disregarding specs and Gatsos, in a 100 mile round trip from Warrenpoint, Belfast and back via Newcastle, I drove through 3 mobile traps, 1 van and 2 motorbike guns all outside Belfast. I was a bit surprised but TBH with the high road accident rates over there something needed to be done and to be fair the figures are apparently on the way down.
When the weather's right one of my favourite routes, especially on a bike, in NI is out of Newcastle around the base of the Mournes, then up through Spelga and down to Warrenpoint.
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Hopefully the mods will delete this thread before you all want to come over here and clog up our roads! ;-)
A favourite route of mine is up the north east coast through the Glens of Antrim to Ballycastle. Have to be careful though - on one run round there during the January I nearly got blown out of the saddle when I rounded the bend into a suddenly ferocious gale coming down out of Glenariffe - almost ended up in the sea. Been riding around the Mournes recently though and really enjoyed it - the roads near Castlewellan are fantastic and having a run there from Downpatrick is truly exhilarating so long as the roads are clear - if you get held up behind a slow driver you don't have much opportunity to overtake.
Once you're across the border, the main roads become very wide single carriageways for a lot of the time, with drivers often pulling as far left as possible to facilitate those wishing to overtake, often making it possible to do so without actually straying into the oncoming lane at all. This is somewhat counterbalanced by the failure of many southern drivers to realise that the outer lane on the motorway is for overtaking, not driving in parallel formation ...
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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The problem with those wide carriageways was finding that whilst you were overtaking some kind person who'd moved left, somebody in a Toyota Hi-ace was casually using the oncoming lane to overtake you, Usually at your speed +1mph. It was like unwittingly finding yourself on the set of the cannonball run. The old road past the Monasterboice Inn used to be a favourite for that kind of stunt.
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Take the road from Drumquin to Draperstown via Plumbridge through the Sperrins. I have driven it in everything from a clapped out Cinquecento to an Impezza P1 and a BMW 535D. Awesome road and scenery. My advice to anyone about driving here is to try it before we catch up with the Hogsback to Guildford.
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Last time i drove in NI I had a few tail-gaters on my backside whilst i was observing the speedlimits!
Other then that i think the roads are well maintained as well as being nice & straight.
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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Oh yes, Plumbridge road! One of the first drives that gave me an idea of what people were on about when they talked about "having fun in the twisty bits". Love it. Last time I was there was a few years ago, but I remember thinking that it seemed to be just set up perfectly for chucking the car into bends while maintaining a decent pace, without once feeling like I had to really back off or risk straying onto the wrong side of the road. Must go for a ride there someday.
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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Funnily enough I did overtake a dark blue W8 Passat, but without incident...
While I enjoyed my week away, I was disappointed by the eating and drinking - dull menus, lack of choice and quality, inflexible opening hours. While Northern Ireland is refreshingly free from the blight of big brands and still has real character and diversity, you can take stepping back into mainland UK 30 years ago a bit too far.
Oh, and the signposting is lousy.
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He he he, the only W8 Passats I have ever seen are the dark blue ones used be traffic. You musnt have been going too hard :o)
You must have been just chancing your luck with random pub food, we have some cracking food if you know where to look, from chip van right up to Michilen star if that is your thing.
If you are over again say where you are going and what you are after and we can point you in the right direction.
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If you are a biker and heading towards Newcastle, then I would suggest you head out of Belfast towards Newtownards, then out to Portaferry and across on the 10 minute ferry ride to Strangford, before heading to Downpatrick and on to Newcastle. It is a favorite with the bikers, very similar to the Antrim coast road but not as busy.
You can also add to the fun by going over the Craigantlent hills between Belfast and Newtownards rather than the dull road through Dundonald.
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