For adventurous ADULTS, circumnavigating Carlingford Lough is a great day of cycling! It’s 53km in total and with stops to enjoy the surrounds and have lunch, a day is ideal.
Le Tour Du Lough offers a mixture of cycling conditions and challenges and why we do NOT advise this route for families is that for 12 kilometers, you have to cycle along the busy A2 road between Lisnacree and Warrenpoint. The A2 is FAST, it is NARROW and the road surface is ‘variable’ (raised grids, sunken grids, some potholes). Most drivers respect cyclists and give a wide berth but to take this route, you must be conscious of the potential dangers. OnYerBike will provide you with a High Vis jacket and a helmet of course . . .
Still up for the challenge ?? Well off we go !!
From Carlingford Marina you head to Greenore – just 7km along the R176 which for the most part has a ‘hard shoulder’ for you to ride along. You will be able to look across the lough to the Mourne Mountains to your left and across towards the Cooley Mountains to your right.
The Carlingford Lough Ferry from Greenore leaves on the half hour. Sailing times depend on the day and month so make sure you ask us or go to https://carlingfordferry.com/timetable/. There is even a bike rack on the Ferry !
After a lovely ferry crossing, you will arrive at Greencastle. Take the time to visit the amazing Royal Greencastle Castle just by Greencastle Pier. Ride along the Greencastle Pier Road and at the T junction turn left towards Lisnacree on the Benagh Road. It’s signposted Warrenpoint and Newry. At Lisnacree you turn left on to the A2 to Warrenpoint…The road pretty much follows the contours of the Lough and it will take about 30 minutes to ride to Rostrevor and Kilbroney Park. Plenty of good reasons to stop off here including a cafe at the Mountain Bike trailhead…As an advisory note, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A CREDIT/DEBIT CARD or STERLING CASH…(I made that mistake last time and so there was no pit stop for 46km until I got to Omeath !)
Cycle a little further and you approach Warrenpoint, I stopped at the Ross Monument to just take in the scenery..The Ross Monument was erected on the shoreline of Carlingford Lough in 1826 to the design of William Vitruvius Morrison, this massive granite obelisk commemorates Major General Robert Ross who had been killed in September 1814 while advancing on Baltimore during the American War.
