Bike Tour Reviews: Highlights Of The Highlands Donegal By E-bike
Self guided from EUR € 1340
Self-guided:
Fridays: Apr 26-Sep 20, 2024 (additional dates available for groups of 5 or more)
Description:
Smell the wonderfully refreshing salty breezes as you cycle along one of the world’s most beautiful coastlines. Feel that wonderful sense of total freedom as your bike tour takes you across a wide-open expanse of Irish bogland. Stop at a sandy beach and…
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★★★★★ erinling May 27, 2019Just Get the E-bike
Amazing way of seeing the countryside. County Donegal is gorgeous. Killybegs to Glencolmcille to Glenties were my favorite rides. I began day 1 of my journey on a hybrid bike thinking "I'm in shape, I can do this." WRONG. The terrain is very hilly and the hybrids heavy, so just go ahead and get that e-bike. Seamus was incredibly friendly and helpful and worked with me if a problem arose. All of the B&B hosts were great, though Letterkenny's was certainly my least favorite. My only regret is being too concerned about making good time and not taking more opportunities to hop off and hike around more.
- What was the date of your tour?
- 30/04/19 - 05/05/19
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ cdreby July 25, 2016
Our first bike tour
It was harder than expected with many more steep hills than described but the B&B's at the end of each day were a welcome reward. We had wet weather for most of our tour however, the beauty and the variety of the landscape came through the clouds and damp weather. Seamus was very helpful and fixed any problem we had right away.
- What was the date of your tour?
- July 10-17 2016
- How many tours have you completed?
- 0
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Julane April 28, 2016
A Most Excellent Adventure in Donegal County
From stunning scenery to quiet roads and a variety of climbing challenges, from lovely B&B’s and gracious hosts/hostesses to charming villages, from dependable bikes to near-perfect cue sheets and maps, Seamus Gallagher, owner of Ireland by Bike, has planned an adventure we will remember for years to come.
- How many tours have you completed?
- Europe-16; USA-7; Canada-1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Families with teens, Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Alpskier November 14, 2015
The Rugged Beauty of the Emerald Isle
Highlights of the Highlands was one of my favorite trips. The affable local tour operator met us at our b&b in Donegal Town and told us what to expect. Bikes were great and the b&b lodgings were solid, including a satisfying breakfast. To be sure, the ride has parts that are truly rigorous, including a couple of long, steady inclines. And most of the ride follows low-trafficked roads, first along the rocky coast and later inland through national parks. The Irish were most welcoming and so were the pubs. But the beauty is in the land, resplendent vistas, hours of riding through glacial valleys. It was a pretty cool thing to ride through a pack of sheep. We road in the summer. Expect changeable weather, a bit chilly and rainy. Needless to say, bring a camera!
- How many tours have you completed?
- 8
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Katya Spielberg July 12, 2023
Fantastic Introduction to Ireland Countryside
A wonderful way to experience Donegal County in Ireland!! In spite of high winds 2 days and some rain most days, the beauty of the landscape and the loveliness of the Irish people made it one of my all-time favorite bike trips. Moreover, the customer service provided by Ireland by Bike was top notch -- from the maps and GPS to the history and daily recommendations provided, everything was made easy and accessible. Definitely appreciated the e-bikes given the number of hills and strong breezes on the coastline!! The quality of the B&B's did vary by location, but all were clean and hosts were friendly and helpful. Would definitely recommend to my friends and family!!
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★★★★★ John Maxfield August 15, 2023
Beautiful Irish coast and fabulous cycling roads
This was an outstanding tour! The coast of County Donegal was breathtaking, and the roads / routes well chosen, with clear directions using both maps and GPS. I would suggest adding a longer mileage option for the circuit ride (Day 4) from Glenties; I did part of the circuit twice to get in a full day of cycling while my wife enjoyed the beach, waiting for the tide to go out for our walk to the island.
- What was the date of your tour?
- August 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- 2
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists, Solo travelers, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Jan Baar 4 months ago
Relaxed discovery of marvellous Donegal
Extremely well organised tour bringing you to the best spots Donegal has to offer. Routes were very well chosen, offering one the most beautiful sights. Adequate supportive information. Seamus was very helpful. We enjoyed it!
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★★★★★ Faye October 2, 2017
A very good trip
The trip was generally great, as we were lucky with the weather. The B&B's were generally very good, particularly the one in Glenties. All of the B&B owners were helpful and friendly and the breakfasts were great. The B&B that we stayed at in Donegal was not as good- the bed was uncomfortable, the curtains didn't block out the light, and the toilet didn't flush very well.
Great to have an electric bike for those hills, and a GPS to navigate!
- What was the date of your tour?
- September 15 to 22nd, 2017
- How many tours have you completed?
- 8
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- Solo travelers, First-time bike tourists, Families with teens
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ joseph eberly July 2, 2023
Amazing scenery and people
The North West coast of Ireland is breathtaking. For the most part, quiet country roads or bike paths. Our B&Bs were very nice and the hosts even nicer. There are some areas that were quite challenging and we were very happy to have e-bikes. A little rain but nothing that kept us from riding. We had a fun and challenging ride through the national park with a dirt path and a steep climb on a gravel path. We had some equipment issues that slowed us down but operator got us going again. The Garman GPS was amazing. We made plenty of wrong turns, but it always got us back on track. All in all, this is the most beautiful part of Ireland and we had great food at every stop.
- What was the date of your tour?
- June 2023
- How many tours have you completed?
- This is our second trip with Bike Tours
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- Somewhat harder
- Who is this tour suitable for?
- First-time bike tourists
- Do you recommend this tour?
- Yes
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★★★★★ Marge Anderson October 5, 2022
Lots of friendly people
We had beautiful weather. This helped make the trip really nice. We had very nice hosts at our accommodations. Some of the places were much nicer than others. The Brennan B&B was excellent. Other places had some problems like plumbing, but in general the accommodations were fine. We did arrive in one town (Glencolmcille) to find there weren't any restaurants open. We thought this wasn't very good planning on the part of the bike company.
The roads were ok. Some of the roads were a bit busy. Some were very nice country roads. There was a section that was gravel that was a bit tricky. The scenery was lovely.
There were some errors in directions that should be fixed.
I've been on a few other biking trips. This was my least favorite.- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 5
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
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★★★★★ David Anderson October 4, 2022
Pretty location, ok organization
In general, it was a great experience. I'd never been on a bike tour, and this was a load of fun. My wife and I plan to do more bike tours. However, if I had to choose between bike tours, I wouldn't recommend this specific one.
Going over this bike tour's organization.
GPS / Directions.
A few things here to complain about.
1. The printed directions were inconsistent between people on the tour. Some printed directions said left at an intersection, others said right. They were simply out of date, and the tour didn't re-print everything. Old printouts = old directions.
2. The printed directions were inconsistent with the web directions. We were sent PDFs of directions. Those didn't match up with the printouts. Again, likely because they were older or newer (we couldn't figure out which). Different roads sometimes, different turns.
3. The printed and web directions were inconsistent with the GPS tracks. This was super annoying, because we were biking along listening to the GPS directions (on the unit provided), and the GPS would say "turn here!" and the printed directions indicated we should go another few blocks.
4. The printed / web / GPS directions were out of date for actual road conditions. In two different locations, the road was literally closed, and we had to detour around an area using Google maps. In one place, the GPS road literally had grass growing on it, and had obviously moved at least 5+ years before. These directions are *very* out of date at times.
These direction inconsistencies didn't mean we got lost, but it did mean *daily* stops to consult our map, Google maps, GPS directions, and try to figure out where the tour intended us to go, regardless of all the inconsistencies. I'd highly suggest having offline Google maps if you're going to take the tour.
Lodging.
Some places were outstanding and high quality. Other places were lower quality. One place in particular stank heavily of peat smoke, with smoke literally billowing in through our windows. I don't know how often the tour company inspects the places they're sending people.
Food.
The tour included breakfast. It was sometimes great, mostly fine, but sometimes a bit low quality. Again, perhaps a lack of inspection on exactly what they're paying for.
While the tour didn't provide dinner, we sometimes had trouble finding any place which was open. In one town, we got *lucky* that there was a food truck open, because otherwise every single restaurant in town was closed down. The locals all said that it made no sense that we hadn't planned on dinner, because their town didn't have restaurants open in this season. Many locations only had a single restaurant option. I think if you're going to operate a tour this late in the season, you need to scout out restaurants which will actually be open. SHOW MORE
Bikes.
The bikes on average worked fine. Few specific issues.
1. The batteries were inconsistent power. Both in size (different models) and in age we suspect (as the power ran down more quickly). We absolutely used full power rarely, and most often had it at 1 or 2 out of 4 power. Still, on the longer days, we ran quite low on power. We had a battery die once, which was annoying. Thankfully we had young people on our tour who were able to power their way the last distance without a battery. For the distances available, I think the bike batteries are inadequate for anyone who isn't in good shape. When the tour operator was asked about this before the tour started, he insisted that the batteries "never" run out. Can't be true, we heard from other people on the tour that they also ran out of batteries.
2. We had a bike which repeatedly had the chain fall off. Looking at the chain, it was *covered* in grease. Looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years / forever. Thankfully we could put the chain back on ourselves, but if we were older / less competent with a bike, this would have been an issue.
General interactions.
In general, the tour operator was nice, but didn't seem overly concerned with the feedback we provided him.
1. "The GPS tracks are out of date." - "Well yeah that happens."
2. "There were no restaurants available." - "Yeah, it's late in the season"
3. "The bike kept losing the chain." - "Yup, bikes do that sometimes."
In general, we didn't feel like our concerns were being heard.
Again, overall it was a fun place to go, and we liked bike touring in general. The operator just could have done better.
SHOW LESS- What was the date of your tour?
- September 2022
- How many tours have you completed?
- 1
- Difficulty (actual vs. expected)?
- As expected
- Do you recommend this tour?
- No
