RideEatCamp

Hello Ireland

Europe

Today is the day we bid goodbye to the UK and hello to Ireland. We planned to stay longer in the UK but the bank holiday this weekend spooked us. We feared we wouldn’t be able to find a camp site in the tourist-heavy region in southwest Wales.

A picturesque view of the Welsh farm country. Perhaps because of soil conditions, Wales seemed to focus more on animal husbandry than England.
A picturesque view of the Welsh farm country. Perhaps because of soil conditions, Wales seemed to focus more on animal husbandry than England.
On the road to Pembroke, we passed through a lovely beach resort.
On the road to Pembroke, we passed through a lovely beach resort.

There’s good reason tourists come here. Picturesque towns lookout over sandy beaches. The area reminded us of Capitola at home. It helped that when we reached the beach towns the sun was shining and summer was in the air.

The Pembroke Castle is surrounded by dense urban housing. Imagine waking up, looking out your bedroom window, and gazing at a huge castle built 800 years ago.
The Pembroke Castle is surrounded by dense urban housing. Imagine waking up, looking out your bedroom window, and gazing at a huge castle built 800 years ago.

Although the original plan was to ride the Celtic Trail to Fishguard, we decided instead to take the ferry in Pembroke to Ireland. We cut our time in Wales short by a few days, but I think we made the right move. The roads are busy enough without a bunch of people on holiday zipping around.

We arrived in Ireland with enough light to roll to a nearby holiday park. Already I can tell that tourism is a lot bigger in Ireland than in the UK. Road signs for accommodation dominate intersections. Our holiday park was also nearly full. Compare that to the ghost town holiday park we stayed at the night before.