Riding in Ireland: rules, tolls and getting there

Carry your licence, registration document and insurance certificate. EU and UK licences are valid for visitors. UK-registered bikes need no green card, according to the Motor Insurers’ Bureau, and in Ireland they don't need a UK sticker either. Riders from outside the EU and UK should read the Road Safety Authority's advice for tourists, which notes that an International Driving Permit may be needed in some cases.

There's no vignette. Some motorways and bridges have toll plazas, where you pay at the barrier. The M50 around Dublin has barrier-free tolling with cameras, but motorcycles are exempt from the M50 toll, according to the operator, eFlow. eFlow recognises exempt Irish-registered vehicles automatically; if you're on a foreign-registered bike, check with eFlow how your exemption is recorded so you don't get a bill.

A helmet is compulsory for rider and passenger. Bring full waterproofs and a warm layer in every month. Atlantic weather changes several times a day, and the west coast roads can be wet when the forecast says dry.

Road	Limit	In mph
Motorways	120 km/h	about 75 mph
National roads	100 km/h	about 62 mph
Regional roads	80 km/h	about 50 mph
Built-up areas	50 km/h	about 31 mph

Ireland has lowered the default limit on rural local roads and is lowering it in town centres, so watch the signs, which are in km/h. Distances are in kilometres too. The Wild Atlantic Way is about 2,500 km (1,550 miles) from end to end.

Before you filter in Irish traffic, check the current rules in the Road Safety Authority's advice for road users. Riders from the continent should take the first hour slowly: roundabouts go clockwise, and the moment of risk is pulling out of a fuel station or car park on an empty road. Many rural roads are narrow, with grass down the middle and tractors round blind bends; ride them at a speed you can stop in.

Ireland's hills are low by alpine standards and its roads are open year round, though ice and flooding can close minor roads in winter. The mountain roads in Kerry and Donegal, such as the Conor Pass on the Dingle peninsula, are narrow and exposed: in wind and rain they're slow going, and summer coaches and camper vans make the passing places busy.

Fuel stations are frequent in towns but sparse on the remote peninsulas of the west, and many small ones close in the evening. Fill up when you can. The season runs from May to September; May, June and September have the longest days without the summer traffic on the Ring of Kerry.

If you land in Belfast, you start in Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK: speed limits there are in miles per hour, as on the UK page. Cross into Ireland and the signs switch to kilometres per hour with no fuss at the border, just a change of units on the signs. A 100 sign means 100 km/h, about 62 mph, not 100 mph. Reset your head, and if your bike's speedo reads in miles only, keep the conversion on a sticker by the clocks.

Fuel prices and currency also change at the border: sterling in the north, euro in the south. Cards work on both sides.

• Holyhead to Dublin (Stena Line and Irish Ferries), the main route from North Wales.
• Fishguard or Pembroke Dock to Rosslare, for the south-east and the run west to Cork and Kerry.
• Cairnryan to Belfast (Stena Line), the shortest crossing, then ride south over the border or west to Donegal.

Crews usually help secure bikes, but take your own soft ties. From Rosslare to Kerry is about 300 km (190 miles); from Dublin to Donegal town about 220 km (140 miles).

The west coast is slow riding in the best sense. Plan on far fewer kilometres a day than you would on the continent: the roads twist, the views stop you every few miles, and the small roads out to the headlands are single-track with passing places. Local roads often have grass down the middle and gravel at the edges, and repairs can leave loose chippings after resurfacing. Sheep wander on the unfenced roads of Connemara, Donegal and Kerry, and they don't move for engines.

The weather comes in off the Atlantic. Rain on the west coast is frequent but often brief, and the light after it is the reason people ride here. Watch for diesel and wet road paint in towns after rain, and for strong side winds on the exposed headlands.

• The Wild Atlantic Way: Donegal to Kerry and Cork, the whole west coast, with biker hotels on the Wild Atlantic Way.
• Snowdonia on the way to Holyhead, with stays in Wales.
• The North Coast 500: combine Scotland and Ireland via Cairnryan.