Driving the length of the Shannon

 
 
 
 
 
 
t18con
Love's the Craic
Avatar
Gender:
Location: Waringstown
Age: 56
Posts: 220
Registered: 05 / 2015
My Motorhome: Camper, built not bought
Base Vehicle: Vw Caddy 2l, 110bhp
Subject:

Driving the length of the Shannon

 ·  Posted: 22.02.2016  ·  #1
Pardon my ignorance on the subject.

We (wife, myself and dogs) have talked about driving the length of the Shannon over Easter, maybe a day in and around Enniskillen, even out as far as Castle Archdale (have never done the museum there). I know there are plenty of stop offs/parking up spots, that's not the issue. Mileage wise, its not that far, but does the road follow close enough to the river that it's an interesting drive, AND, more importantly is there enough to see and do on the way down to take a week to travel the length of it?

I have never travelled in that area, know Enniskillen and Killaloe, and that's about it.

Many thanks in advance.
Helgahobby
Eat's Sleep's craic
Avatar
Gender:
Location: Bleary Craigavon County Down....
Age: 74
Posts: 1841
Registered: 07 / 2014
My Motorhome:
Base Vehicle:
Subject:

Re: Driving the length of the Shannon

 ·  Posted: 22.02.2016  ·  #2
Have you contacted Waterways Ireland? They will sell you a card like a credit card that will let you use their facilities along the way. Toilets can be accessed by the card for free, and you can shower, launder, and have a very relaxing time. So try here for that: http://www.waterwaysireland.org
As for whether you could get a week out of it, once you see the choices on the literature, you'll find it will be easy. We bought a card sixteen months ago and have only used one sixth of the fourteen quid cost!
Davy
Eat's Sleep's craic
Avatar
Gender:
Location: Co. Down
Age: 70
Posts: 1550
Registered: 09 / 2011
My Motorhome: Hymer B598 PL
Base Vehicle: Fiat 130 hp multijet
Subject:

Re: Driving the length of the Shannon

 ·  Posted: 22.02.2016  ·  #3
You should get a few good days out of the trip. Get a copy of the Shannon navigation map ( about 8 euro from waterways Ireland.)

We have stopped at Leitrim, garradice, Shannon bridge, roosky and various other locations. The roads tend not to be as close to the river as one would like, but you can intercept with it at lots of locations such as clonmacnoise, Shannon harbour, athlone, Lecarrow, portumna, Carrick on Shannon.

Most of these places have stopovers or there are recommendations on the craic map. You will find if you google or call at tourist offices and have the maps you should be able to put a few days together with no problem.

We have avoided Limerick and have no experience of the estuary.

Hope this gets the ball rolling.

Davy
Hady
Craic'er
Avatar
Gender:
Location: Enniskillen
Posts: 91
Registered: 01 / 2013
My Motorhome: Hymer B588 DL
Base Vehicle: 2.3l Fiat Ducato
Subject:

Re: Driving the length of the Shannon

 ·  Posted: 22.02.2016  ·  #4
When you get to Enniskillen you can call in at the Headquarters of Waterways Ireland on the Sligo Road and you can get a free book on the stopovers on the Shannon. There are some lovely stopovers, you can also buy the card referred to earlier in Enniskillen tourist office. Hady.
chuckie
Craic'er
Avatar
Gender:
Location: co. antrim
Age: 86
Posts: 32
Registered: 06 / 2012
Subject:

Driving length of the shannon

 ·  Posted: 03.03.2016  ·  #5
Hope you manage to get on your trip..... Don't forget to let us all know how you get on......and include every little detail always thought about doing this trip but never got around to it. Good luck have a lovely time.
glastry
Love's the Craic
Avatar
Gender:
Location: portaferry -county down
Age: 70
Posts: 217
Registered: 03 / 2013
My Motorhome: Mercedes-Benz hymer s550
Base Vehicle: Mercedes
Subject:

Well worth it

 ·  Posted: 09.03.2016  ·  #6
Quote by t18con

Pardon my ignorance on the subject.

We (wife, myself and dogs) have talked about driving the length of the Shannon over Easter, maybe a day in and around Enniskillen, even out as far as Castle Archdale (have never done the museum there). I know there are plenty of stop offs/parking up spots, that's not the issue. Mileage wise, its not that far, but does the road follow close enough to the river that it's an interesting drive, AND, more importantly is there enough to see and do on the way down to take a week to travel the length of it?

I have never travelled in that area, know Enniskillen and Killaloe, and that's about it.

Many thanks in advance.


Well worth it.all the advice given so far is good and it's a great run.
I wish we were planning this trip.
We used to do this trip by boat and that was good,but even then there was a certain envy for the
Occasional motorhome we saw.
You can join waterways Ireland for a very small amount of money and it will be money well spent.
Enjoy your trip,we hope the weather is kind
norma
Love's the Craic
Avatar
Gender:
Location: Cornwall
Age: 75
Posts: 191
Registered: 05 / 2012
My Motorhome: VW T5
Base Vehicle:
Subject:

Re: Driving the length of the Shannon

 ·  Posted: 12.06.2017  ·  #7
Quote by t18con

Pardon my ignorance on the subject.

We (wife, myself and dogs) have talked about driving the length of the Shannon over Easter, maybe a day in and around Enniskillen, even out as far as Castle Archdale (have never done the museum there). I know there are plenty of stop offs/parking up spots, that's not the issue. Mileage wise, its not that far, but does the road follow close enough to the river that it's an interesting drive, AND, more importantly is there enough to see and do on the way down to take a week to travel the length of it?

I have never travelled in that area, know Enniskillen and Killaloe, and that's about it.

Many thanks in advance.


Did you do the trip? How was it?
We are thinking of doing the same starting from the south...
Would we be right in avoiding Limerick because of height barriers? or any other reasons come to that!
t18con
Love's the Craic
Avatar
Gender:
Location: Waringstown
Age: 56
Posts: 220
Registered: 05 / 2015
My Motorhome: Camper, built not bought
Base Vehicle: Vw Caddy 2l, 110bhp
Subject:

Re: Driving the length of the Shannon

 ·  Posted: 16.06.2017  ·  #8
this might cause a bit of dispute, and apologies in advance. Being in a camper as opposed to a motor home, we weren't impressed by the whole thing. We need our extra bit of privacy compared to the bigger vans, and found all too often the jetties were overlooked by blocks of apartments, etc. Don't get me wrong, there was plenty to see and do on the way down, but just the camping up every night wasn't great. We headed for Sligo after Carrick-on-Shannon, and parked on the beach, climbed a few mountains, and went back to our normal way of doing things.

The facilities weren't great either, all too often doors were kicked in on the toilets, etc. and being reliant on the toilet/shower blocks (being in a camper), that left us moving on to check out the next set of toilets.

Apologies if anyone from Waterways Ireland is looking in....
ROBANDSUE
Nidge
Avatar
Gender:
Location: dublin north
Age: 67
Posts: 2328
Registered: 08 / 2016
My Motorhome: Hymer 572
Base Vehicle: FORD TRANSIT 2009
Subject:

Re: Driving the length of the Shannon

 ·  Posted: 19.06.2017  ·  #9
I always assumed that was the way of things when camper vanning it. I,m a bit lost when you say you needed extra privacy because you were in a camper though. Sorry to hear the holiday wasnt great, maybe waterways ireland need to be informed if there is a problem with their jetties, toilets etc.
ROBANDSUE
Nidge
Avatar
Gender:
Location: dublin north
Age: 67
Posts: 2328
Registered: 08 / 2016
My Motorhome: Hymer 572
Base Vehicle: FORD TRANSIT 2009
Subject:

Re: Driving the length of the Shannon

 ·  Posted: 19.06.2017  ·  #10
Quote by ROBANDSUE

I always assumed that was the way of things when camper vanning it. I,m a bit lost when you say you needed extra privacy because you were in a camper though. Sorry to hear the holiday wasnt great, maybe waterways ireland need to be informed if there is a problem with their jetties, toilets etc.


FOOTNOTE: sorry t18con, just seen your camper and i know now why you were distinguishing between camper and motor home. Makes more sense now i know what you were in.
Selected quotes for multi-quoting:   0

Registered users in this topic

Currently no registered users in this section

The statistic shows who was online during the last 5 minutes. Updated every 90 seconds.