We meet early in Belfast City Centre at Bed & Bike HQ. Your bike will be fitted to you, as required, so that you are ready to head out in the best of comfort. You will have overnighted in preparation for your self-guided cycling holiday in a Belfast City centre Hotel, ideally located a short walk from Bed & Bike HQ.
You leave Belfast on the Comber Greenway, 8 miles of traffic-free tranquillity which was ranked third in the Sunday Times top beautiful British cycling routes and head for the small town of Comber, which offers a welcome first pit stop and is the birthplace of Thomas Andrews, the designer of the RMS Titanic and among the many who went down with the ship.
You then cycle on to our recommended lunch stop, Daft Eddy’s, a family run Bar/Restaurant on a small island on Strangford Lough which is accessed by bike, across a causeway.
Causeway to Daft Eddys
Killyleagh Castle
After lunch you tackle the remaining 22 miles of Day One, routing your bikes along quiet lough coastal roads to the picture postcard village of Strangford.
En route you pass through Killyleagh, marvelling at its famous 12th Century Castle (myth has the Disney castle modelled on it); still in private ownership it is a family home, claimed to be the oldest inhabited castle in Ireland!
You finish the day by walking our bikes on to the Strangford to Portaferry ferry and enjoy a picturesque ten minute crossing to Portaferry (at the cost of a whole £1!)
Dating back to the 1700s, The Portaferry Hotel, in the heart of the village, is steeped in history and surrounded by the breath-taking landscape of Strangford Lough.
You will be welcomed into the award winning restaurant for dinner; it showcases the best of local, seasonal produce. A cosy bar is available for pre and post dinner drinks and the hotel’s fourteen bedrooms are charming and spacious.
Portaferry Hotel
Day 1: 40 miles, elevation: