Copper Coast Drive

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Tramore

   Tramore is where Waterford goes to the seaside, and it has been doing so for a very long time. The town of about nine thousand sits on the south coast of Ireland, eleven kilometres from Waterford city, around a wide bay with a long sandy strand and a back-strand of dunes and tidal flats. There is an old amusement park, a promenade, surf schools and the kind of seaside cafe where the chips come in paper. For a rider setting off along the Copper Coast, it is a friendly place to start: big enough for fuel, a proper breakfast and a last look at the forecast.

   Read the complete Tramore write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Tramore is where the day begins. Next is Dunmore East.

2. 2. Dunmore East

   Dunmore East has the look of a village that was designed to be liked. Whitewashed and thatched cottages cluster around a small harbour on the east side of Waterford estuary, red sandstone cliffs run along the shore, and the sea light is soft and bright. The harbour, built in the early nineteenth century for the mail packet boats to England, is now home to a fleet of fishing boats, yachts and a lifeboat station, and on a fine evening, the terrace of the harbourside pub is crowded with people eating fish and chips and watching the boats. The village has been a favourite with holidaymakers from Waterford city for generations.

   Read the complete Dunmore East write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Dunmore East comes up about 16 km into the recorded legs. Next is Bunmahon.

3. 3. Bunmahon

   Bunmahon is a few houses, a church and a very good beach on the County Waterford coast, and the first thing to understand is that the ground under it was once the busiest industrial site in the county. In the nineteenth century this cliff-top was a copper mining district, and Cornish engineers and miners came over to run it, which is why you will find ruined engine houses standing in fields with the sea behind them. The Mahon river reaches the Atlantic here, and the whole shoreline between Tramore and Dungarvan is now a geopark, which is the polite way of saying that the cliffs are a geology lecture you can ride past at fifty kilometres an hour.

   Read the complete Bunmahon write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 51 km into the recorded legs you reach Bunmahon. Next is Dungarvan.

4. 4. Dungarvan

   Dungarvan lies at the head of a sheltered bay on the south coast of County Waterford, where the Colligan river meets the sea. The Normans built a castle here in the late twelfth century, said to have been ordered by King John, and its stone walls still stand beside the quay with a nearby barracks. The town takes its name from the Irish Dún Garbhán, and the Gaeltacht of An Rinn, where Irish is the daily language, lies just across the bay, giving the area an unusual sense of living tradition.

   Read the complete Dungarvan write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Dungarvan closes the day.