Potential trips

🏍️ Edinburgh -> Edinburgh 1
🏍️ Edinburgh -> Edinburgh 2 
🏍️ Dublin -> Edinburgh

Dublin → Edinburgh
🏍️ 🏍️ 🏍️ 🏍️ 🏍️ 🏍️ 🏍️


Itenerary
  • Saturday: LAX → DUB — arrive 2:30pm Sunday
  • Sunday: rent motorcycle, pub crawl
  • Monday: Dublin → Belfast (via the Mourne Mountains)
  • Tuesday: Belfast → Giant’s Causeway → Larne
  • Wednesday: Larne → Cairnryan (via ferry) → Galloway Forest → Glasgow → Edinburgh
  • Thursday: Bachelor party
  • Friday: Edinburgh 
  • Saturday: Wedding
  • Sunday: EDI → LAX


Potential Dublin rentals to drop in Scotland

I reached out to

https://www.retroventuresireland.com/
https://www.eaglerider.com/harley-rentals/dub-dublin-airport


Total route

Link to Google maps




Sunday: rent motorcycle / pub crawl


https://www.dublinpubcrawl.com/literary-pub-crawl-2/

The Literary Pub Crawl takes about 2 hours and 20 minutes across four historic pubs in the centre of Dublin. We always include a private visit to Trinity College front square (included in the price).

The tour is led by actors who tell the story of the pub, the poet & the pint. Walking distance: approx 1km (half mile).

Hotel: The Dean





Monday: Dublin → Belfast (via the Mourne Mountains)


Head north through the scenic Mourne Mountains — rolling hills and Game of Thrones filming locations.

Afternoon: Arrive in Belfast. Grab lunch at St. George’s Market or get lost in the Titanic Quarter.

Evening: Pint at The Crown Liquor Saloon or check out The Dirty Onion (live music + peat fires). 
Pints and trad music at The Duke of York or jazz at Bert’s Bar in the Merchant.

Optional detour: ride out to Dark Hedges if time allows.

Overnight: Boutique stay in Cathedral Quarter or a moody pub inn just outside the city.

Overnight: The Merchant Hotel (historic luxury) or Bullitt Hotel (modern boutique).


Hotel options:
The Merchant Hotel
The Harrison Chambers

Bar: The Duke of York



Tuesday: Belfast → Giant’s Causeway → Larne


Morning: Depart via the Causeway Coastal Route, considered one of the best drives in the world.

Stops:
  • Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
  • Ballintoy Harbour (Game of Thrones location)
  • Dunluce Castle (dramatic cliffside ruin)
  • Bushmills Distillery
  • Giant’s Causeway (do the full coastal path if time allows)

Evening: Ride back southeast along the coast to Larne to be near the morning ferry.

Overnight: Stay in or near Larne. Ballygally Castle Hotel — a 17th-century haunted castle right on the sea.
Hotel: Ballygally Castle Hotel





Wednesday: Larne → Cairnryan (via ferry) → Galloway Forest → Glasgow → Edinburgh

Morning: Take the Stena Line ferry from Larne to Cairnryan (~2 hours, multiple sailings daily). Reserve in advance for the bike.

Arrival in Scotland: From Cairnryan, ride into Galloway Forest Park — lush, rolling, often fog-draped.

Optional detours:
  • Clatteringshaws Loch (otherworldly and quiet)
  • Newton Stewart for lunch
  • Grey Mare’s Tail Waterfall if you want something breathtaking on the way north

Final Ride: Follow the A701 or A7 — scenic, flowing, and beautifully desolate in parts — until you reach Edinburgh.

Ferry: https://www.stenaline.co.uk/