Self guided tours

[Eden]

The hubby and I did a self supported tour in Spain a few years ago. I did most of the planning over the internet, with the help of a Michelin map of Spain. We booked hotels in the larger towns and found a place to stay when we got there for a few of the really small ones.
For a trip planned quickly, with no knowledge of the Spanish language we did very well. No big safus that I can recall, and I would guess that Ireland would be easier - people speaking English there and all.
We did a hostel/hotel based tour and carried minimum gear - two sets of street clothes, two sets of cycling clothes, tights and jacket, one pair of street shoes, toiletries, camera, snacks, book.
We did take our own bikes, as we had heard that renting a bike in Spain was next to impossible. Our biggest challenge was getting the first hotel manager to understand (in our next to no Spanish and his next to no English) that we wanted to leave these big boxes (we rented travel cases) in his hotel's storage room for two weeks, but that we would be back. He didn't understand at all until we got the bikes out, assembled them and packed all of our stuff on them, what the crazy Americans were up to.
Otherwise everything went quite smoothly - the roads we chose were all great, we had no problems finding rooms in the towns we hadn't prebooked and every one was very very friendly. I would very definitely do it again.

On the other side of the coin - we did a walking tour of the Yorkshire Dales some years ago and chose to go with a semi supported tour - they gave us maps and transported our bags (no guide or group) and that was a great experience as well. We didn't have to worry about anything besides walking to our next destination.

[bikerchick68]

in 2004 I also did an Iron Donkey self guided tour... I opted to have my stuff transferred as I did not want to carry everything...it was a great tour!

I did the Connemara region... the Tour started in Oughteraard and then went to the Aran Islands for a night... it was 6 days and just awesome. All I carried was a back pack with a pair of sneakers that I could change into for stopping for lunch or touring sights... I also carried extra carbs/fruit/drinks in it... most rides were between 35-55 miles... nothing major. There were rollers but no real climbing. My favorite town was Clifden... I have a watercolor of the town painted by a local artist from the area that I brought home with me...

I opted to rent a bike from Tony... he met me the night before the rde started, and I told him my saddle height etc. I put on my own saddle that I brought with me, and my own pedals so I could use my shoes... overall it was a wonderful trip and Tony was a delight.

After the tour was over I flew to Paris and was on the Champs Elysees for the final day of the 2004 Tour de France as well... it was amazing to be there when Lance won #6... I wore my American Flag jersey and ate bread and cheese and drank wine... just awesome!

[betagirl]

Thanks so much for the info! I've bookmarked the site you sent for future reference. I really appreciate it.