The Waterford Greenway on the Celtic coast, from Waterford to Dungarvan

South-east Ireland is the part of the country that the big tours almost always skip, caught up as they are with Dublin, Kerry and the Atlantic coast. And yet County Waterford safeguards one of the island's finest greenways: the track of an old, disused railway, converted into a greenway, linking the city of Waterford to Dungarvan by crossing viaducts, tunnels and the estuary opening onto the Celtic Sea.

The itinerary

You set off from Waterford, one of Ireland's oldest cities, founded in Viking times, with its historic quarter gathered around the medieval tower. From here the greenway pulls away from the centre and follows the course of the River Suir inland, before bending towards the coast. Along the way you come across some of the old railway's most scenic features: the stone viaducts that span the rivers and valleys, and a tunnel carved into the rock, the fruit of nineteenth-century railway engineering, which you cross while cycling through the cool and the dark before returning to the light. You touch the village of Kilmacthomas, clustered around a viaduct, before descending towards Dungarvan, a harbour town facing its bay, the natural end of the route.

The final kilometres towards Dungarvan offer open views over the coast and the estuary, with the sea and the hills as a backdrop. The town, with its castle on the harbour and pubs looking out over the water, is the right place to end the day over a plate of fish.

The route

The strength of this greenway is that it runs almost entirely away from traffic, on a converted railway bed with an even surface. The gradients, inherited from the railway, are gentle and steady, with no hard climbs: it's a route suited to everyone, families included, and rideable on a simple touring or hybrid bike. The overall distance is within reach of a single day for anyone with a minimum of training, but you can easily break it up to enjoy the stops. The wind and rain remain the only truly demanding variables, as everywhere on these coasts.

To get there, Waterford is well connected by road and rail with the rest of Ireland; the nearest airports are Dublin and Cork, from which you reach the area by car, train or bus. As it's a linear route between two endpoints, it's worth checking the shuttle and bike-transport services operating on the greenway to handle the outward and return legs conveniently.

When to go

The recommended period is broad, from spring to autumn, roughly from April to October. The climate of south-east Ireland is among the mildest and relatively driest on the island, which widens the useful window compared with the far rainier west. April and May offer lush green countryside and lengthening days, while September and October bring warm light and fewer people. Although it's a much-loved greenway, this area stays out of the big international flows concentrated on Dublin and Kerry, and outside the summer weekends you often cycle in tranquillity.

The story of the line

The history you pass through deserves attention too. This line was part of the railway network that once connected the south-east's ports to the interior, and its closure, as with so many rural railways, left behind a track that today lives again thanks to bicycles. The stone viaducts and the tunnel are works from another age, and cycling over them gives you the feeling of following a thread that ties the present to the region's industrial past. Along the way there's no shortage of glimpses over the River Suir and, as you near the coast, over Dungarvan Bay, where the colours change with the tide. It's a route that rewards those who know how to slow down and look around.

A practical tip: bring a light for the tunnel, because crossing it in the dark is one of the most evocative parts of the route and a small torch makes it all more reassuring. And don't be in a hurry to reach Dungarvan: the stops in the villages along the way, perhaps in an old station turned into a café, are the best way to savour the slow rhythm of this corner of Ireland.

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