Best Greenways and Cycling Trails in Leinster

If you want a day on the bike without a single car for company, Leinster is quietly one of the best places in Ireland to do it. The province has the country's longest greenway, a flat old railway line you can roll along for hours, and a handful of canal towpaths that are still being knitted together. Here are the routes worth your time, the bits that are genuinely finished, and where to grab a bike if you don't bring your own.

A quick word before you set off. Greenways come in two flavours: properly surfaced, fully-open trails you can take a road bike or a buggy on, and works-in-progress where the rideable stretches are good but the joins are rough. We've flagged which is which, because there's nothing worse than committing to a 25km loop and hitting loose stone halfway.

The two safest bets for a smooth, traffic-free day with kids or a heavier town bike are the Old Rail Trail and the Waterford Greenway, both sealed old railway lines. If you want distance and don't mind some gravel, the Royal Canal is the one. The Grand Canal and the Boyne are for shorter outings and the right bike, at least for now.

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Royal Canal Greenway (Maynooth to Cloondara)

This is the big one. At 130km it's the longest greenway in Ireland, running from Maynooth in Kildare through Enfield and Mullingar out to Cloondara in Longford, shadowing a canal that's over 200 years old the whole way. You won't do it in a day unless you're serious, and most people don't try.

The surface is a mix: roughly half is bound (a smooth asphalt finish, common through towns and around bridges) and half is unbound compacted gravel. It's flat, it's well signed, and access points come along about every 10km, so you can bite off a 15km or 20km section and turn back, or get dropped at one bridge and picked up at another. Families tend to love the Mullingar stretches.

Where to start: Mullingar is the most popular launch point and the easiest for bike hire. Bike hire: Mullingar Bike Hire covers the middle of the route, and Midlands Cycle Hub operates near the Longford end at Cloondara, both with flexible drop-off so you don't have to cycle back to where you started. Bring: water, a light layer (canal banks catch the wind) and a basic puncture kit, because the gravel sections are quiet.

Old Rail Trail Greenway (Mullingar to Athlone)

If the Royal Canal is the marathon, the Old Rail Trail is the perfect afternoon. It's a 42km off-road path along the disused Mullingar to Athlone railway, almost entirely tarmac and almost entirely flat, which makes it the friendliest route in this list for nervous cyclists, kids and anyone on a heavier town bike.

Because it follows an old line, the gradients are gentle and the surface is consistent, so a road bike or a hybrid is fine. It forms part of the longer Dublin to Galway Greenway, and it links neatly to the Royal Canal at the Mullingar end, so confident riders can chain the two together.

Where to start: Mullingar or Athlone, depending on which way you want the wind. Bike hire: available in both Mullingar and Athlone (Athlone also has app-based Moby bikes dotted around town). Family appeal: high. Flat, sealed and traffic-free, with towns at each end for a proper lunch stop.

Grand Canal Greenway (Kildare)

The Grand Canal Greenway is a route in progress, so go in knowing what's finished and what isn't. The dedicated, fully-surfaced section runs roughly 13km from Hazelhatch to Sallins on a tarmac path, and that stretch is excellent: smooth, flat and properly off-road.

Beyond that it gets patchy. The towpath from Sherlockstown to Sallins is rideable but really a mountain-bike job, and the short open piece around Robertstown to Lowtown (the historic canal junction) is grand for an easy spin but doesn't yet join up cleanly with the rest. Treat it as a couple of good, separate outings rather than one continuous run.

That said, the Hazelhatch to Sallins run is close enough to Dublin to reach by train, which makes it one of the easiest car-free cycling days in the province: take the bike on the train, ride the canal, and you're home for tea.

Where to start: Hazelhatch or Sallins for the best surface. Bring: a hybrid or mountain bike if you plan to wander past the sealed section. When to go: after a dry spell, when the unbound towpath bits firm up.

Boyne Greenway (Meath)

The Boyne Greenway is a route to keep an eye on rather than one to rely on yet. The plan is a continuous walking and cycling route of over 26km between Navan and the gates of Oldbridge Estate near Drogheda, threading through some of the best scenery in the country along the Boyne. When it's all sealed it'll be a star. It isn't all sealed yet.

Right now you can make the Drogheda to Navan trip, but parts of it (the Navan Ramparts in particular, plus stretches near Slane and Newgrange) are rough underfoot, with heavy stone and uneven ground. It's doable on the right bike and a patient attitude, but it's not a smooth family roll the whole way. The short finished section near Drogheda is pleasant for a gentle out-and-back.

Where to start: Navan (the Ramparts) for a short riverside spin, or the Drogheda end for the sealed piece. Bring: a hybrid or mountain bike, not a road bike. Check first: conditions change as new sections open, so look up the latest before you plan a long day on it.

Waterford Greenway (just over the southern border)

This one isn't in Leinster, it's in Munster, but it's the finished greenway every Kilkenny and Carlow rider should drive south for at least once, so we're not leaving it out. At 46km from Waterford City to Dungarvan, it's widely rated the most scenic in the country, running along another old railway past viaducts, a stone-arched tunnel and long coastal views near the Dungarvan end.

The surface is smooth tarmac and compacted gravel, mostly flat, comfortable on a hybrid or on foot. The Ballyvoyle tunnel is 400 metres of pitch dark that kids adore and adults tolerate, and it's the kind of detail that makes the trip stick. From the Carlow or Kilkenny side it's an easy run down for a full day out.

Where to start: Walton Park in Abbeyside is the Dungarvan end; many ride Dungarvan towards Waterford and get the shuttle back. Bike hire: Waterford Greenway Bike Hire has depots at Dungarvan, Kilmacthomas and the Waterford end, with e-bikes, kids' bikes and trailers. Family appeal: the highest on this list.

Make a day of it nearby

Most of these routes drop you a short hop from somewhere worth lingering. The Royal Canal and Old Rail Trail both put you near Mullingar and Athlone for food and a wander, and the Boyne sits in the middle of the richest cluster of heritage in the country. Round out a Meath ride with Newgrange, Trim Castle or the Hill of Tara, or read our wider things to do in Meath guide for the full list.

Heading to the Kildare end of the Grand Canal? Kildare town and its cathedral are close by; see things to do in Kildare town. And if the legs want a change from the saddle, the midlands hills make for a fine walk: our best hiking trails in Offaly guide is a good companion to a canal cycle.

Plan it properly

For surfaces, access points and the latest on which sections are open, the official sources are the ones to trust. Waterways Ireland keeps the up-to-date detail on the Royal Canal Greenway, Discover Ireland has the Old Rail Trail, and there's a full trip planner for the Waterford Greenway. Check these before you set off, especially for the works-in-progress routes where the rideable distance can change week to week.

Two guided cycling days out

If you'd rather have a guide and a fitted bike sorted for you, two options are worth a look. They're not the greenways above, they're separate guided rides, but they scratch the same itch on a day when you don't fancy the logistics.

• Cycle Dublin bike and e-bike tours (from €35). A guided spin around the capital, e-bikes available, good for easing into a cycling habit before you tackle a longer greenway.
• Cahir bike tour with local insight (from €25). A guided ride around the ancient sites near Cahir in the south-east, handy to pair with a trip down to the Waterford Greenway.

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