Category: Active Travel and Outdoors

Outdoor recreation Ireland is guided by “Embracing Ireland’s Outdoors,” the national strategy for 2023-2027 that coordinates investment across walking, cycling, kayaking, climbing, surfing, angling, swimming and dozens of other activities. In August 2025, Minister Dara Calleary announced €8.7 million for 221 projects under the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS), the primary funding mechanism for trail and amenity development in rural…

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National parks Ireland now encompasses eight protected areas covering approximately 96,500 hectares of mountains, bogs, lakes, woodlands, coastline and marine environments. Managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) under the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the network ranges from Killarney – the oldest park, established in 1932 – to Pairc Naisiunta na Mara, Ireland’s first marine…

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Blueways Ireland is a growing network of accredited multi-activity recreational trails based on and alongside water – rivers, canals, lakes and coastline. Managed through a cross-border Blueway Partnership involving Failte Ireland, Sport Ireland, Waterways Ireland, Sport Northern Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland, the network currently includes four accredited blueways with an ambition to grow to ten. This guide covers the…

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Active travel Ireland has become one of the country’s largest infrastructure programmes, with €360 million committed annually for walking, cycling and scooting infrastructure through to 2030. In five years, over €1 billion has been invested and more than 1,000km of new walking and cycling infrastructure has been delivered across all 31 local authorities. This guide covers the scale of investment,…

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Walking trails Ireland encompasses a vast network of over 920 registered trails, 43 national waymarked ways and thousands of kilometres of looped walks, mountain paths and heritage routes spread across every county. Walking is Ireland’s most popular outdoor activity, generating an estimated €184-233 million in trail-related spending and attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. This guide covers the…

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The Wild Atlantic Way is Ireland’s most successful tourism initiative and one of Europe’s longest defined coastal touring routes at 2,500km. Launched by Failte Ireland in 2014, the route stretches from Kinsale in County Cork to Malin Head in County Donegal and now generates €3 billion in annual tourism revenue while supporting 121,000 jobs across the western seaboard. This guide…

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Greenways Ireland represents one of the largest sustained investments in rural infrastructure the state has ever undertaken. In 2025, the government allocated €67 million to greenway development through Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), with approximately 24km of new routes delivered and 60 further schemes progressing through planning and design. This guide covers the full scale of Ireland’s greenway programme – from…

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Ireland is a country defined by its landscapes – rolling green hills, rugged Atlantic coastlines and quiet rural roads that seem purpose-built for two wheels. Yet for decades, cycling Ireland has been an activity associated more with weekend recreation than everyday transport. While European neighbours like the Netherlands and Denmark transformed their cities around the bicycle, Ireland doubled down on…

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