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Grand Canal Greenway Bike Hire
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From €25 per person
This self-guided cycle follows the Grand Canal Greenway from the historic village of Sallins in County Kildare. You’ll pedal past 250-year-old locks and bridges, through a biodiversity corridor alive with plant and animal life, along one of the quietest and most rewarding stretches of Ireland’s waterway network.
Along the way you can stop at the Malt to Vault Arthur Guinness Exhibition in Ardclough, which connects Ireland’s first man-made navigation system to the story of the world’s most recognised pint. There’s a luxury hotel cafe at Cliff at Lyons, a proper canalside pub at McEvoys in Hazelhatch, and a heritage pub back in Sallins for winding down at the end. All stops are optional. You set the pace and decide how far you go.
The full day runs between 3 and 6 hours depending on how many stops you make and how often you pull over to look at things. You get a bike, a map and route information - the rest is up to you.
All stops along the way are optional. You can visit one or two, or simply cycle past. How long you spend on the Greenway is entirely up to you.
Meeting point: From Dublin, it’s a 30-minute train ride from Heuston Station. Walk 2 minutes from Sallins train station to the Grand Canal Stores, beside the Canal bridge - you’ll be registered there and fitted with the right-sized bike.
The train from Heuston to Sallins is part of the experience. The 30-minute journey passes through west Dublin and into the Kildare countryside, and it’s a pleasant way to decompress before you get on the bike. From Sallins station it’s a two-minute walk to the Grand Canal Stores where you pick up your bike, so there’s no faff at the start.
Plan your stops in advance. The Cliff at Lyons gourmet dining requires booking ahead if you want a proper meal rather than the cafe. McEvoys pub at Hazelhatch, 13km from Sallins, is the natural halfway point for most cyclists and has a beer garden that works well on a good day.
The Arthur Guinness Exhibition in Ardclough is genuinely interesting. Entry is free and the connection between the Grand Canal and the Guinness story isn’t well known outside Ireland. The canal was the original transport route for Guinness barrels from Dublin to the rest of the country, and the exhibition explains that link properly.
The Greenway is flat and well-surfaced. This isn’t a mountain bike route or a technical trail. The towpath alongside the canal is wide, even and very manageable for anyone with a moderate level of fitness. The main variable is how long you want to spend at each stop rather than how hard the cycling is.
Going in spring or early autumn puts you ahead of the summer crowds. The Greenway is popular on summer weekends, especially with families. A weekday in May or September gives you the canal largely to yourself, the wildlife corridor is at its best, and the cafes and pubs are easier to get a seat in.