About to make our 3rd trip to Ireland, starting w/ 3 nights in Kenmare, then 3 in Dingle, our 1st time in Kerry. Would love some advice re whether the Ring of Kerry is worth spending a full day on [and returning to Kenmare] or just drive it on the way to Dingle and maybe spend that other day at Gleninchaquin National Park in Beara. I ask because the "touristy" things aren't always as great as expected [we were kind of underwhelmed by the Cliffs of Moher last trip, especially as we'd already seen Slieve League in Donegal on our first visit]. Any advice? Thanks in advance!
Posted by
Land of La
8714 posts
Personally I’d drive from Kenmare to Killarney National Park then through the Gap Of Dunloe enroute to Dingle.
Was a November sojourn for me. Fall colors and lack of people made it magical.
I also find Slea Head more intriguing than the ROK.
Since this is your 3rd visit you already know How gorgeous Eire is.
Enjoy!
Posted by
42 posts
We chose to stay in Kenmare for 2 nights on our recent trip and did the Beara Peninsula instead of the ROK. We went to the National Park and it was stunning. We were there in late June and only saw one other car. I would highly recommend it. The drive back to Kenmare on the other side of the peninsula was stunning too. We took several small roads in search of ancient stone circles and it was a fun, relaxing day.
Posted by
bedford, indiana
459 posts
We spent 2 nights in Kenmare and did the RofK and Beara. What we enjoyed was doing a private tour for the RofK with a local guy that does private tours. It gave me a day off of driving and a day to sit back and enjoy the scenery and to also visit some out of the way places we would not have seen left to our own planning. Paul Brown's escorted tour ws great, small window van, great seating, wonderful views. http://www.kenmaretaxitours.com/home.html After the tour Paul sat down with us and helped plan our Beara self drive for the next day and we totally enjoyed the more laid back rural Beara Peninsula, including the café Paul recommended. We also drove thru the Mulls Gap on our way from Dingle to Kenmare and it was really cool and Paul planned around the fact tht we had already driven that part of the ring.
Posted by
Last Frontier aka Alaska 🏔️
3241 posts
Hi, spent 7 nights in county Kerry last summer, our second trip to Ireland. We stayed 3 nights in Aghradoe just outside Killarney and 3 nights in Dingle. We drove the ROK in one day making 4 stops. We left at 8:30am and got back to hotel at 5:30pm. I thought it was worth it! I had my teens with me and they loved the sheepdog demonstration. We also enjoyed Darrynane and the Skellig Michael visitor center. We looked for the tetrapods on Valencia Island, but were unable to find them.
Just be aware, although we were there in July, for the first half of the trip, my windshield wipers were getting a workout. We could not see any of the coastline till the weather cleared when we got past Waterford. So, we did not see the cliffs of Kerry. It is a lot of driving, but fun.
Posted by
Bainbridge Island, WA
265 posts
It's definitely worth it. On our trip last year we drove both the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle peninsula and found that we enjoyed ROK better than Dingle. It's a beautiful trip == take the time to stop and enjoy the sights as you go. It's spectacular. We also spent a couple nights in Kenmare and thought it was well worth the full day drive on ROK. Enjoy!!