Killarney

Knowing what interests you would improve the advice you'll get. There's a few nice hikes in the NP, Muckross House, horse trap rides, bustling town center, Gap of Dunloe, speedboat rides, gillions of tourists.

I second the horse trap tour through the national park. It includes a brief stop at Ross Castle. If you’re more active, a trail ride from Killarney Stables through the park is a good way to see deer and landscape.

We enjoyed traveling Killarney National Park on foot. We started at the trail to Torc Waterfall, walked from there near the lake to Muckross House, toured Muckross Farms (a really excellent open air museum depicting life in Ireland in the early 20th century), toured the house, and then hiked to the Abbey Ruins. We had a fantastic afternoon!

Ruth, may I ask how long your walks took? I am in the middle of planning a trip to Ireland for May 2026. What kind of footwear did you wear?
Thank you!

Hi kmkwoo — I believe we got to the park late morning, and were back in Killarney in time for a 7:00 dinner reservation. We didn’t have a car and chose to take the hop on hop off bus that makes about a dozen stops throughout the park. Although we only “hopped on” to get from outside of the park to the trail that leads to the waterfall, and only “hopped off” at the end of our day in the park to get from the Abbey ruins back to town. We walked/hiked between all of the various spots we visited. There are many beautiful spots where you can take breaks. We’d brought a picnic lunch which we ate on the grounds of Muckross House.

We were in Ireland for 3 weeks in May. We were fortunate to get many dry days, but we had a couple where it rained on and off, and two days (on the Dingle Peninsula and Ring of Kerry) when it poured all day. I’m so glad we’d packed the way we did, because we were honestly able to spend hours in the pouring rain and enjoy the breathtaking beauty while keeping warm and dry. Waterproof hiking shoes with good treads (mine are Oboz and I love them!). Waterproof pants to pull on over our pants. I wore a merino wool zip up hoodie, a super lightweight fleece vest that packs into a pocket, an inexpensive waterproof rain jacket, and (on advice from others on the forum) a baseball cap, which went under my raincoat hood and vastly increased my field of vision. Most days of the trip I wore either the hoodie and jacket or the hoodie, vest, and jacket. A few days were warm enough for just the hoodie.

Ruth, thank you so much for your detailed reply. I appreciate the information about clothing. I think May is the best month for us in 2026. In June we have family commitments, as well as in the fall. I prefer not to visit Ireland in July and August because of the crowds.