In July my husband and I are staying in Dingle 2 nights followed by Killarney for 2 nights. We are planning leave Dingle on a Sunday morning to start our drive around the Ring of Kerry via R561 to N70 through Killorglin and onwards counterclockwise. We'll end the day by checking into our hotel (The Lake Hotel) in Killarney. I've read that most Ring tour buses leave Killarney between 8:30 - 10:30. My question is, should we leave Dingle very early (6:00 or 7:00) to get out ahead of the crowd or is it better to wait until later (11:30 or 12:00) to follow behind? We want to take a leisurely pace, and have time to see things off the beaten path, but also don't want to leave so late that we get stuck coming into Killarney after dark (I've read the N71 through Killarney National Park can be quite nerve wracking and would not want to do it in the dark). Looking for opinions on either of these itineraries and/or suggestions on a better way to do it? PS - the following day we are doing a bike tour of Killarney National Park which visits the Muckross House, Torc Waterfall, Black Valley and Gap of Dunloe so we will skip all of these during our Ring drive. Thank you!
Posted by
Colorado Springs
2980 posts
Just my personal opinion but I've always found that an early start is best to avoid the crowds.
It's not quite as important to strategise the timing of your drive to avoid the buses since they've widened and generally improved most (though not all) of the narrow places where meeting a bus in a rental car could get really exciting.
For a pleasant diversion off of the Ring consider the Skellig Ring Road. The tour buses don't go out there and there are a number of enjoyable stops along the way, including the Skellig Center at Portmagee, Valencia Island, the Kerry Cliffs and an old abbey and castle (and pretty stretch of beach) near the village of Ballinskelligs.
Posted by
Chattanooga, TN USA
589 posts
Keep in mind that in July it won't get dark until after 10 pm. The tour buses will be long gone by then.
Posted by
1585 posts
I don't think you need to worry too much about the tour buses. The main ROK road is quite wide. Off the main road traffic is sparse. Few of the tour bus folks leave the immediate overlook they're overlooking. So to get a little more solitude all you have to do is walk about 100 meters. Or even better, pull over at a spot too small for the tour buses. There are lots of trail heads off the ROK if you want to get off the "beaten path" which, if you're biking through the Black Valley, I think you might enjoy.
Posted by
Alpharetta, Ga, USA
277 posts
We just returned from Ireland 2 weeks ago and did the ring of Kerry on Rick's plan leaving Kenmare and driving to Dingle.
We were about 8:45 AM leaving Kenmare, diverted to the Staigue Ring Fort and drove pretty steadily (with photo stops) to the Cliffs of Kerry (better than the Cliffs of Mohr IMO), Spent the better part of an hour at the Cliffs. We had lunch in Portmagee, visited the Skellig Experience Center and drove to Dingle, arriving a little after 5 PM.
(Sounds like I read Rick's book doesn't it?)
We honestly did not see a SINGLE tour bus during this 8 1/2 hour drive until we got close to Dingle. Killarney will obviously take a bit longer than our drive, but it does not get dark until nearly 11PM, more about being tired and hungry than running out of daylight.
Posted by
Chicago IL
25 posts
Hey Stephanie
Not sure how soon in July you are going... we are leaving Friday for 10 days looking at similar plan. However got news about some lane closures on ROK. Please see below.
“The section of the N71 Ring of Kerry road between Torc Waterfall and the carpark for Dinis Cottage will close to all traffic from Monday June 24th to Friday July 5th.
The closure will facilitate emergency repairs to a section of the retaining wall and road at Dinis.”