VERY southwest Ireland

So you want to see Mizen Head and Sheeps Head from Cork City

Why not go from Cork to Inchydoney Beach Hotel or Dunmore House Hotel West Cork for 1 or 2 nights

Continue to Mizen Peninsula next day.
There these two nice B+B in Goleen and near Crookhaven
Stay for the night and explore the Mizen Peninsula

Continue to Bantry where you can stay at Bantry House and do a daytour around Sheepshead the other day

You can continue to the Beara Peninsula from there with B+B in Castletownbere or
on the way to Dursey Island accomodation in a Buddhist Retreat

All nice places to stay and a lot to see in this area

September 2023 was our first visit to Bantry. We really liked it. We stayed at Edencrest Bed and Breakfast, Glengariff Road. Great view and comfortable. At the time, I believe they only accepted cash payment.

The Beara Peninsula is beautiful. We were the only car on the road for quite a while; quiet compared to the Ring of Kerry. Enjoy!

The Beara Peninsula was one of my favorite places on our three week roadtrip of SW Ireland in 2024. I gleamed a lot of information from https://www.theirishroadtrip.com/things-to-do-on-the-beara-peninsula/ and a little bit from Rick Steves Ireland book. Coming from Kenmare we had a very long but wonderful day. Here are our highlights: Caha Pass, Glynngariff and the Blue Pool, Healy Pass, Buddist Center,
Allihies (O’Neill’s Bar & Restaurant) and
Josie’s Lakeview House Restaurant on the way home from dinner. In addition to many old churches.
To me, it felt a little bit like the “land time forgot”. We had the road to ourselves pretty much with the exception of the sheep. The views were incredible and for being a long day, it was very relaxing.
On another day we (38, 39, 63, 69 yrs) took a chocolate making class at Lorge Chocolates in Bonane. It ended up being one of the favorite activities of our group.

One thing to do on the Mizen Peninsula is the Three Castle Head Walk

From Goleen direction Mizen Head
Dont turn left after 7km to Barleycove Beach Hotel and Mizen Head Signal Station (also worth visiting)
but straight on (keep right after 300meters)for 2,5 km to a little Carpark near Dunlough Pier and start the scenic walk through Farmland (see link above)

The waymarked trail is about 1,5km oneway up to the Castle Ruin on the lake passing a Farmhouse afair

Another short walk is the Browhead near a little Beach(Galley Cove Beach) from Goleen towards Crookhaven(nice Pub)
Walk the way right from a little carpark near a house wayup to a ruin of a Watch Tower (1,5km oneway)
Wonderful views to Barley Cove Beach and Mizen Head from there and on the way back down views to Crookhaven

We enjoyed this walks when we stayed one week in one of the Beach Villas on the grounds of Barley Cove Beach Hotel
and there was much enough to see and do on the Mizen Peninsula for more than a week.

We were disappointed by Mizen - scenically it wasn't as good as Sheep's Head or Beara. It also felt touristy at the tip. Sheep's Head is still to be discovered as the roads aren't as good - They are drivable but are all unclassified, so will be slow driving. There are no R roads here. It is a place to drop out and relax in. If you like walking, there is always the Sheep's Head way.

Beara now appers on tourist itineraries but is still quieter than Ring of Kerry and Dingle. Do get to the tip and catch the cable car across to Dursey Island. Don't miss the Hag of Beara which is deciudedly spooky....

Last Spring we:
- left Cork City and visited Dromkeen Forest, Timoleague, the West Cork Model Railway, and Castle Donovan, to Bantry
- left Bantry via Garnish Island (from Glengariff) which has a nice home tour, gardens, and cafe to Allihies for two nights
- while in Allihies, we did some hiking, did the Bull Rock boat trip from Garnish Pier (be prepared for fast boat crashing on the waves), and then did the Dursey cable car and walked Dursey Island
- left Allihies for Dingle via Hag of Beara, Ardgroom Stones, Dereen Gardens (and Cafe), and Uragh Stones on the way to Dingle via the coast road.

I wish we had had time for an overnight on Cape Clare Island and/or Mizen Head/Crookhaven. I curated them extensively and they got bumped.

We had a great spontaneous trad session in Allihies bookended by the great music in Cork and Dingle. Wrong night for Bantry - we originally planned Ballydehob instead of Bantry but there was no single night lodging within walking distance of the pub with music.

One suggestion is to walk, hike or bicycle the Beara Way trail (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beara_Way). Several organizations organize self-guided or group tours, including one called Ireland Walk Hike Bike: https://irelandwalkhikebike.com/tours/self-guided-beara-way-hike/. In 2010, I hiked 100 miles of the Dingle Way trail, loving every second it, and used Ireland Walk Hike Bike to organize my self-guided tour.

These are all great suggestions, and just the kind of advice I was looking for. Thanks much!