We went down to the beach near Glenbeigh/Rossbeigh and then took a very narrow, very steep road back up the hill overlooking the water to the main road. It was worth every terrifying second! We stopped for lunch at a great little place near Caherdaniel and enjoyed everything we ate there. My husband's favourite part of the drive: seeing the golf course in Waterville: a links course right on the water. He drooled. But, for me, the highlight of the trip was near the end in Killarney National Park. The views from the overlooks are phenomenal and easy to miss. Take your time and be ready to turn off quickly when a view presents itself. We stopped to see the Torc Waterfall, too, and it was a nice way to end our drive. Highly recommend this drive; even with less than perfect weather it was amazing. You'll need a fully charged camera battery and a good-sized SD card!
“Worth it!” Reviewed June 5, 2011
Worth it! We used Rick Steve’s book and followed his suggested path. We never ran into any traffic or buses. Well worth it if you have a car. Our GPS helped us also. You will see ancient ruins, forts, chocolate factories, beaches, breath taking landscapes, cliffs, museums and more. FYI, we started in Kenmare and finished in Dingle before the sun went down. It can be done.
“O’Connor tours is a good company for Ring of Kerry” Reviewed June 3, 2011 We very much enjoyed our tour of the Ring of Kerry on the O'Connor Tours. Our guide Don O'Neill was a good driver, quite the entertainer, and a good kisser. Wonderful views, natural splendour, landscapes, spectacular seascapes around every bend. Much to remind us of our Lord's creation!
We spent Sunday 17th April driving, stopping, photographing, experiencing and eating - so glad we did this particular trip in the spring, just before 'the season' when we understand it becomes pretty crowded with tourist buses. We had very little traffic, and although we were strongly advised to travel anti-clockwise so as to be driving in the same direction as most other traffic we would recommend travelling clockwise - in order to NOT get stuck behind tour buses.
The roads are narrow but not so narrow that it becomes dangerous 'meeting' a bus coming in the other direction. Definitely take the time to detour and explore Valentia Island, including the Skellig Isle Heritage/visitor centre, and the slate quarry road just outside Knightstown gives amazing sea views.
If we return we would allow an extra day just to do the 6 hr Skellig Isle boat trip. Sneem, Kenmare both beautiful. Waterville not so quaint - and a touch tacky. All-in-all we drove about 260km's that day - ending with a great pub supper in Killarney. We preferred the Ring of Kerry to driving the 'similar-but-different' Dingle Peninsula.
Font Size=4>ABSOLUTELY STUNNING, BREATHTAKING, OVERWHELMING”
We drove around the entire Ring of Kerry on a brilliant April day with clear blue skies and brilliant sunshine. It took us from about 10am and we got back to Killarney at 9pm, having stopped at quite a few places on the way. The roads are fine, they are not too narrow or windy, and I’ve driven on much, much worse. We went round in an anti-clockwise direction and only saw 1 tour bus, so it’s a bit of a myth about being stuck behind tour buses. We stopped at a few beauty spots with stunning views; I don't know the name of them all. We also stopped at the lovely little village of Cahersiveen, home to the Daniel O’Connell Memorial Church and the barracks’ built in a German Castle style and also Carbury Castle and 2 amazing ancient stone forts. Really, stop here and go see the castle and forts, it's a lot of history to take in and it's free and it's wonderful!Lot's of lovely tea shops and places to eat, I'd thoroughly recommend it. In addition to the Ring of Kerry, it's very very very worthwhile to do the Skellig ring which will bring you around the remote tip of the peninsula which the official Ring of Kerry doesn't quite reach. By doing this, you'll get magnificent views of Skellig Michael. The road on both rings can go very high up the mountains, but the views over the Atlantic Ocean and the bays are breathtaking. Being from Scotland with our rugged mountains and amazing scenery, I thought I'd be underwhelmed, but I wasn't...I was overwhelmed. The views were absolutely breathtaking. A lovely surprise was the road from Kenmare to Killarney which for some reason I thought would be a civilised straight line. It wasn't. It twisted and turned at every point and was I think the most difficult but one of the most fun to navigate. Just take your time driving round, don't care about who is behind you, stay safe. You never know what’s coming up ahead and you should drive slowly, because you'll want to see as much of this scenery as you possibly can. Stopped for a delicious pub lunch in Port Magee and although we stopped quite a lot, we also due to time constraints, had to miss a lot of heritage sights and view points, so you will not be stuck for things to see and do. I'd really look forward to going back again. • Date of visit: April 2011
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