Ring of Kerry

summittoppler

Hi all,

Just an enquiry as to whether anyone has ridden the Ring of Kerry in Ireland?
The reason is that I have to drive a family member to killarney as they're relocating there. So after I've unloaded the van I thought why not give it a go.
It would be my first tour, and at 105mile it sounds good for a 2 dayer.
Any help & tips would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

alfablue

I did it 10 years ago, did Kerry and Dingle peninsula and made 6 days out of it. It was fabulous, beautiful seascapes. I probably preferred Dingle slightly more as it was (then) a bit less populous. The tip I was told is to go clockwise as most of the tourist traffic and buses go that way. Thinking about it I can't see it would make much difference. I found some fantastic B&B's but some were pricey. Anyway, doing it in 2 days shouldn't present any problems, though I reckon you would wish you had more time and could stay in more places (if the weather is good, anyway!). Waterproofs may be advisable!

mandie

I started to do it about 25 years ago. After being forced off the road three times in as many miles by tourist coaches I gave up. I looked at my map and went over the Windy Gap to Kenmare and did the Ring of Beara instead.
I'm not sure how the scenery compares, but Beara was very attractive, and a lot more fun from the traffic point of view.

JHcp

We did it back in 2004 and really enjoyed it. I agree with alfablue go clockwise as the roads are quite narrow. Also the roads over the Gap of Dunloe, Molls gap and the Coomanaspig are quite steep especially with a loaded touring bike!

There are some pictures and an account of our trip on this page of our website.

kilo

The Ring of Kerry can be a nice ride but, in summer can be spoilt by the prescence of coaches and tourist traffic, there is also a Ring of Kerry Cycle route which takes you well off the beaten track, takes in some lovely countryside and is reasonably well sign posted.

I haven't got my maps of the area to hand but there will be accomodation and food in most of the larger towns. Kenmare is very tourist centred and the other towns on the route Sneem, Waterville and Caherciveen all have good restaurants, pubs and B&B's. What is in short supply are bike shops. There are a couple in Killarney and one I know of in Caherciveen so carry tubes, etc. Sometimes between towns shops can be a lillte sparse
If you are a reasonably happy navigator, with the Irish OS maps for the area you could plan some good rides, which I think are better than the actual Ring. For example heading from Killarney over towards Glencar, passing the Gap of Dunloe and Carantouhil and over the big climb of the Bealach Oisin (which looks like this; http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/700271) and towards the coast, you can then pick up the ring towards Kenmare.

mercsport

In 2005 we did Cork to Cork by way of Kinsale - south coast - and the 'Ring of Kerry' - Tralee - Killarney and back to Cork in a week . Really enjoyed the seaside part , but returning inland back to Cork from Tralee was a bit of a low .

Did the Kerry coast part of the ring and onto Tralee in a fairly easy feeling day . Still the topside of a 100 miles though . It was O.K..

Disappointed that I didn't bother with the Dingle though , as , despite really enjoying the Antarctic exhibition that was on at the museum in Tralee that year , I hadn't realised that a particular hero of mine - Tom Crean , who was a stalwart of both Scott and Shackleton , and shared Shack's epic open boat journey to South Georgia - ended his days on the Dingle in a pub called 'The South Pole' .

How fine it would have been to visit The South Pole . Good as it was , that would have made the trip for me I think .