planning kenmare days

oopsy · Senior Member

planning kenmare days

Michele Erdvig · Host

oopsy,

On your drive from Dingle to Kenmare you can see most everything you want in Killarney with the exception of the Gap of Dunloe tour. That takes most of the day so you should do it on a separate day. Mizen/Beara will most definitely be a whole day also. Personally, I would prefer to see either Mizen or Beara not both on the same day (especially since you want some down time in Kenmare).

The drive from Kenmare to Bunratty (main roads) will probably take you around 2 1/2 hours or a bit more.

Michele

oopsy · Senior Member

Thank you for your reply Michele.

Do you suggest doing the Killarney lake tour on the Dingle to Kenmare day or on the Gap of Dunloe day?

1st day: driving from Dingle to Kenmare: tour Muckross, take lake tour (?), stop at Ladies View and Torc waterfall on drive. How early do you suggest we leave the Shores?

2nd day: Mizen drive and/or Beara. I understand your point about not doing both in a day. The Mizen lighthouse has so much appeal, as does a scenic drive on Beara. We may very well choose one or the other in lieue of a very long day with much time in the car. Which would you choose?

3rd day: Gap of Dunloe (with lake tour?). I want to walk this, but I'm unsure of how long to expect that walk to take. Is it 7 miles? I'm trying to use the walk as a prod for us all to get into better shape in the next four months.

I recognize that this may all change dramatically depending on the weather. My selfish dream is that it rains a lot the couple of weeks before we arrive so that the waterfalls are amazing but only mists and drizzles while we are there. Thanks for all of your help. ----oopsy

wojazz3 · Guru

Hi oopsy:

You can see Ross Castle and the lakes on a gap of dunloe tour. The walk is about 4 hours would be my guess at a moderate pace. You can get a jaunting car ride which will cost a bit or I believe you can rent bikes somewhere but there are some very steep climbs and you may need to walk the bikes up that. Riding down the other side would be a blast!!

A possibility on the Beara/Mizen issue might be to do a part of Beara. You could go as far as the Healy Pass road, take that drive over (maybe hit Inchequin before you go over) and then back to the N71 and on to Mizen. It would be a full day but doable. The lighthouse at Mizen is not one of those cool towers that we all know about, but a rather unimpressive light at the end of a walkway. The walk to the lighthouse and over the bridge is the spectacular part.

You could consider doing the Ring of Kerry to get to Kenmare by not going through Killarney on your way. That may make for a very interesting round about way to get there. Just an idea.

Bill

Michele Erdvig · Host

oopsy,

Bill's comments are right on target. I like his idea of doing Healy Pass but suggest you might want to do it on the way back from Mizen (if time permits). The cliffs at Mizen are high enough so that a lighthouse did not have to be built. It is a signal station built on the cliffs.

Now I'm going to throw another couple of things into the mix. If you love gardens Ilnacullin Garden on Garinish Island (near Glengarriff) is great. Bantry House is very interesting -- full of antiques and a lovely garden. It just depends on your interests in Ireland as to what you will do in the area. I sense another trip in the works!

Michele