An Irish Road Trip Part Two! An Insiders Guide To The Must Sees and Do's in Ireland! If you haven't read part one yet...I suggest that you start here! Now that you have explored the Burren it is time to head down the Wild Atlantic Way and continue your Irish Road Trip. Sadly, it is time to leave Co. Clare, but don’t worry --- if you flew into Shannon you will have time to hit the Cliffs of Moher for one last sunset. Now we go to my second favorite Irish town of all time - Dingle!!! DINGLE:
The stop for the night is Dingle with a few stops along the way. The drive to Dingle will take you the entire day if you stop at the places below. This is also assuming you are like my family and leave around 10am. 1ST STOP OF THE DAY - BUNRATTY CASTLE: 1 HOUR 1 MINUTE FROM DOOLIN
Bunratty Castle and Folk park is a great way to spend a few hours. The last time I was there was about six years ago, but I remember it being a lot of fun. You can find more information on the Castle and folk park here. But basically it is an authentic medical village with houses, a post office a school a beautiful garden and of course a castle! SECOND STOP - CONOR’S PASS: 2 HOURS AND 12 MINUTES FROM BUNRATTY
In case you were wondering - yes,This is a two way traffic road. And yes, it’s barely wide enough for one car. The Irish roads sure do add a bit of extra adventure to your trip! When driving on them as a tourist just remember it’s okay to go slow, just let people pass often when you can pull over safely. Irish people all seem to have a bit of rally driving blood in them and it’s okay to not go as fast as them. They grew up driving the roads and probably know the twists and turns like the back of their hand. It’s also always better to pull over for the buses coming at you when possible. .
After you’ve had your fun at Bunratty it is time to head to Dingle! There are a lot of beautiful stops on the way, make sure you save time to stop at Conor’s Pass - also make sure that your GPS is taking you via Conor’s Pass as there are two ways into Dingle. Once you reach the pass there is a small parking lot that you can stop at. You can’t miss it, as it is right next to a cute little waterfall. From this parking lot you can hike to the lake above or simply go to the edge and soak up the views. Not to scare you or anything...but this road is crazy! It is barely wide enough for one car and yes it is made for two way traffic! But honestly driving in Ireland is one of the thrills of the trip....
FINAL STOP OF THE DAY - DINGLE: 8 MINUTES FROM CONOR'S PASS
I would suggest staying in Dingle for 1-3 nights depending on how long you have in Ireland. Keep in mind this is still only the beginning of your trip! From Conor's pass it is a short drive to Dingle where you can hunker down for the night get some dinner and what not. I would recommend going to the Chinese restaurant as it has the best Chinese food that I have ever had! I would also recommend that you book your accommodation ahead of time as it seems like there is always a limited supply of rooms for such a big town (relative to Ireland). The grocery shop in town also has some cheaper food options or is a good place to stock up on snacks and drinks for the rest of your trip.
You can also do the Slea Head portion of this itinerary during this day. That is actually what we did, of course we did not stop at the Bunratty Folk Park and Castle and we arrived in Dingle around 3:00PM, had lunch and then headed out on the Slea Head drive. SOME OPTIONS FOR YOUR FIRST DAY IN DINGLE:
BOAT TOUR WITH FUNGI THE DOLPHIN:
Take a boat tour and visit Fungi the Dolphin! Fungi is the local dolphin and you can see him in his natural habitat. Learn more here! SLEA HEAD: 25 MINUTES DRIVE FROM DINGLE TO SLEA HEAD
Head out to Slea Head and visit all the stops along the way. They are plentiful! The Slea Head Drive starts and ends in Dingle on a 30 mile stretch of road. There are a lot of things to see and do during the drive. You can now drive all the way to Slea Head marked by a stone crucifixion scene, with dramatic views to South Kerry and the Blasket Islands. This is not a trip that you want to forget your camera in the hotel on! Every twist and turn leads to a new view and a stunning vista.
We did not end up stopping at every stop because the weather was less than conducive. I hope that you have some better weather than we did and get to stop at all the suggestions below. Keep in mind you will be stopping way more than these suggestions.
1st STOP IS VENTRY BAY: AN 11 MINUTE OR 8 KM DRIVE FROM DINGLE.
I wish that we had stopped here, we had some friends do this trip and they said it was a super fun and swimmable beach. This of course depends on the time of year and the weather that day.
2ND STOP IS A STONE AGE RING FORT ON THE RIGHT: APPROX 6.5 KMS FROM VENTRY BAY.
If you are there at the right time of year there is also a fellow with some beehive huts and some lamb that you can bottle feed for a small price.
3RD STOP IS DUNBEG FORT DEFENSIVE RAMPARTS: APPROX 2.4 KMS FROM THE RING FORT.
4TH STOP IS AN ABANDONED THATCHED COTTAGE A FEW YARDS UP A HILL: APPROX 0.1 KM'S FROM THE FORT
5TH STOP A GROUP OF BEEHIVE HUTS OPEN UNTIL 7PM: APPROX 1.5 KMS FROM THE COTTAGE
6TH STOP SLEA HEAD: APPROX 2 KMS FROM THE BEEHIVE HUTS
Since the drive is named after the Slea Head it is def worth the stop! It is also the closest point in the USA to Europe and it also gives you a beautiful view of the Blasket Islands.
7th STOP DUNQUIN PIER: APPROX 3 KMS FROM SLEA HEAD
Dunquin Pier is actually the entire reason I went to Dingle in the first place and did the Slea Head drive. I had seen this place in photos and on postcards and it took me forever to figure out what and where it was. But non the less it was the Dunquin pier! We spent a few hours here flying the drone and running up and down the pier, which by the way is super steep and you want to be able to climb hills if you go down it. The best photo spot is actually on the hill above the pier. Find more of Irelands Most Instagrammable spots here
We never completed the full loop and we turned around at the pier and headed back into Dingle. We stopped at a little area where we got to feed some lamb out of bottles! It was so cute!!! We also checked out some beehive huts.
Now your journey through Dingle has ended and it is time to explore even more of Kerry.
GAP OF DUNLOE: 1HR AND 18 MIN DRIVE TO THE GAP OF DUNLOE FROM DINGLE Today, you have a few options and if you decide to go to The Gap Of Dunloe. If you are an early bird and can actually get to places on time unlike me and my family you could head to the Gap and then do the rest of the Ring of Kerry. Or you could spend the day exploring the gap of Dunloe and Killarney National Park. This would mean that you would stay the night in Killarney or somewhere nearby. A stop on the way to the Gap Of Dunloe or The Ring of Kerry includes Inch Beach which is actually a misnomer, considering that it is a ginormous beach! On a nice day I can imagine that it would be fun to take a stroll down. I even saw some people driving their cars down it. THE RING OF KERRY: THE GAP OF DUNLOE IS TECHNICALLY ON THE RING OF KERRY SO THERE IS NO REAL DRIVE TIME TO GET TO THE RING OF KERRY.
A little tip and trick I read is that it's better to do the Ring of Kerry Counter Clockwise as all the buses go clock wise. We were there in September and we went counter clockwise and did not run into any traffic.
When i was researching if I should do The Ring of Kerry drive or Slea Head drive, I could not find anything that conclusively told me which one was better and which one I could skip. I did them both so you do not have to if you do not want to. I can without a doubt tell you that if you need to skip one, skip The Ring of Kerry. Slea head is by far a more beautiful drive right up next to the coast with a lot more interesting things to see and do. That is not to say the Ring of Kerry is the worst thing ever and if you have the time it is worth it to do them both. But if you have to choose one go with Slea Head! The Ring Of Kerry is another one of those drives where you will be stopping a lot. A few planned stops below:
So you probably all know about Skellig Michael, especially if you have seen Star Wars - which is actually one of the reasons it has become so famous. Well, the area where you catch your boat to the Island departs from a little village called Portmagee on the Ring Of Kerry Road. We have never actually been, but if you want to see Puffins and beehive huts then you should make sure to book over a year ahead of time as tickets sale out fast! This is something that you can just stop and do that day, unless you get super lucky - it is certainly something that you have to plan ahead of time.
PHOTO OF THE GLEESK RAILWAY: JUST OUTSIDE OF KELLS
KERRY CLIFFS:
One of the main reasons I even did the ring of Kerry was because I read on someone else’s very successful blog that the Kerry Cliffs were better than The Cliffs Of Moher. Considering The Cliffs Of Moher are my favorite place in Ireland and possibly the world I had to check it out for myself. I can safely say that they are not better than the Cliffs of Moher because you cannot get anywhere below them and there is a safety fence, which is a good idea -- but it is kind of what makes the cliffs of Moher so awe - inspiring. There is also way more than that, that makes the Cliffs Of Moher better than the Kerry Cliffs, but that is a separate blog post for another day. Saying all of that, the Kerry Cliffs are def worth the stop, especially if you have a drone, that is the way to get the best pictures of these cliffs.
Some BeeHive Huts at the Kerry Cliffs. KELLS BAY HOUSE AND GARDENS:
This was actually the most fun we had on any stop on the Ring of Kerry. It is a little garden that you can walk around with cool statues and a beautiful garden. Some parts of it look like you are in Jurassic Park. If you aren’t too afraid of heights you can walk across Irelands longest rope bridge a few times. The café also has some delicious Thai food for lunch, they even had some gluten free options!
THE END OF THE DAY:
If you already did the Gap Of Dunloe and Killarney National park I would suggest you stay the night in Kenmare or you can head straight to Kinsale, Cork! It really depends on how much time you have, and how much driving you want to do in a day. If you haven’t done the Gap Of Dunloe and want to do it the next day then head to Killarney for a night. ON TO DIFFERENT THINGS: CORK
KINSALE: 1HR 31MIN DRIVE FROM KENMARE
Now that you’ve had a lovely day or three in Kerry it is time to head to Cork! One to two nights is ample time here and I would suggest your home base be Kinsale! It is a cute little town with good food and accommodation options. It also has the cutest and most colorful little square and that square is actually the entire reason I even wanted to go to Kinsale in the first place. You may find throughout my blog that a lot of where I go is based on where I can find the best photo and usually the best photo means its a pretty awesome place! I would suggest a 1 - 3 night stay here and use it as your base for exploring Cork.
CHARLES FORT: 8 MINUTE DRIVE FROM KINSALE
You can also explore the Charles Fort across the bay from Kinsale. Or Get yelled at for flying your drone over it. It's up to you! We did not actually go into the fort, but I am sure it is cool. BLARNEY CASTLE: 40 MINUTE DRIVE FROM KINSALE
I think the most popular thing to do in Cork is to visit and kiss the Blarney Stone. I mean who wouldn’t want the gift of Gab? Most of the members of my family could certainly use it, considering we can’t even make small talk. Is it overrated? Or a tourist trap? I would have to say no! It is kind of expensive but the park is beautiful and if you are in Ireland, especially if you are in Cork you might as well go and see it.
If you aren’t a germaphobe or afraid of getting herpes you might as well kiss the stone as well. Needless to say I have never kissed the stone, but I did blow it a kiss once -- I think that counts? Right? If you do want to kiss the stone, be prepared to wait in a decent sized line. If you are on the fence about kissing the stone, keep in mind that it is said locals used to sneak into the park at night and pee on it. Now -- I do not know how true that is, and it would also be quite hard now a days with the wall around it, but just something to keep in mind.... COBH AND THE DECK OF CARDS: 46 MIN DRIVE FROM KINSALE
There is just something about Cobh (pronounced cove) ---we happened upon it once by accident and I did not think I would ever go back. Then I saw this epic picture of these beautiful colored buildings with the most gorgeous cathedral behind it (told you the only reason I go places are for the photos) and I had to go back! But Cobh is actually a really beautiful rainbow colored port town with a lot of history as it was the last port of call for the Titanic and they have an entire museum dedicated to the Titanic.
HOW TO FIND THE DECK OF CARDS:
The Deck of Cards are on a street called West View. We parked on Midleton street (the main road that you come into the town on). Walked down to Cannon O'leary Street and turned right/West (We were walking towards the ocean) and the street is in two blocks and you turn left on West View, walk down West View a bit and on the right you will see the park that we took our photos from. Or alternatively you can click here and it will link you to google maps.
HOW TO GET THE FAMOUSISH PHOTO OF THE DECK OF CARDS:
If you want the famous photo of the deck of cards with the church behind it: from the park head up the hill and climb to the top! Beware of Nettles because they are not fun to grab or fall down on, trust me, I know from first hand experience that nettle stings on your arse are evil! Be sure to hang around and take some photos in front of the houses for yourself. Don’t forget your tripod or selfie stick! FOTA WILDLIFE PARK: 8 MINUTE DRIVE FROM COBH
Another fun stop...especially if you have kids and even if you don’t! Fota is a super unique wildlife park where you can get super close to the giraffes and watch the cheetahs feed at a certain time of day. They also have a monkey island and the first time we were there the Lemurs would come right up to you! Fota is super close to Cobh, if you plan to go to both you should fit them into one day.
ON THE ROCKY ROAD TO DUBLIN!: 3HR 39 MIN DRIVE FROM KINSALE This can be a full day trip or you can drive straight to Dublin and spend the day exploring. STOP AT THE ROCK OF CASHEL: 1HR 27MINS FROM KINSALE
This is a super famous castle that I have never been to. But I hear that it is pretty awesome to check out and worth the stop. POWERSCOURT WATERFALL, CO. WICKLOW: 2HR 24MINS FROM THE ROCK OF CASHEL We had some people over the other day and one of them happened to be from Wicklow. He told us how it is very underrated. "Everyone stops in Dublin, Galway or Cork, but no one ever goes to Wicklow". Well I had to look up and see what all the talk about Wicklow was and I happened upon Powerscourt Waterfall which is actually the highest waterfall in Ireland at 121m (398ft). I am sure that there is more to do there than visit this waterfall since after all it is super underrated. So if you have some extra time on your trip you might want to spend a night or two in Wicklow. If you don't have the time to stop in Wicklow for a few nights Powerscourt Waterfall will make a good stop on your way to Dublin.
ARRIVE TO DUBLIN AND CHILL OUT!: 46 MINUTES FROM POWERSCOURT WATERFALL - DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU ARE STAYING
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