Things to Do in County Kerry

More about County Kerry

Where to base yourself

Killarney is the default and it earns it: the national park starts at the edge of town, the Gap and the Reeks are twenty minutes away, and it has the widest choice of beds in the south-west. The trade-off is that it fills with coach groups from May, and rooms in July and August are booked and priced accordingly. Kenmare is the quieter alternative an hour south over the Windy Gap — smaller, better for eating, and well placed for both the Ring and the Beara side. Dingle deserves its own two nights rather than a day trip; the Slea Head loop is worth doing in evening light, and driving back over the Conor Pass after dark is not a pleasure. For the Skelligs, stay around Portmagee, Cahersiveen or Waterville so a 7am sailing does not mean a 5am start. Tralee and Ballybunion are cheaper, less scenic and fine if the beaches are the point.

Killarney’s lakes, on foot and by bike

Almost everything inside the national park is free and most of it is better without a car. Ross Castle sits on Lough Leane a couple of kilometres from town, with OPW tours of the tower house and boats out to Innisfallen island. Muckross House charges for the guided house tour but the gardens and the lakeshore paths around Muckross Lake cost nothing and stay open late in summer. Torc Waterfall is five minutes from its car park on the N71, and the steps beside it climb to the Old Kenmare Road for a much longer walk. Further up the same road, Ladies View is the standard photo stop. The classic day out combines the Gap of Dunloe with a boat: a pony trap or a walk through the eleven-kilometre defile from Kate Kearney’s Cottage, then a boat back through the three lakes to Ross Castle. Hire a bike in town and the park’s surfaced trails make the whole thing car-free.

The Reeks and the harder hills

Carrauntoohil is 1,038 m and the summit day is a serious one — the standard route up the Devil’s Ladder is a loose, eroded gully that has got worse with traffic, and the whole mountain clouds over fast. The Coomloughra Horseshoe from Beaufort is longer, better and takes in Beenkeragh too. If you want mountain scenery without the exposure, Mangerton is a steady grassy climb to the corrie lake in the Devil’s Punchbowl, and the Black Valley at the far end of the Gap is a road walk into one of the last places in Ireland to get mains electricity. Take a map on all of them; phone coverage in the Reeks is patchy.

Dingle, the Blaskets and the west

The Slea Head Drive is a one-way loop in practice — go clockwise from Dingle and you will not meet a bus on a blind bend. Dunbeg Fort clings to a cliff that has lost sections to storms, so parts of it may be roped off. Dunmore Head is the westernmost point of the Irish mainland, and from Dunquin Pier — the zig-zag ramp down the cliff — ferries run to the Great Blasket from roughly April to October, weather permitting. Inch Beach on the way in is a five-kilometre sand spit you can drive onto at the top end. Dingle town lost Fungie the dolphin in 2020; the boats now run wildlife and Blasket Sound trips instead, and Oceanworld beside the harbour is the wet-day option.

The Skelligs, the forts and the far south-west

Landings on Skellig Michael are strictly capped, run roughly mid-May to the end of September, and are cancelled outright on any real swell — build a spare day into the plan. Eco-tours that circle the rock without landing sail more often and need no climbing head for heights. From land, the Kerry Cliffs above Portmagee charge a few euro for the closest view of the islands and of Puffin Island. Inland of Cahersiveen, Cahergal and Leacanabuaile are two drystone ringforts within walking distance of each other and of the ruin of Ballycarbery Castle. Round the coast at Derrynane, Daniel O’Connell’s house sits behind dunes with a tidal causeway to Abbey Island. This corner of Iveragh is also a certified dark-sky reserve — worth a clear night.

When to go and what to book

Skellig boat tickets, Killarney hotels and the Blasket ferry all sell out first; everything else in Kerry can be done on the day. Killorglin’s Puck Fair takes over the town for three days in mid-August. May, June and September give you long light and open attractions without the coach traffic; in winter the boats stop, the Conor Pass gets ice, and Killarney’s paths still work fine in the rain.