The Ring of Kerry is a 179km loop around the Iveragh Peninsula, stringing together Killarney's lakes, Atlantic cliffs, Iron Age forts and colourful villages. It is Ireland's most famous scenic drive — and its busiest, so how you tackle it matters.
The traditional start and finish is Killarney, following the N71 to Kenmare and the N70 back around the coast. Drive it clockwise: tour coaches travel anti-clockwise by rule, so you avoid sitting behind them and get the easier roads for the tiring final stretch. Allow about 2.5 hours non-stop, or 7-10 hours with stops.
Begin among 10,000 acres of lakes, mountains and woodland, explorable by foot, bike or jaunting car. Torc Waterfall is a 66ft cascade a five-minute walk from its car park and gets very busy, so go early; further on, Ladies View looks over the Upper Lake and Purple Mountain, named for Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting who admired it in 1861.
Moll's Gap is a bendy pass with views of the Macgillycuddy's Reeks, named after a poitin-selling landlady from the 1820s; an Avoca shop and cafe sits right by the car park. Kenmare's colourful Henry Street is worth a wander, and the town runs foodie tours.
Staigue is a partly restored Iron Age stone fort you can walk inside, with an honesty-box entrance fee. Nearby Derrynane is a Blue Flag beach, lifeguarded in bathing season, with the 6th-century Derrynane Abbey ruin on Abbey Island and Daniel O'Connell's ancestral home behind it.
Coomakista is a Wild Atlantic Way discovery point with plenty of parking and views out to Deenish and Scariff islands; the Waterville-to-Caherdaniel road is one of the most beautiful stretches in the country. Waterville has a bronze statue of Charlie Chaplin, who holidayed here for over a decade.
The unofficial Skellig Ring detour off the N70 adds Portmagee, St Finian's Bay and the Coomanaspig viewpoint. The Kerry Cliffs, reached across private land for roughly 7 euro, are a steep 10-minute walk up to 1,000ft viewpoints facing Skellig Michael.
Valentia is reached by bridge from Portmagee or by ferry from Knightstown, which runs from Easter to early October. Walk the Bray Head Loop for views to the Skelligs, then take the steep road up Geokaun Mountain (around 8 euro) for one of the best panoramas on the whole route.
Guided coach tours cover the circuit in four to six hours and all start before noon. Wild Kerry Day Tours runs 10.30am-5pm from Ross Road in Killarney, a 10-minute walk from the town centre, with hotel pick-ups on request. Carry up to 20 euro in cash, as some stops along the way do not take cards.
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