Things to do in Co. Kerry

1.Bray Head (Co. Kerry) Loop Walk(Siúlóid Lúb Ceann Bhré)

cliff-top climb to an 1815 signal tower

A wild Atlantic headland on the western tip of Valentia Island, where a steady climb past an 1815 signal tower rewards you with cliff-top views out to the Skellig Islands.

Highlights

• Panoramic views of the Skellig Islands (UNESCO site, Star Wars location)
• Bray Tower, an 1815 Napoleonic-era signal tower
• Exposed cliff-top Atlantic scenery

Facilities

Wheelchair access

2.Cé Dhún Chaoin / Dunquin Pier

Serpentine 'Sheep Highway' pier above the Atlantic

A serpentine concrete ramp snakes down a Kerry cliff to a tiny harbour, its switchbacks folded against two pyramid-shaped sea stacks. Nowhere else on the Wild Atlantic Way packs so much drama into one small pier.

Highlights

• Walk down (and up) the zig-zag 'Sheep Highway' ramp
• Clifftop viewpoint over the pier and sea stacks
• Seasonal ferry to the Great Blasket Island

3.Coumeenoole Beach

Wild golden strand that vanishes at high tide

A wild golden strand framed by steep cliffs on the Slea Head Drive, Coumeenoole pairs Atlantic drama with a serious warning: strong, unpredictable currents make swimming unsafe.

Highlights

• Golden sand backed by tall cliffs
• Dunmore Head viewpoint walk
• Ryan's Daughter filming location

4.Dingle Sea Safari

a 2.5-hour RIB ride to the Blasket Islands

A fast, family-run RIB ride from Dingle Pier out past sea caves and cliffs to the Great Blasket Islands, where grey seals, puffins and dolphins share the water.

Highlights

• Rated #1 of 43 tours in Dingle on Tripadvisor
• Departs Dingle Pier, 2.5–3 hours
• Max 12 on the open RIB, max 10 on the enclosed one

Facilities

Wheelchair access

5.Gap of Dunloe

A glacier-carved pass best seen by jaunting car

A glacier-carved mountain pass between the MacGillycuddy Reeks and Purple Mountain, best seen on foot, by bike or in a horse-drawn jaunting car, then by boat back across the Lakes of Killarney.

Highlights

• 12 km glacial pass between the MacGillycuddy Reeks and Purple Mountain
• Horse-drawn jaunting cars: €35 per person or €140 per private cart
• Open-boat crossing of the Lakes of Killarney to Ross Castle

6.Glanageenty Forest Recreation Area

The glen where the last Earl of Desmond was beheaded

A steep, wooded glen near Castleisland where three waymarked loops follow a river past the site of a Desmond castle. Free to visit, with picnic tables tucked among the trees.

Highlights

• Three waymarked loops (approx. 4 km, 5 km and 9 km)
• Free entry and free car park
• Riverside woodland with wild goats and birdlife

Facilities

Good for kids · Dog-friendly

7.Head of the Gap of Dunloe

Highest point of a glacier-carved mountain pass

The Head of the Gap is the high point of the Gap of Dunloe, where the road tops out between the MacGillycuddy Reeks and Purple Mountain and the whole glacier-carved valley finally opens up below you. Parking and access are free; there are no shops or toilets up here, only the road, the sheep and the view.

Highlights

• Highest point of the pass, around 240 m
• Wide panorama down the valley to Auger Lake
• Jaunting cars for hire at the top

8.Kingdom Falconry

Fly a hawk, hold an eagle and meet 20 birds of prey

A hands-on falconry centre on the Dingle Peninsula where you hold, fly and photograph hawks, falcons, owls and a golden eagle, guided by a master falconer with over 30 years' experience.

Highlights

• Hold and fly birds on your own gloved hand
• Orla, the resident Golden Eagle
• Over 20 birds of prey, from barn owls to peregrines

Facilities

Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access

9.Mainistir Fhionáin

A 6th-century monastery 618 steps up a sea rock

Mainistir Fhionáin — St Fionan's monastery — sits on the summit of Skellig Michael, a UNESCO World Heritage rock 11.5 km off the Kerry coast, where 6th-century monks built beehive huts from dry stone and lived above the Atlantic.

Highlights

• UNESCO World Heritage monastic site on a 218 m sea rock
• 618 dry-stone steps built by monks
• Six beehive huts, two oratories and St Michael's Church

10.Portmagee Whiskey

Whiskey tours inside a 360° Seine Boat dome

A family-run distillery on Barrack Hill where 300 years of Portmagee's smuggling and Seine Boat history is told inside two geodesic domes, with a whiskey tasting to finish.

Highlights

• 360° immersive Seine Boat experience inside a geodesic dome
• Small-batch Irish whiskey finished in Barbados rum casks
• Guided tastings and storytelling by the Murphy family

Facilities

Restrooms · Wheelchair access

11.An Chonair / Conor Pass

Driving the country's highest mountain pass

An Chonair, or Conor Pass, is the highest mountain pass in Ireland — a narrow, twisting road over the Dingle Peninsula with corrie lakes, a waterfall and sweeping views to the Atlantic on both sides.

Highlights

• Ireland's highest mountain pass, about 456 m
• Summit car park and Wild Atlantic Way discovery point
• Lough Doon (Pedlar's Lake), a glacial corrie lake

Facilities

Good for kids · Wheelchair access

12.Bá Fhíonáin /St. Finian's Bay

a remote surf bay with the Skelligs on the horizon

A remote, crescent-shaped Atlantic bay on the Skellig Ring where the Skellig Islands fill the horizon and the surf pounds in. Come for the views, the walks and the chocolate — not for a swim.

Highlights

• Skellig Islands filling the horizon
• Known locally as The Glen
• Ireland's only open-plan chocolate factory

Facilities

Good for kids · Wheelchair access

13.Ballinskelligs Beach

Blue Flag strand with a 15th-century castle

A Blue Flag strand on the sheltered western edge of Ballinskelligs Bay, backed by a 15th-century tower house and the ruins of a 12th-century abbey, and sitting at the heart of the Kerry Dark-Sky Reserve.

Highlights

• Blue Flag beach, awarded in 1990
• Just over 1km of smooth golden sand
• 15th-century McCarthy Mór (Ballinskelligs) Castle on the shore

Facilities

Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access

14.Ballybunion Cliff Walk

An easy 1km cliff loop with a blowhole and sea arch

A short, easy loop along the cliff tops above Ballybunion's beaches, taking in a blowhole, a sea arch and wide Atlantic views out towards Loop Head.

Highlights

• Easy, waymarked cliff-top loop above the beaches
• Nine Daughters' Hole blowhole and its legend
• Virgin Rock natural sea arch

15.Banna Beach

a 10km Blue Flag beach with 12m dunes

A 10 km stretch of Blue Flag sand north of Tralee, backed by dunes up to 12 m high and steeped in 1916 history.

Highlights

• 10 km of Blue Flag sand
• Dunes up to 12 m high
• Daily lifeguards in June-August

16.Casey Skellig Michael Tours

land on the island the monks built on a rock

A family-run, OPW-licensed boat operator running trips from Portmagee to the Skellig Islands since 1965 — either landing on Skellig Michael to climb the monks' 618 steps, or cruising around both islands for the gannets, puffins and monastic ruins.

Highlights

• Landing Tour: 2.5 hours on Skellig Michael, 618 stone steps to a 6th-century monastery
• Eco Tour: close-up cruise of Skellig Michael and the Little Skellig gannet colony
• Up to 30,000 pairs of gannets on Little Skellig, one of the world's largest colonies

17.Geokaun Mountain and Cliffs

Drive to 360° views over the Skelligs

The highest point on Valentia Island, where a private road climbs to 360° views over the Skelligs, Dingle Bay and the Kerry mountains — with 180 m sea cliffs and a cliff-top viewing deck on the way.

Highlights

• 360° views over Dingle Bay, the Skelligs and the Kerry mountains
• You can drive all the way to the summit — four car parks, including at the top
• The 180 m (600 ft) Fogher Cliffs and their viewing deck

Facilities

Good for kids · Wheelchair access

18.Glanteenassig Forest Park

Boardwalk trails around two remote loughs

A remote 450-hectare forest park in a sheltered valley below the Slieve Mish mountains, where woodland trails lead to two quiet loughs and a boardwalk that most Dingle itineraries miss.

Highlights

• 450 hectares of woodland, mountain, lake and peatland
• Boardwalk loop around Lough Caum
• Lough Slat viewpoint and the crag of Carrignaspaniagh

Facilities

Good for kids · Dog-friendly · Wheelchair access

19.Inch Beach

a 5km Blue Flag strand you can drive onto

A 5 km spit of firm golden sand reaching out into Dingle Bay, framed by the Slieve Mish mountains, the MacGillycuddy Reeks and the Ring of Kerry. Wild, Blue Flag and famously driveable, it has starred on screen in Ryan's Daughter.

Highlights

• 5 km of firm, walkable sand
• Blue Flag water quality, lifeguarded in season
• One of Ireland's most consistent surf spots

Facilities

Good for kids

20.Kerry Cliffs (Aillte Chiarraí)

1,000ft cliffs with the best view of Skellig Michael

Kerry Cliffs drop more than 1,000 ft into the Atlantic on the Skellig Ring near Portmagee, and they are the closest land viewpoint to Skellig Michael and Puffin Island. The rock was formed in a desert 400 million years ago; the view now reaches 30 miles.

Highlights

• Over 1,000 ft above the wild Atlantic
• Closest viewing point to Skellig Michael and Puffin Island
• Views stretching 30 miles

Facilities

Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access

21.Killarney National Park

10,000 hectares of lakes, oak woods and red deer

Ireland's oldest national park spreads 10,000 hectares of lakes, oak and yew woodland, waterfalls and mountains south of Killarney town, with Muckross House and Ross Castle at its heart.

Highlights

• Muckross House and Gardens
• Ross Castle on Lough Leane
• Torc Waterfall

Facilities

Good for kids · Dog-friendly · Wheelchair access

22.Kissane Sheep Farm

sheepdog demos on a 200-year-old mountain farm

A large, family-run mountain sheep farm on the N71 at Moll's Gap, where working sheepdogs, hundreds of ewes and a famous Kerry panorama do the talking. Open to visitors since 2005, and no booking is needed.

Highlights

• Working sheep dog demonstrations
• Summer sheep shearing demonstration
• Spring baby lambs

Facilities

Wheelchair access

23.Ladies' View Viewpoint

Named after Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting in 1861

The most stopped-at lookout on the N71 between Killarney and Kenmare, where the Upper Lake, the wooded Long Range and the mountains of Killarney National Park fall away in one sweep. It takes its name from Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting, who admired the view here in 1861.

Highlights

• One of Ireland's best-known scenic viewpoints
• Free admission and free parking
• Named after Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting, 1861

Facilities

Wheelchair access

24.Muckross Abbey

A 1448 friary built around an ancient yew tree

Muckross Abbey is a roofless 15th-century Franciscan friary in Killarney National Park, its vaulted cloister built around an ancient yew tree said to be up to 400 years old. It is free, unguided and open to walkers year-round.

Highlights

• Roofless 1448 Franciscan friary with a square tower
• Vaulted cloister arcade around a square courtyard
• Ancient yew tree at the courtyard centre

25.Rossbeigh Strand

Six miles of Blue Flag sand and beach horse racing

A six-mile Blue Flag strand on a dunes-backed peninsula near Glenbeigh, known for beach horse racing and long Atlantic walks.

Highlights

• Six miles (9.5 km) of golden sand
• Blue Flag water quality
• Lifeguards in the summer bathing season

26.The Dunloe Hotel & Gardens

walk past trees from five continents in an hour

The gardens at The Dunloe pack a tour of the world's trees into a single hour-long stroll, wrapped around the shell of MacThomas' medieval keep with the Ring of Kerry mountains behind. The hotel and grounds are currently closed for renovation.

Highlights

• Walk around the world in an hour through trees from five continents
• Gardens set around the shell of MacThomas' medieval keep
• Views towards the mountains girdled by the Ring of Kerry

Facilities

Wheelchair access

27.The Inch Beach, Co. Kerry

Free 5km beach you can drive onto

Inch Beach is a 5 km Blue Flag sand spit that runs straight out into Dingle Bay — flat enough to walk for an hour and famous enough to drive onto, with surf schools, a beach café and Ring of Kerry views framing the whole strand.

Highlights

• 5km Blue Flag sand spit into Dingle Bay
• One of Ireland's most consistent surf spots
• You can drive your car onto the sand

Facilities

Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access

28.Ballybunion Castle

a 12m clifftop ruin above two Blue Flag beaches

The last wall of a 16th-century Fitzmaurice tower house, still standing 12 m tall on the headland that splits Ballybunion's two Blue Flag beaches. Free to visit, with open Atlantic views on both sides.

Highlights

• 12 m-high east wall of an early 1500s Fitzmaurice tower house
• National monument since 1923
• Free entry, open every day

Facilities

Wheelchair access

29.Ballyheigue Beach

A 3km Blue Flag strand under Kerry Head

A Blue Flag strand where Ballyheigue village meets the sand at the foot of Kerry Head, looking out across Tralee Bay. Part of a 10km dune-backed stretch of coast, it is a long, easy-going family beach with real village amenities behind it.

Highlights

• Blue Flag beach with excellent water quality
• Over 3km of sand backed by dunes
• Lifeguards on duty in summer

Facilities

Wheelchair access

30.Brandon Point

Cliff-top lookout with views to Tralee Bay

A Wild Atlantic Way discovery point at the foot of Mount Brandon, where a free car park opens straight onto a cliff-top lookout over Brandon Bay, the Maharees and Tralee Bay — and autumn gales deliver rare seabirds.

Highlights

• Observation deck right beside the car park
• Panoramas over Brandon Bay, the Maharees and Tralee Bay
• Autumn skua and shearwater migration

Facilities

Good for kids · Wheelchair access

31.Cúm an Easpaig (Cliff View)

a 248 m pass with Skellig island views

Cúm an Easpaig, or Cliff View, is the Wild Atlantic Way Discovery Point where the Skellig Ring climbs to one of Ireland's highest coastal passes — a windswept pull-off with sweeping views to the Skellig Islands.

Highlights

• Wild Atlantic Way Discovery Point
• Summit views to the Skellig Islands
• One of Ireland's highest coastal roads

Facilities

Good for kids · Wheelchair access

32.Derreen Garden(Gairdín Derreen)

12km of paths in a 150-year-old woodland

A 60-acre 19th-century woodland garden at the head of Kilmackillogue Harbour, where mossy paths wind past towering rhododendrons and eucalyptus to sudden sea views.

Highlights

• Over 12km of winding, mossy paths across 60 acres
• 1880s arboreum rhododendrons of exceptional size
• Views over Kilmackillogue Harbour and the Caha Mountains

Facilities

Dog-friendly · Wheelchair access

33.Derrynane Abbey

a 6th-century ruin you can only reach at low tide

A roofless sixth-century ruin perched on a beach-linked "island", Derrynane Abbey overlooks one of Ireland's loveliest strands — and you can only walk out to it when the tide is out.

Highlights

• Ruined abbey on beach-connected "Abbey Island"
• Reachable on foot only when the tide is out
• Sea-facing Romanesque church with arched windows

Facilities

Good for kids

34.Derrynane House

The Liberator's seaside home on the Ring of Kerry

The ancestral home of Daniel O'Connell, "The Liberator", set in 120 hectares of coastal parkland on the Iveragh Peninsula. Inside are unique relics of his life, from a triumphal chariot to the bed he died in.

Highlights

• Ancestral home of Daniel O'Connell
• The 1844 triumphal chariot and O'Connell's deathbed
• 120 hectares of gardens, arboretum and coastal park

Facilities

Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access

35.Dingle Distillery

tour the distillery behind the World's Best Gin

A small, independent distillery on the edge of the Wild Atlantic Way, welcoming over-18s into its working production floor for a guided tour and tasting from the makers of the "World's Best Gin".

36.Gleninchaquin Park

Four way-marked walks around a 140m waterfall

A privately run, family-owned valley park on the Beara Peninsula, where a 140 m waterfall feeds a chain of lakes and four way-marked trails thread the mountainside.

Highlights

• 140 m waterfall at the head of the valley
• Four way-marked walks from 40 minutes to 4 hours
• Lakes Inchaquin, Uragh and Cloonee

Facilities

Wheelchair access

37.Mountain Stage Viewpoint

Sweeping Dingle Bay views from a free layby

A free roadside pull-in on the Ring of Kerry where the whole of Dingle Bay, from Rossbeigh to the Dingle Peninsula, opens up in front of you.

Highlights

• Free Wild Atlantic Way discovery point on the N70
• Wide views over Dingle Bay to the Dingle Peninsula
• Rossbeigh and Inch beaches visible to the right

Facilities

Wheelchair access

38.Muckross House

Victorian mansion that hosted Queen Victoria

Muckross House is a grand Victorian mansion built in 1839-1843 at the heart of Killarney National Park, where the Herbert family hosted Queen Victoria in 1861. Gardens, a 1930s-style working farm and the Lakes of Killarney surround it.

Highlights

• Queen Victoria stayed here in August 1861
• Free entry to the gardens and Killarney National Park
• Three working 1930s-40s traditional farms

Facilities

Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access

39.Sandy Feet Farm and Cafe

300-year-old farm with alpacas and go-karts

A 300-year-old family farm near Camp on the Tralee–Dingle road, where rare-breed animals, a sensory garden and a big outdoor playground sit beside a small, homely café.

Highlights

• Alpacas, miniature donkeys and Kathleen the Highland cow
• Famous tractor-trailer ride around the farm
• Sensory garden with willow arches and singing bowls

Facilities

Wheelchair access

40.Uragh Stone Circle(Ciorcal Cloch Uragh)

a five-stone Bronze Age circle beneath a giant monolith

A five-stone Bronze Age circle on a Kerry hilltop, dwarfed by a 3 m monolith, with lakes, mountains and a tumbling waterfall filling the view. Remote, unstaffed and free to visit.

Highlights

• Five-stone Bronze Age circle with a 3 m outlier monolith
• Hilltop setting between two lakes, backed by mountains and a waterfall
• Free to visit; open all year

41.Carrigafoyle Castle

A 15th-century 'Guardian of the Shannon'

A ruined five-storey tower house on a rocky outcrop in the Shannon Estuary, once the O'Connor clan's "Guardian of the Shannon" and still climbable to the top.

Highlights

• National Monument tower house built in the 1490s
• 104-step spiral stair to the rooftop solarium
• Sweeping Shannon Estuary and Carrig Island views

Facilities

Wheelchair access

42.Dingle Dolphin Boat Tours

boat trips to the Great Blasket since 1987

Dingle's longest-running boat tour crew (est. 1987) runs guided sailings from Dingle Pier along the Wild Atlantic coast, from a one-hour harbour and cliffs hop to a four-hour wildlife hunt out in the bay. Trips look for dolphins, seals, whales and seabirds; sightings are never guaranteed.

Highlights

• Ireland's longest-running boat tour association, established 1987
• TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice 2024 winner for boat tours in Ireland
• Boats depart Dingle Pier, near the dolphin statue

Facilities

Good for kids · Wheelchair access

43.Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium

Sharks, penguins and a walk-through ocean tunnel

Ireland's largest aquarium sits on the waterfront at Dingle Marina, where you walk through a shark-filled ocean tunnel and meet gentoo and Humboldt penguins, Asian otters and a rescued loggerhead turtle.

Highlights

• Over 28 exhibits and 400+ animals — the country's biggest aquarium
• Walk-through Ocean Tunnel holding 53 tonnes of water
• Sand tiger sharks Spike and Splash

Facilities

Good for kids · Wheelchair access

44.Hold Baby Lamb

cuddle lambs beside 1,400-year-old beehive huts

A working sheep farm on the Slea Head Drive where you can cuddle and bottle-feed baby lambs, watch a Border Collie work sheep, and walk into 1,400-year-old dry-stone beehive huts — all with the Skelligs and Blasket Islands on the horizon.

Highlights

• Cuddle and bottle-feed baby lambs in the lamb shed
• Border Collie sheepdog demonstrations (about 45 minutes)
• Self-guided tour of ancient beehive huts (clocháin)

45.Kennedys Pet Farm

€8 entry to cuddle free-roaming farm animals

Kennedy's is a family-run pet farm in Glenflesk, about 9km from Killarney on the N22, where children can cuddle, feed and admire free-roaming animals - with indoor and outdoor playgrounds so a wet day does not spoil the trip.

Highlights

• Family-run farm about 9km from Killarney on the N22 Cork road
• Animals roam freely and can be stroked and fed
• Indoor and outdoor playgrounds, rain or shine

Facilities

Good for kids · Wheelchair access

46.Kilmalkedar Church / Cill Maoilchéadair

Ogham stone, sundial and a 12th-century church

Kilmalkedar is one of Ireland's most significant early Christian and medieval church sites, a Hiberno-Romanesque complex spread over ten acres above Smerwick Harbour on the Dingle Peninsula. The roofless 12th-century church, ogham stone, sundial and holy well make it a rewarding, free stop on the Slea Head Drive.

Highlights

• 12th-century Hiberno-Romanesque church (after 1134)
• Holed ogham stone with 6th-7th century inscription
• The Alphabet Stone inside the church

47.Ross Castle

Last Munster stronghold to hold out against Cromwell

A 15th-century tower house on the shore of Lough Leane, the last stronghold in Munster to hold out against Cromwell, and the departure point for boats across the Killarney lakes.

Highlights

• 15th-century tower house on Lough Leane
• Last stronghold in Munster to fall to Cromwell
• O'Donoghue Mór legend of the white horse

Facilities

Wheelchair access

48.The Playdium

10,000 sq ft of soft play and mini go-karts

The Playdium is Tralee's 10,000 sq ft indoor soft play centre — the biggest of its kind in Kerry — with mini kart racing, a dedicated toddler zone and a café where supervising parents can settle in for the session.

Highlights

• Kerry's largest indoor soft play centre, over 10,000 sq ft
• Formula Fun indoor mini kart racing
• Separate Tiny Tots and Toddler zone beside parent seating

Facilities

Wheelchair access

49.Torc Waterfall

A 20 m cascade five minutes from the car park

Torc Waterfall is a 20-metre cascade in a mossy oakwood gorge at the foot of Torc Mountain, reached by a five-minute walk from the N71 car park — one of the most accessible spectacles in Killarney National Park.

Highlights

• 20 m (66 ft) cascade on the Owengarriff River
• Five-minute walk from the lower car park
• Steps beside the falls with views over Muckross and the lakes

Facilities

Wheelchair access

50.Waterville Beach

seafront strand Charlie Chaplin returned to yearly

Waterville is the only village on the Ring of Kerry that sits right on the coast, and its long sandy beach curves along sheltered Ballinskelligs Bay beneath a seafront promenade.

Highlights

• The only seafront village on the Ring of Kerry
• A paved promenade running the length of the beach
• Charlie Chaplin statue on the seafront

Facilities

Good for kids · Wheelchair access

51.Blennerville Windmill

The country's largest working windmill

A fully restored 1800s windmill above Tralee Bay, still grinding flour with its original stones and home to Kerry's model railway and a famine-emigration exhibition.

Highlights

• Largest working windmill in the country, the only one on the Wild Atlantic Way
• Climb four flights of steep stairs to the top
• Jeanie Johnston famine-ship exhibition

Facilities

Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access

52.Bromore Cliffs

a 180-ft cliff walk with an Iron Age fort

A working family farm opens its 180-foot sea cliffs to walkers on the Wild Atlantic Way, with a sea stack, an Iron Age cliff fort and a fraction of the crowds at the Cliffs of Moher.

Highlights

• 180-foot sea cliffs on the Wild Atlantic Way
• The Devil's Castle sea stack, caves and arches
• Iron Age promontory fort used as a picnic viewpoint

Facilities

Wheelchair access

53.Fairy Fort Ringfort

Where Bronze Age earthworks meet baby lambs

A well-preserved earthen ringfort on the Slea Head Drive, wrapped in fairy folklore and paired with a small pet farm where children can feed sheep, goats, horses and donkeys.

Highlights

• Well-preserved univallate ringfort (rath / lios)
• Earthen bank rising 2.5m above the interior and 4.2m above the fosse
• 3m causewayed entrance facing due east

Facilities

Good for kids

54.Kells Bay House and Gardens

Home of the northern hemisphere's biggest tree ferns

A Victorian manor on the Ring of Kerry whose sub-tropical gardens hold the northern hemisphere's largest tree-fern forest, a rope-bridge skywalk and a Thai restaurant.

Highlights

• Largest tree-fern forest in the northern hemisphere
• Ireland's longest rope bridge (the Skywalk)
• Victorian Ladies' Walled Garden

Facilities

Good for kids · Wheelchair access

55.Kingdom Greyhound Stadium

Greyhound racing every Friday and Saturday night

One of Ireland's liveliest nights out: Friday and Saturday greyhound racing in Tralee, watched from a ground-floor bar, an outdoor grandstand or a glass-fronted restaurant that looks straight onto the track.

Highlights

• Greyhound racing every Friday and Saturday night
• Glass-fronted restaurant overlooking the track
• Free car park with disabled spaces

Facilities

Restrooms · Wheelchair access

56.Listowel Castle

Free tours of a castle that held out 28 days

Half of a 15th-century Anglo-Norman fortress still stands above the River Feale, and the OPW shows it off with free guided tours. It was the last Fitzmaurice stronghold to fall to Elizabethan forces, holding out for 28 days in the 1600 siege.

Highlights

• Two of four original square towers survive, over 15 m high
• Free admission and free guided tours
• Held out for 28 days in the 1600 siege

Facilities

Wheelchair access

57.Staigue Stone Fort

A 2,000-year-old fort built without mortar

An enormous drystone ring fort at the head of a Kerry valley, built without a drop of mortar around 2,000 years ago and still standing 5.5 m tall. It is free, unstaffed and open year-round.

Highlights

• Ireland's finest drystone ring fort, almost 2,000 years old
• Walls up to 5.5 m high and 4 m thick, built without mortar
• Ten X-shaped stairways climb inside the wall

58.Star Outdoors Adventure Centre

Kayaks, water park and cruises on Kenmare Bay

A family adventure centre on the shores of Kenmare Bay, packing an inflatable water park, wildlife cruises, kayaking and land-based challenges into one base just minutes from Kenmare town.

Highlights

• Inflatable water park on Kenmare Bay
• One-hour seal-spotting wildlife cruise
• Kayak, archery, crazy golf and paintball

Facilities

Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access

59.Tralee Bay Wetlands

Pedalos, a 20m tower and a €4 nature reserve

A tranquil urban nature reserve on Tralee Bay, where a mosaic of reedbeds, marsh and ponds sits beside an activity lake with pedalos, a climbing wall and a 20-metre viewing tower. Run by Kerry County Council and open every day of the year.

Highlights

• 20-metre viewing tower over Tralee Bay
• Electric boat tours led by resident ecologists
• Self-guided wetland entry from €4, kids free

Facilities

Wheelchair access

60.Valentia Ice Cream Parlour and Farmhouse Dairy

Farmhouse ice cream churned beside its own dairy herd

A third-generation dairy farm at Kilbeg on Valentia Island where the Daly family churns its own ice cream just metres from the milking parlour where it is served. It is the only artisan ice-cream producer in South Kerry.

Highlights

• Ice cream made on site from the farm's own Holstein Friesian herd
• Parlour built inside the original milking parlour, overlooking the Portmagee channel
• Guided Farmhouse Dairy experience with butter-making demonstration

Facilities

Good for kids · Wheelchair access

61.Aqua Dome

29°C all year: wave pool, slides and lazy river

One of Ireland's largest indoor waterworlds, the Aqua Dome keeps tropical temperatures all year round and packs in a wave pool, sky-high flume, rapids and a lazy river on Tralee's Wild Atlantic Way — a family day out whatever the weather.

Highlights

• One of Ireland's largest indoor waterworlds
• Tropical 29.5°C water all year round
• Wave pool, sky-high flume, lazy river and falling rapids

Facilities

Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access

62.Bowling Buddies

Ten-pin bowling, high ropes and arcade under one roof

A 10-lane bowling centre with a 12-element high-ropes course, an arcade and an upstairs activity room, all under one roof in Tralee's Mile Height Retail Park.

Highlights

• 10 bowling lanes, up to 60 bowlers at once
• Skywalker: 12-element high ropes course
• Newly revamped arcade

Facilities

Wheelchair access

63.Crag Cave

A million-year-old cave found only in 1983

Crag Cave is a fossil cave system over one million years old and, at almost 4 km, the longest cave in County Kerry. Discovered only in 1983 and lit atmospherically, it hides delicate calcite formations and chambers named after the places of Middle-earth.

Highlights

• Ireland's most exciting show cave
• Almost 4 km long — the longest cave in County Kerry
• Over one million years old, discovered in 1983

Facilities

Wheelchair access

64.Cromwell's Bridge

a 17th-century bridge too fragile to cross

A single-arch stone bridge over the Finnihy River, now too fragile to cross, tucked into greenery a five-minute walk from Kenmare town centre. Free, open-air and quietly photogenic.

Highlights

• Single-arch stone bridge, dated c.1700
• Free and open every day
• Five-minute walk from Kenmare town centre

Facilities

Good for kids

65.Skellig Gift Store

Free heritage gallery and Aran knitwear

A family-run destination gift store on the Ring of Kerry road outside Waterville, where decades of Irish knitwear and craft sit alongside a free outdoor Heritage Gallery and photo exhibits on South Kerry's history and wildlife.

Highlights

• Outdoor Heritage Gallery with 150 info panels on Valentia Island slate
• 300+ photo exhibits and archives in the Gallery and store
• Hundreds of authentic Aran sweaters from Irish makers

Facilities

Wheelchair access

66.The Skellig Experience Visitor Centre

Skellig Michael's story, told on dry land

A waterfront visitor centre on Valentia Island that tells the story of the Skellig Michael monks, with a sea-view restaurant and boat tours out to the islands themselves.

Highlights

• 80-seat auditorium with a 14-minute film on the monks
• Models and re-creations of the monastic settlement
• Display on the Skellig lighthouse and its keepers

Facilities

Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access

67.The Valentia Island Tetrapod Footprints

385-million-year-old footprints of early land animals

On a rocky shore at the north of Valentia Island, a 385-million-year-old trackway preserves the footprints of some of the earliest four-legged animals to walk on land — the most extensive Devonian trackway in the world.

Highlights

• The world's most extensive Devonian tetrapod trackway
• Footprints roughly 385 million years old
• Longest trackway around 15 metres, with over 145 imprints

Facilities

Good for kids

68.The Kerry Bog Village Museum

Europe's only 19th-century bog village

A reconstructed 19th-century Irish village on the Ring of Kerry, where you can step inside fully furnished thatched cottages and meet the once nearly extinct Kerry Bog Pony. It is the only museum of its kind in Europe, set beneath the MacGillycuddy Reeks.

Facilities

Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access

69.Ring of Kerry

a 179km loop of cliffs, lakes and stone forts

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.

Highlights

• 179km / 111-mile circuit of the Iveragh Peninsula
• Ladies View over the Upper Lake and Purple Mountain
• Skellig Ring detour past Portmagee and the Kerry Cliffs