Itinerary · 9 days · 38 places
9 Days on Ireland's Coast
Nine days by hire car along the Wild Atlantic Way: from Killarney via the Ring of Kerry and the Skellig coast onto the Dingle Peninsula, then on to Clare and the Cliffs of Moher.
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Photo: Dahlia E. Akhaine · Pexels
The route on the map
The plan, day by day
Day 1Arrival in Killarney & Lough Leane
Arrival in Killarney
Hotel check-in
Your base is in central Killarney around High Street and New Street, where pubs, shops and the park entrance are all within walking distance.
Ross Castle
The O'Donoghues' tower house right on the shore of Lough Leane, with boat jetties and a flat lakeside path back towards town.
Evening: live music at The Danny Mann
An old pub on New Street where, most evenings from nine, there's a session with fiddle and bodhrán.
Day 2Muckross, Torc and Ladies View
Muckross House & Gardens
A Victorian mansion in the national park, whose drawing rooms were furnished for a visit by Queen Victoria, with the lakeside garden behind.
Muckross Abbey
The ruin of a 15th-century Franciscan friary with a huge yew tree in the cloister.
Torc Waterfall
A twenty-metre waterfall in oak woodland; a stone staircase leads to the viewpoint above it.
Ladies View
A viewpoint on the N71 high above the three Lakes of Killarney, named after the Queen's ladies-in-waiting.
Evening: stroll along Plunkett Street
A short street crammed with pubs and restaurants, the liveliest corner of town in the evening.
Day 3Over Moll's Gap to Kenmare
Onward to Kenmare
Hotel check-in
Kenmare Stone Circle
Fifteen stones around a boulder burial, the largest stone circle in south-west Ireland, in a patch of meadow on the edge of town.
Reenagross Park
A wooded peninsula on the Kenmare River with shoreline paths, rhododendrons and views of the Beara mountains.
Gleninchaquin Park
A private upland valley with a broad waterfall tumbling over a rock step and sheep pastures rising to the corrie.
Uragh Stone Circle
A small stone circle on a hill between two lakes, with a waterfall dropping down the mountainside behind.
Evening: Henry Street and Main Street
Kenmare's two colourful shopping streets, whose pubs host sessions in the evening.
Day 4Ring of Kerry: Staigue, Derrynane, Waterville
Onward to Waterville
Hotel check-in
Staigue Fort
A pre-Christian ring fort of dry-stone walling, whose inner stairways lead up to the top of the walls, up to 5.5 metres high.
Derrynane House & Beach
Daniel O'Connell's home with a family museum, and behind it dunes and a pale sandy beach with an island reachable at low tide.
Coomakista Pass
A lay-by at the top of the pass with views over Kenmare Bay, Scariff Island and the Beara Peninsula.
Waterville seafront
A promenade with the statue of Charlie Chaplin, who spent many summers here, and views over Ballinskelligs Bay.
Evening: Lough Currane at sunset
The salmon lake just behind the village, whose waters mirror the mountains when the sun is low.
Day 5Skellig coast: Kerry Cliffs and Valentia
Kerry Cliffs
Cliffs dropping three hundred metres sheer, with the clearest view of the Skellig rocks out in the Atlantic.
Portmagee harbour
A row of brightly painted houses along the quay wall, from which the boats leave for Skellig Michael.
Geokaun Mountain & Fogher Cliffs
The highest point on Valentia Island, accessible by car, with a panoramic view over Dingle Bay, the cliffs and the Skelligs.
Bray Head Tower
A half-hour climb to a Napoleonic signal tower above the cliff edge at the western end of Valentia.
Evening: Portmagee harbour wall
The quay wall looking out to the Valentia bridge, where the sun sets behind the island.
Day 6Via the Slea Head Drive to Dingle
Onward to Dingle
Hotel check-in
Dingle harbour and fishing quay
A working harbour with trawlers and nets, and behind it the colourful terraces of Strand Street.
Gallarus Oratory
An upturned-boat-shaped chapel of dry-stone masonry from the early Middle Ages, still watertight after more than a thousand years.
Dunquin Pier
A zigzag path down to the Blasket ferry landing, cut into the rock like a sheep track.
Coumeenoole Beach
A cove at the foot of Slea Head with strong currents, and from above a view of the abandoned Blasket Islands.
Evening: trad session at Dick Mack's
A former leather workshop and pub in one on Green Street, with a wall of whiskey and music almost every night.
Day 7Conor Pass, Annascaul and Inch Beach
Conor Pass
Ireland's highest pass road, single-track and hewn into the rock, with views at the top over glacial lakes and Brandon Bay.
Annascaul Lake
A dark mountain lake in a corrie below the Slieve Mish Mountains, reached by a narrow road from the village.
Minard Castle
The ruin of a FitzGerald tower above a cove full of round sandstone boulders polished smooth by the surf.
Inch Beach
A five-kilometre sand spit reaching out into Castlemaine Harbour, drivable and popular with surfers.
Evening: An Droichead Beag
A pub on Dingle's Main Street with a session every night, usually from half past nine.
Day 8To Clare: Cliffs of Moher and Doolin
Onward to Doolin
Hotel check-in
Cliffs of Moher
Eight kilometres of shale cliffs up to 214 metres high, with a coastal path to O'Brien's Tower and puffins in early summer.
Doolin Pier
A stone pier with views of the Aran Islands, from where boats leave for Inisheer.
Doonagore Castle viewpoint
A round 16th-century tower house on the hill above Doolin, visible from the road.
Evening: trad session at Gus O'Connor's Pub
Doolin's best-known music pub, with playing every night from nine.
Day 9A Burren morning and departure
Poulnabrone Dolmen
A Neolithic portal tomb on bare limestone pavement, beneath which lay the bones of more than twenty people.
Corcomroe Abbey
A Cistercian ruin in a quiet limestone valley, with carved capitals and a royal tomb in the choir.
Departure from Shannon
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