Cork and Kerry

[Lincslady53]

We are off for a week in Ireland tomorrow, flying into Cork. We have 2 nights in Cork, 1 in Thurles, Tipperary (DH's mum moved from there in the 40s, so looking out old connection,). Then 2 night Kenmare, finally 2 nights in Kinsale. Any recommendations for must see or dos. I have not been to Ireland before, and we have a car, so anywhere in this area we can do. Thanks.

Lucky you! It’s beautiful. The Lakes of Killarney are worth a visit. You can go out on the water if the bloke doing the trips can be bothered to turn up. Southern Ireland is very laid back. Hope you love it x

Don’t ever say Southern Ireland when in Ireland.

Cos DHs family, well half of them, are from there, I have always called ot Ireland.

We went a couple of years ago, so beautiful. We really enjoyed Cobh and the beaches in west Kerry

@Berlinlover 😱 I think I kind of wanted to say that I’ve never been to Northern Ireland

That's a lot of driving! Some of the roads are really good, but some while well maintained can be narrow and winding and it takes a long time to get to your destination, but take your time and enjoy the views.

I don't know what route you are taking from Thurles to Kenmare, but there are two main ways to go, via Limerick and Killarney, or via Cahir, Mallow and Killarney. Pick one! The Limerick route is via Adare, a gorgeous village with original thatched cottages and so on. The Killarney (well worth a stop to see the lakes, stunning) to Kenmare road is breathtaking, and Kenmare itself is a charming town. You will find so much to see and do, I couldn't possibly tell you everything here. But do try to get around the peninsula to Portmagee, it's where you can get a boat (weather permitting) to Skellig Rocks, an amazing journey. If that doesn't appeal you could drive over the causeway to Valentia Island - another stunning spot. Sneem and Parknasilla closer to Kenmare are beautiful too if time is short.

I'd say you will be travelling from Kenmare along the coast via Bantry. Well a fabulous journey is in store for you. Highlights are Glengariff, Skibbereen, Baltimore, Glandore, Inchydoney. In fact anywhere along there is gorgeous. And well Kinsale is just charming.

I hope you have a great time, it is a beautiful part of the world, and I hope the weather is kind, but bring raingear!

When in Kinsale take a walk out along the Scilly walk to Charles fort, an early 17th century fort - built in ~1602 by the British after the Spanish tried to land (and liberate from the occupying forces :) ). On the way stop at the Spaniard pub for a pint and at the Bulman pub for another and a bite to eat if the kitchen is open (check ahead maybe). You can take a tour of the fort and/or keep walking out along the coast if you feel like a longer walk.

Make sure you visit the English market in Cork city.

Up, packed and ready to go. Thanks for the tips, we love a road trip, so the driving is not a concern. We have our wet weather ready, and we gave had the pre holiday weigh in. Looking at some restaurant reviews, I think we may put a bit on this week. Thanks for your tips, any more will be most welcome, especially for out of the way places.

Rock of Cashel
Cahir Castle
Gougane Barra (Cork have a look)
Beara Peninsula
Castletown Bere
Dursey Island cable car (you could be travelling over to the island with cows and sheep the farmers bring across, hilarious!). An experience, it only takes a few minutes.

Dursey Island sounds good, I don't think we will make it as we want ti go round the Ring of Kerry, but if time allows... It's a but of an experiment with hand luggage only, we have 10kg this time, but we are trying to see if we could manage with just underseat bags, the flights would have only been £15 each way if we could. It will then become our go to place for a quick couple of days away if we can. So if we miss Dursey this time, it will be on the shortlist for our next visit.

Back home after an absolutely brilliant week. Weather was a but patchy, which stopped us driving round the Rung of Kerry, but saw some fab scenery, ate some brilliant food, and enjoyed friendly hospitable people wherever we went. Would recommend the area to anyone. We drove about 500 miles on really good roads, mostly with very little traffic. We were surprised by the number of American tourists, in Kinsale it seemed that we were the only Brits. Best bit, every night we coukd find a pub with good entertainment, really made the week. We had very heavy rain on the Saturday, but despite poor forecasts, it cleared up, was warm and sunny for our last couple of days, picof a beach near Kinsale Old Head. On our list for a return visit, but we have a few pounds of cake, scones, soda bread, breakfasts and dinners to work off first. Thanks for all the comments.