Parents were here for the summer and it was the last few weeks before the head back to the warm tropical weather. We took a trip to Cork to join the Ring of Kerry tour by Paddywagon. It had been a place we heard a lot from tourist and didn’t want to make the long drive ourselves. So we took a CityLink bus from Dublin, staked a couple of nights in Premier Inn to join the day long tour. The Ring of Kerry tour typically starts in Killarney and takes you on a full loop around the Iveragh Peninsula.

Bus started from Cork and headed to town of Killarney. This is where the tour really starts as he had to pick up the rest of the people in Killarney. He stopped at the town for about 90 mins and there are 2 options. We could take a ride on the jaunting car (€16 per person) or walk around town. We took the jaunting car tours and it was arranged by the driver. There is nothing much to see in the town this early anyway.

Killarney National Park

The jaunting car took us around Killarney National Park. Despite being the end of summer, we had gorgeous sunshine that day. The jaunting car driver explained the history of the park and what we are seeing. We managed to see a herd of deer and heritage cows. Seems the cows are only kept for visitors, no one actually farm them anymore. The main attraction is the view of Ross Castle. It is a 15th-century tower house and keep, the ancestral home of the Chiefs of the Clan O’Donoghue, later associated with the Brownes of Killarney.

Dingle Bay

Once we left Killarney, the bus takes us along the Dingle Bay. Across the bay is Dingle. Just enjoy the view and stories from the bus driver. This was when we learn, there’s a unwritten rule for drivers as the roads can be narrow. The heavy vehicles like busses and trucks are supposed to go counter clockwise. So smaller vehicles are best to go clockwise (also gives a better view). Bus driver said since COVID, seems a lot of people are not following this rule.

We stopped a few places to take pictures of Dingle Bay. One of the place we stopped have a small stall that sells souvenir and so on. What is interesting, sometimes he sells Poitin. Poitin is a distilled spirit and is illegal in Ireland. However you can go to this stall and ask for “holy water”.

Waterville

More driving and we end up for very late lunch at Waterville. The bus dropped us at a restaurant called “The Lobster Bar and Restaurant“. Seems they are the only place that can accommodate huge crowd and serve food quickly. We managed to walk around the small town. This town is famous in a way because Charlie Chaplin had his cottage here.

Sneem and Torc Waterfall

After lunch, it more spectacular views of the peninsular. We stopped by Sneem for a while, mainly for toilet break. There is a souvenir shop in the town that catered for tour busses. Toilets at the back and a huge selection of souvenirs. We then stopped by “Ladies View”, a viewing point along the route.

Our final stop as as the sun was setting was to Torc Waterfall. It is a bit of a climb up slippery muddy paths to the waterfall. We can get close to it but not as impressive as say Powerscot.

It was already 8pm when we got back to cork. Pretty dark at that time. Too late for proper dinner so we just grabbed instant noodles from nearby Dunnes.