The peninsula next door to Kerry that far fewer visitors ever see.
Start Point
Your Hotel Or
Address In Cork
Duration
9 Hours
Difficulty
Easy
Just across the water from the Ring of Kerry, the Beara Peninsula runs out into the Atlantic, and far fewer visitors make the trip. That’s a big part of its charm. On this private Ring of Beara tour from Cork, we take you out along the southern shore beneath Hungry Hill, on to the painted cottages of Allihies at the very end of the land, and home over the Healy Pass, a mountain road that twists up through the Caha Mountains with a bay on either side of you. It’s a long, lovely day, and you won’t have to think about a single bend in the road.
The road onto the peninsula runs through Glengarriff, a sheltered harbour village at the head of Bantry Bay, and from there the traffic thins out as you follow the shore west.
Before long, Hungry Hill fills the view. It’s the highest mountain on Beara, and it gave Daphne du Maurier the title for one of her novels. Adrigole sits in the sheltered bay beneath it, all mountain, bog and sea, and this is where it starts to feel like you have the place to yourselves.
Keep going to the end of the peninsula and you reach Allihies, a row of brightly painted cottages between the mountains and the Atlantic. Look up at the hills behind the village and you’ll see the old stone engine houses of the copper mines that once kept this place busy. The Copper Mine Museum in the village tells the story of the families who worked them. If the weather’s kind, walk down to the beach. It’s one of the most photogenic villages in Cork.
We save the best for the drive home. The Healy Pass was first cut as a famine-relief road, and it climbs through the Caha Mountains on the Cork and Kerry border in a run of tight hairpins. At the top there’s a roadside shrine, with Bantry Bay stretching away to the south and the Kenmare River to the north. It’s a narrow, winding road, which is exactly why you’ll be glad to be the passenger, with your camera ready and nothing to do but look.
Pickup is from your hotel or address in Cork, and we’ll have you home at the end of the day. Like all our day tours from Cork, it’s just your group on board, so if the light is good at Allihies or you want to sit a while at the top of the pass, we stop. Your driver-guide knows the peninsula, its history and the people who still live out here, and will tell you as much or as little as you like along the way. If you’re arriving by cruise, we can arrange it around your ship’s times at Cobh; it’s a long day, so it suits longer port calls.
You’ll be travelling with a family business that has been guiding visitors around Ireland since 2006, in a Mercedes from our own fleet sized to your group. We’re led by a certified, badged tour guide and rated 5.0 from reviews on TripAdvisor.
The Healy Pass is a mountain road that crosses the Beara Peninsula from Adrigole on the Cork side to Lauragh on the Kerry side, climbing through the Caha Mountains in a series of tight switchbacks. It began as a famine-relief road and was later improved into the pass you drive today. It is the high point of the Ring of Beara, in every sense. At the summit you can see Bantry Bay to the south and the Kenmare River to the north, and a roadside shrine marks the top. The road is narrow, with steep drops and sharp bends, which is why it is a road best left to someone who knows it. On a private tour your driver-guide takes it steadily, stops where it is safe to pull in, and leaves you free to watch the view unfold rather than the road.
It depends on what you want from the day. The Ring of Kerry is the famous loop, with Killarney National Park, the lakes and well-known stops such as Muckross and Ladies View, and it is the classic first choice. Our Ring of Kerry tour from Cork is the natural choice if you want those classic sights. The Ring of Beara is quieter and wilder, with fewer visitors, smaller villages and roads like the Healy Pass that suit a smaller vehicle far better than a coach. If you have been to Ireland before, or you simply prefer somewhere that feels undiscovered, Beara may well be the more memorable day. With a few days in Cork, you could do one of each. If you are unsure, tell us what you enjoy when you enquire and we will give you an honest recommendation for your group.
Yes, when it is driven by someone who knows it. It is also not a road we would ever rush. The Healy Pass is a well-used public road, but it is narrow and winding, with tight hairpin bends, steep sections and places where two vehicles have to take their time to pass. On this tour you are driven by an experienced local driver-guide who has driven these roads many times, in a comfortable Mercedes sized to your group. Safe, confident driving on rural roads is one of the themes our guests mention most in their reviews. Your guide will judge the weather and the conditions on the day, pick safe places to stop for photographs, and adjust the route if cloud or wind makes the pass a poor choice, so you see Beara at its best.
Yes, on a long enough port call. Any of our day tours from Cork can be arranged as a private shore excursion from Cobh, with pickup at the port and the whole day planned backwards from your all-aboard time. Beara is at the far west of County Cork, so it is one of our longer days, and whether the full loop fits depends on how long your ship is in port. When you enquire, send us your ship’s name, arrival time and all-aboard time, and we will tell you plainly what is realistic. If the full Ring is too much, we can focus on the Healy Pass and one side of the peninsula so you still get the highlight of the day without any rush. Because the tour is private, the vehicle waits for you and not the other way round, and your driver-guide keeps an eye on the clock so you do not have to.
A badged national guide and a family with more than sixty years of showing people around Ireland.
Book this day tour below, or send us your dates and we will plan it with you. You can also make Beara part of a longer tailor-made trip.
