The Ring of Kerry is like the Irish Equivalent of Adventure World

It's the annual school excursion... Except, instead of Bounty's revenge, you're stuck on a school bus with the Spanish exchange students doing the Ring of Kerry, and inevitably, it's always raining..... (Meanwhile, the Spanish exchange students are starting to wonder why the hell they left their warm, sunny country to come to this soggy God forsaken place..... :p) Toilet breaks are sparse given that a) there's a hell of a lot of driving to do and b) it needs to be done in one day.

This is Ireland at its best and sunniest. Soggy but strangely beautiful....

Best Practice Manual on How to do the Ring of Kerry:

Step One
Avoid doing the Ring during tourist trap season in July and August. There will be too many children and too many buses, and it will inevitably be raining.

Step Two
Choose to go in September which is the sunniest month of the year. There will also be less tour buses, which means you can then drive in a clockwise direction, as there is a lot more to see in the bottom half of the Ring. (People normally drive in an anti-clockwise direction to avoid coming head on with the buses, as the roads can be very narrow at times.)

Take the N72 as per the following road sign:

Step Three

Have lunch at the kooky Miss Courtney's Tearoom in Killarney, (undoubtedly this was the owner's dream as a little girl,) and order afternoon tea for two.

Count the number of red heads while you sip your tea.


Friend's boy from Dublin with arms uncomfortably folded and face hiding behind the cake stand is optional.

Step Four
Stop at Killarney national park.

Vow to come back so that you can go for long walks (and probably never make it back there again).

Step Five
Almost get yourself killed while trying to take photos (as there's no footpaths for pedestrians).

Step Six

End your day in Kenmare, probably the most happening places on the Ring after Killarney.

Step Seven
Repeat drive through the top end of the Ring of Kerry (with not as much to see).