Ring of Kerry: Quintessential Ireland Tour Reviews — 1 to 2 of 2

our review bike tour Ring of Kerry 8-14 June 2024
We have enjoyed our tour very much. We were also very lucky with the weather, only 10 minutes of rain!

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The local operator was fantastic. Maurice came to our hotel to provide us with all the necessary information and to adjust the bikes. It was personal and pleasant. The bikes are excellent and very well suited for the trip. The luggage was always there when we came to our next bed & breakfast. The route was great and worked very well in the app Ride with GPS. The trip took us form Killarney-Glenbeigh-Cahersiveen-Sneem-Kenmare and back to Killarney. It was an amazing tour in this beautiful country. Highlights for us were the isle of Valentia and the route from Kenmare to Killarney’. Sabine & Henk from The Netherlands

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There is one thing that was not good and that is the parking of our car during our tour. I think an organization should organize that too for a trip like this. In Killarney there is almost no place to park your car, besides the open-air parking’s, but they are very expensive for a week. We tried several hotels to no avail. After a lot of detectives work my husband found a parking place in town, right in the centre, Hilliard House, that was very good. Only € 25 for a week and there was space. This parking place is very hard to find, but it is public. It took us a few hours to sort this out, and that is not pleasant in a holiday…

Another thing is the size of the beds. They were all 1.40 m width (except one). We Dutch are not used to this! It might be good to inform foreign travellers about this.

There was one day we had to bike on a motor way (form Cahersiveen to Kenmare). Although it was the best route, it is not very nice as the traffic is so fast and sometimes it was a bit scarry. If we make another tour, we would not like to do this again.

B&B were all good, except one. I valued them with 5 = excellent, 4 = good, 3 = average, 2 = not so good, 1 = bad (none!).
Killarney, Abbey lodge ♣♣♣♣
Good room, clean and nicely cared for everything. Large parking behind the hotel. Good breakfast and kind host who gave good tips for restaurants.
Glenbeigh. Liosderrig House ♣♣♣♣
Very friendly host and clean room with nice view. Small but comfortable bed. Good breakfast. The only place for us to charge the battery for the bike in the room.
Caharsiveen, San Antoine B&B ♣♣♣♣♣
This was the best place! Very comfortable and large bed, nice and large room. Very friendly host, who gave lots of useful information. Nicely situated. Very good breakfast.
Sneem, River Logde ♣♣♣
Beautifully situated and at a very quiet road. Small and very hard bed. Welcome of the Dutch host was not very friendly, but his wife was very kind.
Kenmare, Kenmare House ♣♣♣♣
Looked very dull form the outside and a bit dark inside, but very friendly staff, and a small but good bed and very comfortable room. Good breakfast.
Killarney, Rossmore House B&B ♣♣
This is the only place we think you should not offer any more. Although the host was very kind, the bed was awful, with a very bad mattress and with the wooden frame it was too small for us. And we waited 30 minutes for our breakfast.  SHOW MORE 

We caught a spell of good clear weather, with rain on arrival and last day, so views from climbs were spectacular over ocean, especially Coomakista at 250 m. Join the loads of busses to look over the view, proud in the fact you rode there! The rest day has optional circuit through Valentia island which was a highlight. Optional steep 15% or worse grades down to lighthouse, but we would recommend doing that even if you push your bike up worst grades at bottom of hill. On the ascent back, don’t miss the road off to the right to the tetrapod tracks. The B and B owner suggested a restaurant just off the north ferry landing for sea food, to join the locals with a Guinness and red ale, waiting outside in the setting sun.

The Gap of Dunloe is a remote surreal climb on the ascent out of Black Valley, with descent back into the busy world of tourists on day trip walks, and civilization. On a cold wet day as we had through from Kenmare back to Killarney, don’t forgo a stop at the Avocado Molls Gap shop and cafe, even if you add a few kilometres to the suggested route, as it is a great place to warm up, get a hot chocolate, and look over to the Molls Gap, which you don’t get to ride through, unless you want to travel a more major route independently.

Insist on an understanding of the provided ride with GPS information, as we missed some important items at first, and also check the bikes over carefully. We had quite important problems with the bikes that we didn’t notice until into the trip, but to their credit the company responded quickly and replaced both bikes. This is my only reason for taking off a star.

Communications throughout were excellent.