After our brief stops in Kilkenny and Cork, we continued our Irish driving by heading further south to Killarney. Killarney town is just outside Killarney National Park, and the region is home to stunning scenery and plenty of outdoor activities. It also features the Ring of Kerry drive, a loop around the Iveragh Peninsula and some of County Kerry's most beautiful views.
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| Killarney national park |
After lots of sunshine earlier in the trip, Irish weather caught up with us and we had a very wet drive around the Ring of Kerry. This wasn't a huge inconvenience given we were mostly in the car, but did mean some of the views were misty, and others were masked entirely by clouds and rain! The drive takes most of a day so we didn't have time to repeat it, but if we're ever in Ireland again it will give us something to return to.
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| Misty views |
We stayed just inside the national park border at Killarney lakeland cottages. Even the smallest cottages were bigger than we needed, with 3 bedrooms, but with 4 nights in the area we were keen to have a kitchen and the location was perfect. Even with the extra space, the price was reasonable and the cottages would be great value if staying as a larger family.
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| Killarney lakeland cottages |
Fortunately we had sunny weather in the region too, and we made full use of that by walking some of the trails and sights within the national park. The park is huge and it would take many hours (perhaps days) to walk it fully, but there is a lot clustered to the western edge closest to Killarney town.
Muckross House and Gardens, set on the edge of Muckross Lake, provide a helpful focal point for exploring and we also took in one of the tours of the 19th century mansion house. Nearby is the semi-ruined Muckross Abbey, free to wander at leisure, and it is an easy 1 mile walk between the two attractions.
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| Driveway leading to Muchross House |
The house, gardens and abbey were enjoyable, but it was the outdoor component that I liked best. We did a walk from the abbey and house up to Torc waterfall. Unlike Powerscourt waterfall, it was free! I liked it much more than Powerscourt too, and eating a picnic lunch alongside it was a highlight of the day.
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| Torc waterfall |
Details of Killarney National Park can be found at http://www.killarneynationalpark.ie/ .
Do you have a favourite national park?
Did you grow up with Bing Crosby playing all Christmas like I did - I can't think of Killarney without hearing Christmas in Killarney in my head - it has a line that says "and santa claus is one of the boys from home" so I thought the song said that Santa actually came from killarney! But I digress. It looks very atmospheric in the mist though not great driving conditions. And glad to see you had some lovely sunny days and a waterfall to enjoy
ReplyDeleteI actually couldn't remember the song when we were there, but having seen references, looked it up at home and recognised it then :-) Killarney locals still like to mention it so I'm sure they'd be happy with the idea that Santa comes from there!
DeleteAll so pretty!
ReplyDeleteMy fav national park is bout an hour south of Sydney - there's a really pretty spot where a lake nearly meets the ocean edge! I just love it!
That sounds beautiful :-)
DeleteThe scenery is so gorgeous! I feel like i'm traveling along with you. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Kari
ReplyDeleteIt has been so mental at my place I haven't been to visit. When I do you are at some very amazing places. This is such an incredibly beautiful place . I have only been to Killarney once before may years ago and my passport was stolen so that wasn't a great memory. I love the picture of the cottage in the middle of the meadow with the big big cloudy sky!
It may be that your visits are timing with my very drawn out recaps of one trip ;) It is lovely to hear from you though and I'm sorry your own Killarney memories are tainted by the passport drama! You will have to go back to enjoy it without that stress.
DeleteIt's all very beautiful and so green. As you know, we just don't have that depth of green over here. It's a shame about the weather but I guess that's Ireland! The cottages are gorgeous and sound like very good value xx
ReplyDeleteI had to remind myself the rain allowed the green ;) The colours really are so different to in Australia.
DeleteGorgeous... thanks for taking the time to chronicle this for all of us. My husband and I are heading to Ireland in about two weeks. Will be staying in Killarney and Doolin areas most of the time. Your blog and beautiful pictures are stoking my excitement!
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