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Day 6
Where we'll go today....Destination: Ring Of Beara
Today you will enjoy a real treat. Whilst all of your guidebooks tell you to see the Ring of Kerry, I did say the trip is based on personal experience and this experience tells you to go for the Ring of Beara.
Dotted with sparsely populated fishing villages surrounded by bleak moorland, this peninsula is remote. It used to be a refuge for smugglers, with the Irish getting the better deal in their exchange of pilchards for contraband French brandy.
The peninsula offers some spectacular scenery and wonderful walking country. From the Healy Pass, which cuts a jagged path across the spine of the Caha Mountains, there are some fine views of Bantry Bay and the rugged landscape of West Cork. To the west of the pass is Hungry Hill, the highest mountain in the Caha range and popular with hill walkers.
Encircled by the Caha and Slieve Miskish Mountains is Castltownbere, the main town on the peninsula, awash with foreign fishing trawlers.
From the tip of the peninsula a cable car travels across to Dursey Island, with it's ruined castle and colonies of sea birds. Licensed to carry three passengers and one cow, the cable car swings across the strait, offering views of Bull, Cow and Calf Islands.
From the headland the road back to Kenmare passes through the pretty villages of Eyries, noted for its brightly painted cottages and crafts, and Ardgroom, a centre for mussel farming and a base for exploring the scenic glacial valley around Glenbeg Lough.
Another dimension to the peninsula is that it is graced with some great art galleries. Upon return to Kenmare we will have booked you into the Limetree Restaurant for Dinner. A casual restaurant trading out of a charming old School house.