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Ring of Kerry

N70 / N71 · Killarney → Killarney (loop) · Ireland

Length
111 miles
Drive time
3 h 30 min (full day with stops)
Type
Coastal road
Region
Ireland & the Isle of Man

Before you go: Drive ANTI-clockwise or spend the day stuck behind tour coaches (they run clockwise)

Ireland's most famous loop: Killarney round the Iveragh peninsula through Killorglin, Cahersiveen, Waterville and Sneem, finishing over Moll's Gap — Atlantic on one side, MacGillycuddy's Reeks on the other.

Killarney around the Iveragh peninsula on the N70 and N71: Killorglin, Cahersiveen, Waterville, Sneem, then Moll's Gap back to the lakes. Coaches run clockwise. Drive anticlockwise or spend the day looking at the back of a bus on a road that is not wide enough for the argument. Surface is national-road tarmac, slow through villages, better on the open Atlantic bits. Allow a full day with stops; the three and a half hours is moving time.

Ladies View on the N71 is the Killarney lakes photograph — a big lay-by, still busy. Avoca at Moll's Gap is food with Carrauntoohil on the skyline. Scarriff Inn between Caherdaniel and Waterville is seasonal and has the Derrynane view. Fuel whenever you see it; the west of the ring is thinner than Killarney suggests.

The Skellig Ring is the detour if you want smaller roads; Gap of Dunloe is a different, narrower thing entirely, discouraged for cars in season. Healy Pass on the Beara is the better mountain road if you have another day.

This is Ireland's most famous loop because the coaches agree. Anticlockwise, early, and off the N70 when a yellow road offers the coast. Moll's Gap hairpins on the N71 are where tired anticlockwise drivers meet leftover clockwise coaches — go in, pull out, no heroics. Killarney town is the fuel and bed base; Waterville is the halfway overnight if you are splitting the ring. Ladies View before ten is a different place to Ladies View at noon. If you only have a morning, do Killarney to Moll's Gap and back rather than a half ring into the coaches.

Highlights of the Ring of Kerry

Where to stop on the Ring of Kerry

Drive the Ring of Kerry

Open Ring of Kerry on the map → ⬇ Download GPX

GPX works with Garmin, TomTom, Beeline and most bike sat-navs. Free, no sign-up — these are indicative waypoints, so follow the road signs, not the arrow.

Plot it, add it to a club run with a meeting point and pit stops, then share the whole trip as one link. Free, no account, works offline.

Route research: Club road index

More driving roads in Ireland & the Isle of Man