Ireland: The Southwest Countryside

Dublin is a great city. But, let’s be honest, the Irish countryside is where it’s at. You have two options for visiting the southwest of Ireland. You can take very long day tours from Dublin. Or, you can just base yourself in the country side and move around from there. We chose the latter option.

We spent three days in the southwest of Ireland, using Killarney as our base. Killarney is located in County Kerry. We stayed at the Great Southern Killarney, which is a charming luxury manor close to all the dining and shopping options in the town of Killarney. To really see the countryside, you are going to need transportation. Sure, you can rent a car where the steering wheel is on the right side of the car and drive on the left side of mountain roads. But, Chad and I value our time and our marriage. We did not want to spend our short vacation figuring out where we were going and arguing about it. So, we left the driving to the pros! We hired a local tour guide and driver from GanTours. They were excellent and the most reasonably priced of the options that I researched! They picked us up (and dropped us off) at the airport in Dublin. And served as our tour guide and transportation through the countryside. After collecting us at the airport right on time, we headed straight to the Burren in County Clare. En route, we visited our first of many castles. Our goals was to get to the Cliffs of Moher in the afternoon, after all the tour buses had already left. So, we leisurely drove through the Burren. We visited the cutest little cafe that was part of Hazel Mount Chocolates. It is a quirky little cafe set in a 1950s cottage. It has been voted one of Ireland’s top 10 food attractions.

The menu is simple: a hot soup of the day, and All.The.Cakes, which by the way, are gluten free!

After our quick little pick me up, we headed to the factory and shop, where we got some treats for the road!

Our next stop was to the Burren Perfumery, located within the Burren National Park.

In addition to being just plain lovely, all of their products use natural ingredients and are made by hand, on-site. They also have a lovely cafe that has a small menu of local dishes and luscious cakes and desserts. It was finally time to step onto the edge of the world, and visit what is probably Ireland’s most famous tourist attraction: the Cliffs of Moher.

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The next morning, we were up bright and early to drive the Ring of Kerry. It’s not so much a destination, as it is an experience. It is a 111 mile circular route that is part of the Wild Atlantic Way. It is a scenic drive through pastoral landscapes and coastlines that allows you to appreciate the natural beauty of Ireland. For a list of major attractions along the ring, click here.

You can also visit small towns along the way, like the town of Killorglin, where every year a wild mountain goat is captured and crowned as king during Puck Fair, a festival that lasts several days. Or, Waterville, a place where Charlie Chaplin spent a lot of his time.

Another highlight along the Ring of Kerry is the Gap of Dunloe. The Gap of Dunloe is a narrow mountain pass between the MacGillycuddy Reeks and the Purple Mountain.

We ended our day with a visit to Ross Castle.

On our final day in the countryside, we headed to Adare village in County Limerick en route to Dublin. It is known as one of Ireland’s prettiest towns. It has traditional thatched roofed cottages that date back to the 1820s! It is also home to Adare Manor, probably the most opulent hotel in the entire region. Maybe even the whole country.