The Beara Peninsula and Mizen Head: The south-west coast of Ireland is a series of long peninsulas jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean. Each has its own character, some extra touristy like the Ring of Kerry, some trendy like Dingle and then there are the three southern ones, each far less visited and much wilder. We had spent the night at the north-east corner of the Beara Peninsula in a one-star campsite on back road leading up into the mountains. We follo...

The Ring of Kerry: This is one of the 'biggies' in Ireland. It is reputed to be the most scenic drive in the country in the most scenic county. In order not to annoy any more coach drivers, we decided to drive the Ring anti-clockwise, that is, with the buses and not against their preferred direction of travel. It had rained all night but this was merely a taste of what the day would be like. First stop was the Kerry Bog Village: restored and furnished cottag...

The Dingle Peninsula: We headed out along the north coast of the Dingle Peninsula, which everyone we have encountered has said is a must-see. We headed off the main road west and took small (read narrow) roads towards the water. The land near the windswept coastal areas was more desolate than the green fields we had been used to seeing. Hardy, tufted grasses covered sand dunes and the few trees growing had definite leans to the east. There were in these - t...

To Tralee: We followed the north shore of the River Shannon and encountered our first sandy beach at Ballyonion. Bounded by high cliffs at each end, a small surf was rolling in. We couldn't imagine the temperature of the water - it certainly didn't look inviting - but some hardy people were venturing in. Down the road was Tralee and we found a campsite right on the edge of town. A ten minute walk through very large and beautiful park brought us into the cen...

To Adare: We awoke to a blue sky morning in Kilkenny and headed out west taking smaller roads and lanes but with high hedgerows lining the roads it was hard to see much. The narrow roads are very narrow indeed, many barely one car wide with virtually nowhere to pull off if traffic arrives from the opposite direction. Tractors and farm trucks travelled at high speeds on the lanes - they gave no quarter...it's you that has to get out of the way, even if there is...