The Ring of Kerry is said to be one of the most scenic areas of Ireland. Not surprising when you see why; it has forests, plains, rugged mountains, beaches and the wild Atlantic – what more could you cram in to a fairly compact area?
The ring comprises a circle of 112 miles in length, generally the start and end is taken as Killarney. Cars go clockwise, coaches go anti-clockwise to minimise “car stuck behind coach” syndrome. But what about motorhomes? I went clockwise although it didn’t really matter as traffic was extremely light.
There are some quirky bits as well such as the statue of Charlie Chaplin at Waterville. I stopped here for some fish and chips in one of the local pubs and noticed the bronze statue. If I’d bothered to read the plaque I would have got the connection between Charlie Chaplin and this place, as it happens I didn’t so will check out on google later.
There are lots of little towns like Waterville, each offering pub grub and the like to cater for the coach loads of tourists. Despite that, they’re not tacky or touristy themselves.
One of the “must see” sights is an area called Lady View. This is on a mountain side with a restaurant cum shop to stop at. Across the road from the restaurant is a car park with some of the most stunning views on the planet.
The picture simply doesn’t do justice to this place and words cannot describe it either. All I can do is recommend a visit to this picturesque place.
Now the roads round the Ring were, I was informed, quite narrow in places. As it turned out, they are all two way roads and I couldn’t recollect any single lane bits. However, some of these roads can be bumpy in place. There are potholes in places but the worst problem for motorhomes is dips in the road.
I had the misfortune to hit some dips that were in sync with the natural springing on the front of the van. I was only doing 30MPH but by the third “bounce” the front wheels had come completely off the floor.
A shelf in the back of the van is now ripped out of the wall and will need to be repaired. One of the pieces of body trim came off completely and had to be re-fitted. No doubt there is other damage that I will find out about over the coming days.
That’s it for now, tomorrow is Wednesday and that will take me to the Dingle peninsula – another part of Ireland that came highly recommended from the campsite hosts here at Flemings White Bridge.
