The Beara Peninsula: A Guide to Cork and Kerry’s Overlooked Coastal Drive

At a Glance

The Beara Peninsula, also known as the Ring of Beara, sits in southwest Ireland, just south of its more famous neighbor, the Ring of Kerry. It's a good fit for travelers who want scenic coastal roads and conversations with locals without the tour buses. This guide covers where to base yourself, what to do, and how to plan a couple of unrushed days on the Beara Peninsula.

Travel Planning Snapshot

• County: Split between Cork and Kerry
• Region: Ireland's southwest coast – just south of the Ring of Kerry
• Best for: Couples, slow travelers, and anyone who's already done Killarney or Dingle and wants something quieter
• Ideal stay: 2 nights minimum, longer if you want to add Bere Island
• Drive time from Dublin Airport: Realistically 4-5 hours to Kenmare, depending on traffic and stops
• Good base towns: Kenmare, Glengarriff, Bantry

The Beara Peninsula sits on Ireland's southwest coast, split between County Cork and County Kerry. It gets less attention than the Ring of Kerry or Dingle Peninsula, partly because it falls across two counties and neither one really promotes it as its own.

Tessa Dennison, who publishes an annual magazine and book about the region called The Best of Beara, puts it simply: everyone's heard of the Ring of Kerry, but very few people have heard of the Ring of Beara.

This article is based on podcast episode 351 featuring Tessa Dennison, publisher of The Best of Beara.
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Planning a Trip to the Beara Peninsula

Beara doesn't have the tourist infrastructure Kerry and Dingle have built up. There are no rows of hotels or streets lined with souvenir shops. That's part of the appeal, but it also means a little more planning pays off.

Where Is the Beara Peninsula?

Ireland's southwest coast has three main peninsulas reaching into the Atlantic: Dingle, the Iveragh Peninsula (better known as the Ring of Kerry), and Beara, further south and divided along the Cork-Kerry border.

Visitors to the area often drive the direct route between Kenmare and Glengarriff – about 20 minutes – instead of the loop road around the peninsula, which takes the better part of a day. The direct route, while beautiful, skips Beara's stunning coastline and wonderful history.

Where to Stay on the Beara Peninsula

The best advice is to base yourself in one of the three main towns on the peninsula and use it as a hub.

• Kenmare sits right where the Beara and Iveragh peninsulas meet, has around 33 restaurants, bars, and cafés for a town of a couple thousand people, and puts you close to the Ring of Kerry too if you want to combine both.
• Glengarriff has its own pull – Garnish Island and the Blue Pool are both on the doorstep.
• Castletownbere is the peninsula's fishing hub, with easy access to the Beara Way walking trail and the ferry to Bere Island.

B&Bs and guesthouses are scattered through the towns in between, so there's no need to stick to the three main bases if a smaller village catches your eye.

Is the Beara Peninsula Worth Visiting Without a Car?

If you're not driving, you're not entirely out of luck. Kenmare-based operator, Kerry Tour Guides, runs small minibus tours around Beara – group bookings of five or six people, or occasionally single seats if there's enough interest to fill the bus.

Cycling is another option; Kenmare has e-bike rental, and the peninsula hosts an annual cycling event every May that loops the whole area.

One practical note if you are self-driving: the roads are narrow in places, with mountain passes and passing bays rather than wide lanes, but they're well maintained. Expert advice: don't be put off by the width of the road, just go slow.

No matter how you tour the area, expect a slower pace than you would find on the busier peninsulas.

Top Things to Do on the Beara Peninsula

Healy Pass and the Ring of Beara Drive

The Healy Pass is the peninsula's high viewpoint – a climbing, winding, mountain road with views over Kenmare Bay and the MacGillycuddy's Reeks on a clear day. Dennison recommends driving it from the Adrigole (Bantry Bay) side, climbing up past a small grotto near the summit before the view opens up on the way back down into Kerry. It's often compared to the Gap of Dunloe near Killarney, but with far less traffic.

Dursey Island Cable Car

Ireland's only cable car connects the mainland to Dursey Island at the peninsula's western tip. It's been renovated in recent years, but the older version had a habit of carrying more than tourists – Dennison remembers sheep waiting to board alongside passengers on an earlier crossing, since it was simply the most practical way to get livestock across.

Eyeries and the Ballycrovane Ogham Stone

Eyeries is known for its brightly painted houses, and its church holds eleven stained-glass windows by a well-known Irish artist, paid for by the local community in the 1980s. Just outside the village stands the Ballycrovane Ogham Stone, the tallest of its kind in Europe – Dennison notes that researchers believe as much stone again may be buried below ground as stands above it. A short distance away, Allihies has its own draw in the Copper Mine Museum, tracing the village's mining history.

Bere Island Ferry Trip

For a step further off the peninsula itself, the ferry to Bere Island leaves from Castletownbere. It's a small crossing – room for a handful of cars, you can also cross as a foot passenger – but the island has its own military history, with Martello towers and old forts, plus beaches and hiking trails. Dennison describes stepping off the ferry as stepping into another world entirely, and says it's worth building into your trip if you have the time.
Note: This is a great spot for a kayak tour.

Bantry

Just beyond Beara's edge, Bantry is worth a stop in its own right (I say it is what Dingle was like before it became popular). Its library is a piece of 1960s architecture currently being restored, and several boat and island trips advertised through Bantry's tourist office actually depart from within the Beara Peninsula rather than the town itself.

Meet Tessa Dennison, Publisher of Best of Beara

Tessa Dennison is a graphic designer who specializes in books and magazines, and the publisher behind Best of Beara – an annual regional magazine and a 144-page book covering the peninsula. The project started in 2018, when she and her daughter noticed Kerry had a long-running local publication of its own and Beara didn't. She's published an issue every year since, aside from 2020, printing between 7,000 and 10,000 copies annually and distributing them through tourist offices and advertisers across Cork and Kerry, from Killarney and Dingle down to Skibbereen, Clonakilty, and Bantry.

Find the digital magazine, order the book, or get more information on the peninsula at bestofbeara.com.

You'll also find Best of Beara on Facebook and Instagram.

Three Things to Build Into Your Beara Trip

Get out on the water. Dennison's top recommendation is anything water-based – kayaking out from Kenmare, Castletownbere, or Adrigole to visit the seals, or a night kayaking trip timed to catch the bioluminescence. She says her favorite views of the peninsula are from the water, looking back at the coastline.

Give it more time than the map suggests. Beara looks small enough to circle in a couple of hours, and you can, but that skips most of what's worth seeing. Dennison's advice is to slow down, follow the odd side road or handmade sign, and see what turns up – she mentioned finding an alpaca trekking outfit that way.

Take the ferry to Bere Island. Already covered above, but it's worth repeating as a standalone recommendation – Dennison calls it one of the best ways to add a genuine change of pace to a Beara visit.

The Beara Peninsula doesn't have the crowds or the marketing that Kerry and Dingle get, but it has dramatic coastline, high mountain passes, and towns where people still have time for a chat over coffee.

One or two unrushed days here will give you an idea of what the more popular peninsulas were like before the tour buses arrived.