Scenic Ireland – Scenic Drives in County Kerry – Gap of Dunloe – Slea Head – Conor Pass

Scenic Ireland – Scenic Drives in County Kerry – Gap of Dunloe – Slea Head – Conor Pass

The southwest of Ireland has some of the  most amazing scenic drives and in this   video we’ll share three that we found on  our travels around County Kerry. The Gap   of Dunloe was an amazing winding mountain  pass, the Slea Head Drive offers incredible  

Coastal views and the Steep Conor pass has  beautiful panoramic views and a delightful   waterfall to explore – don’t miss these  wonderful drives when you visit Ireland. Our first stop is at the Gap of Dunloe, a narrow  mountain pass formed 25,000 years ago during  

Ireland’s last ice age and within an area known as  The Ring of Kerry 179 km scenic drive around the   Iveragh Peninsula. We covered the drive and  some of the attractions in one of our older   videos but never made it to Dunloe. The pass is  a 20-minute drive from the pretty and bustling  

Town of Killarney and your starting point will  be at the world famous Kate Kearney’s Cottage Kate opened this small cottage as a refreshment  store for weary Travelers visiting the Gap back   in the mid 19th century and concocted a porchin  a potent and illicit alcoholic drink made from  

Potatoes, so strong one shot needed to be  watered down with seven parts water. Today,   it’s a restaurant offering delicious  hot Irish food.   You can drive, walk, cycle or in the summer season even  hire a jaunting car, a pony and cart,  

To experience the pass. We’ll begin our  drive from the car park at the cottage,   I will mention that we’re here out of season it’s  mid December and the pass is pretty clear. In the   summer it will be very hard to drive with many  visitors using the alternative ways to view the  

Pass so we would recommend only driving  in the early morning during peak times. Situated between two stunning mountain ranges,  The McGillicuddy Reeks and Purple mountain, you   will find most of the walkers in the first couple  of kilometers as they walk to the Wishing Bridge

The narrow mountain pass was forged  by glacier flows. The river running   through the Gap is the river Loe  from which the Gap gets its name. We are passing one of the five lakes on  the 11 km route. This is the Black Lake

There are a number of properties along  the route all within the national park   and protected buildings you’ll also see some  ruins of cottages abandoned since the famine Before we squeeze through the narrowest part  of the pass between the mountain ranges,   let’s step out of the car and see some of the scenery.

The setting is just stunning, the road  disappears over the path in arguably the most   beautiful part of the drive. Harden hikers  will arrive at this point in around an hour   from Kate’s Cottage. I believe the jaunting cars  also navigate this winding Road. Let’s drive up  

And enjoy the scenery as we make our way to the  top of the pass at the head of the Gap of Dunloe Reaching the top the road continues  into the Black Valley but at this   point we needed to turn back so we could  head to our next Scenic Drive. The road  

Is not a loop so you do need to come back  the same way. The great thing is that the   views look different on the way down and  so it feels like a whole new experience. If you are planning to visit other attractions  near the pass, then watch our Ring of Kerry  

Video stopping at some of the best sites like  the stunning 15th century Ross castle, the   beautiful mansion Muckross House and Gardens, Torr  waterfall, Ladies’ view for amazing vistas, and much more. Our second Scenic Drive is the Slea  Head Drive just outside the town of Dingle  

On the the wonderful Dingle Peninsula a  1hour 10-minute drive from the Gap of  Dunloe. We stayed in Dingle overnight  before taking the drive. In December   the town is relatively quiet with several  restaurants and bars closed for the season,   but we did find the most amazing fish  restaurant to have a wonderful meal.

The fish tacos were to die for. Well, that hands down was one of the best fish and  chip shops that we’ve been to. My word the food   was exceptionally good, the fish was incredible,  highly recommend visiting there – that’s The Fish  

Box here in Dingle, giving them a shout out  five stars really loved it thank you. This is   not the first time we’ve been to the town. Back  in 2019 we visited and you can see all the lively  

Activities this charming place has to offer in  that video all the links will be at the end. The Slea Head Drive is a loop drive around the  tip of the Dingle Peninsula. The roads become   narrow as you reach the coast, so it’s best if  everyone tries to drive in a clockwise circuit  

To avoid lots of awkward maneuvers with traffic  coming in the other direction. Allow yourself   at least an hour to take the drive – double and  more if you want to stop in various locations. As you drive there are places of interest to stop  

At. Look out for the Beehive  huts that pop up around the area. A small fee allows you to view  these ancient curious cone-shaped   drystone buildings it’s amazing that they  still stand in this windswept location. ln the spring and summer months you  can also cuddle Lambs that have been  

Hand reared as they were rejected by their  mothers. Will took great delight in this in 2019. The rugged coastline is amazing  even on a windy and at times wet day. Reaching the tip of the Slea Head at  the layby with the Slea head cross,  

You can experience amazing views over the  Atlantic and the nearby Blasket Islands. At Dunquin you can take a boat to  the blasket island from April to September. Ahead of us is Dunmore Head, the most westerly  point in mainland Ireland. Not far from here,  

Two ships of the Spanish Armada, the  Santa Maria del la Rosa and the San   Juan sank in a storm in 1588,  there’s a memorial at Dunquin. At the end of the parking area, a path can  take you for a walk over the headland, but  

We just enjoyed the Oystercatchers in the field  and the dramatic Coastal scenery from the car. From Dunmore Head the drive takes us  past Dunquin which we didn’t stop at   this time. Back in 2019 we took a walk to  the pier where you can view some pyramid  

Shaped rocks for dramatic views you can  see that in our previous Dingle video. We head inland briefly now, climbing slightly  across an area that reminds me of the Yorkshire   Moors making our way to the final Coastal  View on the route at Waymont near Clogher Head From here we’re heading inland and back towards  

Dingle to complete the circuit  of the stunning Slea Head Drive. Our third and final Scenic Drive is  conveniently on the other side of   Dingle town. The Conor Pass is one  of the highest mountain passes in   Ireland and can be reached in  just 10 minutes from the town centre.

The drive begins with fairly average  scenery on the outskirts of Dingle but stick   with it, as we climb towards the peak  at 1500 ft 458 M the landscape opens up   and becomes much more interesting  with views across the peninsula.

The car park at the top of the pass  allows you to jump out of the car and   enjoy panoramic views. Well, not quite  today due to the low cloud the winds   were very high gusting to 50 and 60 MPH  thanks to storm Ellen that was passing  

Over Ireland. This made it hard to hold  the camera steady and sound was nearly impossible. It certainly didn’t seem to bother  the sheep that continue to graze on the lush green grass. Crossing over the pass the  next driving stretch is another  

Now familiar narrow road clinging to the  mountain side. This is probably the most   dramatic part of the journey as we make  our way to the picturesque waterfall. The waterfall was very  active during our visit, the weather has been pretty miserable all week  and so large quantities of water were running  

Off the mountain finding its way down the  pass through streams and this waterfall. The weather here can be unpredictable  and no sooner had we stepped back into   the car to finish our drive down  the pass, the clouds rushed in,   the wind whipped up and we ended  our Scenic Drive in torrential rain.

So it’s a really windy end to our trip here  in Ireland, hope you’ve enjoyed the couple   of videos that we’ve shared with you. We’ll  be back soon with some more. There is plenty   to watch on our Channel, lots of playlists for  you to view our travel so do enjoy those. Thanks  

Very much for watching from a blustery southern  Ireland see you next time from the MemorySeekers.

Ireland has some amazing scenic drives and in this video, we share 3 wonderful scenic drives in County Kerry you won’t want to miss when you visit. #scenicireland
Scenic Drive 1 Gap of Dunloe, and incredible winding mountain pass in the heart of the Ring of Kerry.
Scenic Drive 2 Slea Head Drive on the Dingle Peninsula, a wonderful narrow coastal route providing great views of the Atlantic Ocean and islands off the west coast of Ireland.
Scenic Drive 3 Conor Pass, is the highest mountain pass in Ireland with incredible panoramic views and a waterfall to visit.

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00:00 Introduction
00:40 Gap of Dunloe
11:28 Ring of Kerry Drive
11:54 Dingle
13:19 Slea Head Drive
21:04 Conor Pass

#sceniclreland #scenicdrive #ringofkerry