Killarney, Ireland

Lifted from ALPENTOURER magazine (5/2018) this suggested route might be of interest.




Yes, it’s in German but you can take a pretty good guess at what it says.

Download the route from the magazine’s website:

https://www.alpentourer.eu/alpentourer-tourentipps/gps-1805/

I don’t speak or read a word of German but I guessed my way through it. To save you some time (and possible terror of the unknown) here is how to do it:

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/506345-How-to-download-routes-from-Alpentourer-magazine

did this 2018, stopped at Portamagee for an overnight stop, nice like village and pub, the place we stayed was the base for the film crew of Star wars, they were using a monastery on an island just of the coast to film certain parts ..the ring of kerry is quite bumpy and broken surface in places. Like everywhere you need decent weather to enjoy it at its best. Well worth the trip though .

Quick look at that, why would you not ride from Ballinskelligs over the hill to Portmagee, one of the nicest bits of the Route missed out, FFS.
Plus the Beara is much nicer, but hey if you want to follow coaches stay there and enjoy yourself.

You’d want to go, if only for the place names and for the fun of trying to pronounce them anything close to correctly.

richie said:

Quick look at that, why would you not ride from Ballinskelligs over the hill to Portmagee, one of the nicest bits of the Route missed out, FFS.
Plus the Beara is much nicer, but hey if you want to follow coaches stay there and enjoy yourself.

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As with all route suggestions lifted from magazines, it is not perfect, nor does it claim to be, Richie. They are always a compromise of some sort, catering for a large audience of all sorts of riders of very mixed abilities and expectations The fullest value comes not from following the routes inch by inch but from people either finding their own excursions off or in having suggestions put to them on UKGSer, just as you have done. The alternative is for the magazines and bods not to do or suggest anything, which would make the world quite a dull place.

A similar example might be found in Scotland (in particular the NC 500) where most suggestions include John O’Groats, sometimes at the expense of missing out rides deeper into the Highlands or skipping the islands. The collective wisdom is that the UK’s most northerly point is a tourist trap rip-off. Maybe it is but to tick it off for a visitor is something quite different. Another would be the iconic Stelvio, included in many mountain suggested routes. According to some, it’s hell and should never be mentioned as every other pass in the world is better.

By all means create a route and share it it in this section. It’s the purpose of it.

The recommendation in the Tourentipps box for O'Neills the Point seafood bar at Reenard Point is spot on. It is a great place to eat and enjoy a few drinks.

Annascaul on the Dingle Peninsula is the home place of Tom Crean, who went on three expeditions to Antarctica with Scott and Shackleton then came home and opened a pub and told no-one of his escapades. The South Pole Inn is his pub.

Aidan1150 said:

The recommendation in the Tourentipps box for O'Neills the Point seafood bar at Reenard Point is spot on. It is a great place to eat and enjoy a few drinks.

Annascaul on the Dingle Peninsula is the home place of Tom Crean, who went on three expeditions to Antarctica with Scott and Shackleton then came home and opened a pub and told no-one of his escapades. The South Pole Inn is his pub.

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It is a fine bar indeed

Aidan1150 said:

Annascaul on the Dingle Peninsula is the home place of Tom Crean, who went on three expeditions to Antarctica with Scott and Shackleton then came home and opened a pub and told no-one of his escapades. The South Pole Inn is his pub.

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Read Tom Crean An unsung hero recently, fantastic book by Michael Smith. Well worth a look

richie said:

Quick look at that, why would you not ride from Ballinskelligs over the hill to Portmagee, one of the nicest bits of the Route missed out, FFS.

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If only to demonstrate that there are always different takes on the same thing. This from the supposedly ‘By bikers, for bikers’ MotoGoLoco site. They manage to miss out Ballinskelligs and Portmagee entirely. Odd indeed if it’s a ‘Must do’:

https://www.motogoloco.com/blog/ring-of-kerry-motogoloco-classics/





This from Adventure Bike Rider magazine, who (somewhat unhelpful) decided not to go to the trouble of printing a map or including a gps route: https://www.adventurebikerider.com/forget-the-nurburgring-you-need-to-ride-the-ring-of-kerry/


This from RouteYou, presumably created by a motorcyclist: https://www.routeyou.com/en-ie/rout...cle-route/ring-of-kerry-and-the-gap-of-dunloe



But then also from the same website, an alternative idea on a route out of Killarney: https://www.routeyou.com/en-ie/rout...g-motorcycle-route/killarney-to-ring-of-beara



That’s the great thing about the internet. A few minutes spent will throw up lots of ideas and even some videos. People can make their own mind up as to the production skills and varied choices of backtracks:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_nbpzhxYv-E" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WrYFQVi0MXs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aK0-SmV6q4o" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

richie said:

Quick look at that, why would you not ride from Ballinskelligs over the hill to Portmagee, one of the nicest bits of the Route missed out, FFS.
Plus the Beara is much nicer, but hey if you want to follow coaches stay there and enjoy yourself.

Click to expand...

One assumes Richie means this road:



I have no idea what he means by, “... the Beara is much nicer...” Is it a pub? Or is it the peninsula itself?

https://bearatourism.com

As Richie mentions about following the Coaches - the Tour Coaches set off from 11am and are permitted to only travel Anti Clockwise round the Ring of Kerry, so i would perhaps re routethe alpentourer route if you are thinking of copying that route.

When i was Planning our Trip i read a few comments on how many coaches you end up following, both times we stayed in Killarney/Muckross and i made sure we travelled clockwise, but we were on the road for 9am and both times we had no problems with coaches, we made sure we did the Gap of Dunloe before the Traffic inc Horse and Carts got going ....... we did weave on and off the Ring of Kerry.

Really enjoyed both Trips - Great Country, Great People.