LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

Distance: 270km (5 days) Grade: It all depends how many days you break it down into! Download: https://www.mapmyride. com/routes/view/2192852980

GETTING THERE

Killarney, the starting point for the Ring of Kerry, has a train station, and is wellconnected by several main roads, depending on where you’re coming from. The nearest airport is Cork, around 80 minutes away by car. We travelled from Pembroke to Rosslare with Irish Ferries with our car – a four-hour crossing.

WHERE TO STAY

The Ring of Kerry doesn’t lack tourism provision with campsites, B&Bs, hotels and spas peppered throughout the peninsula. Things get a bit more remote and sparse once you head inland into the mountains, so plan accordingly. Our accommodation highlights include Cronin’s Yard ( croninsyard.com), close to the Gap of Dunloe, which has camping for 5 per tent per night, showers are metered, at 1 per minute, and with the meter across the bathroom it makes for an interesting experience. The Horizon View Lodge ( horizonviewbnb.com) on Valentia Island is well worth considering, as is Kenmare Camping ( kenmarecamping.com).

FOOD AND DRINK

While we were cycle touring, we didn’t carry any cooking equipment, which meant lots of eating out! The best of the bunch was the Knightstown Coffee Shop and Bistro on Valentia Island.

BIKE SHOPS

Casey Cycles and Gas Supplies, a bike shop that doubles as a white goods store, is in Cahersiveen. It has bikes for hire and a workshop, which came to our rescue. bikehirekerry.com

RING OF KERRY CHARITY CYCLE

If you want to forego the bags and cycle touring and complete the Ring of Kerry in one swoop, consider this sportive, a partially closedroad event that heads anticlockwise round the Ring. It celebrated its 35th anniversary in July and now attracts 10,000 riders. ringofkerrycycle.ie