Think of walking in Ireland and most people think of Kerry, whether it’s the jagged sawtooth of the mighty Macgillycuddy’s Reeks, the legendary Brandon Mountain, the beautiful Kerry Way or one of many gorgeous costal walks. A cliché it might be, but Kerry truly is a walker’s paradise.
Mountain addicts will want to start in the ‘Reeks’ as they’re known. Carrauntoohil’s the tallest peak and a shapely giant it is too. It has a trade route, via the Hag’s Glen and the Devil’s Ladder, but true connoisseurs will want to climb it via the wonderful Coomloughra Horseshoe – an intoxicating cocktail of airy walking and easy scrambling, or even as the high point on a crossing of the whole ridge from Kate Kearney’s Cottage to Glen Car.
Staying on the Iveragh Peninsula, the hills east and west of the Reeks offer scintillating walking too – although the going’s generally softer and the mountain tops a little more rounded. And there’s the waymarked Kerry Way, for those that would rather avoid the high mountains.
Across the bay, the Dingle Peninsula has plenty offer too, especially an ascent of the wonderful Brandon Mountain, a 3,000 footer with mouth-watering coastal views. This one can be climbed with fewer complications than Carrauntoohil, and within reach of any fit walker on a good day.
Back down on the coast, the Peninsula is lined with beautiful beaches and some magnificent headlands that offer fine walking. Inch Strand would make a great starting point.
