The Long Way RoundNotebook No 65August 2025
Cork and Kerry's quieter peninsula, driven slowly.
Collected by Deborah. Read her editorial perspective
When summer brings its throngs to the Ring of Kerry’s familiar byway, we often steer you toward the Beara Peninsula's quiet reaches. This is the Ireland we know and love, a place where the Atlantic speaks directly to you and life’s rhythm finds a slower tempo. We appreciate that most travellers overlook this route.
Slea Head
Our usual drive traces the coast from Glengarriff to Allihies, always with a stop in Castletownbere for a bowl of chowder that thoroughly warms us. The Healy Pass then offers its sharp ascents and descents before we rejoin civilization in Kenmare. We recommend you take this circuit.
This half-day journey avoids heavy traffic with an unbroken connection to the wild Atlantic.
The Ireland Edit Way
Cut the itinerary in half, then cut it again. The letter we send before every first visit.
Every hotel change costs you half a day. Luxury, in Ireland, is staying put.
Six questions we apply before booking any room in Ireland. The November test, the dinner-twice test, the landscape-over-room test.
To understand Ireland, stop looking at the castles and start looking at the kitchen table.
From the notebook
Collected notes. A few times each season.