Kerry Way

Ireland's longest waymarked walk, the Kerry Way is a 214 km loop around the Iveragh Peninsula, following the famous Ring of Kerry on foot rather than by road. Starting and finishing in Killarney, it takes most walkers about nine days through the wildest and most mountainous corner of Ireland.

The landscape is superb: the lakes and oakwoods of Killarney National Park, the high pass of the Gap of Dunloe, old green roads across open moorland, and coastal stretches with views to the Skellig Islands and the Atlantic. Ruined farmsteads and famine-era roads recall the peninsula's hard history between the mountains and the sea.

Walking is moderate, following old droving and butter roads, forest tracks and hill paths, with several exposed upland crossings that demand care in poor weather. Villages such as Sneem, Waterville and Caherdaniel offer B&Bs, pubs and shops, so the route is comfortably done inn to inn without camping. No permit is required, and the way is waymarked throughout.

Many stages follow historic roads once used to carry butter to market or to link remote coastal communities, giving the walk a strong sense of the past. The best season is April to October; the Kerry climate is notoriously wet, so late spring and early autumn offer the best balance of drier days and long light, though walkers should always expect rain, mist and mud on the higher ground.