I lived in Kerry for four years. In that time I drove the Ring of Kerry more times than I can count, and I came to the conclusion that the Ring is the least interesting thing about the county.
It is a good road with good views. It is also the road every coach takes, and it routes around most of what I would send someone to see.
These are eight Kerry hidden gems off that circuit. Several are within twenty minutes of it.
Most of the places below sit in Your Ireland Guide alongside another sixty or so, with the access notes, parking and light timings I use myself.
Have a look hereBallaghbeama Gap
A single track pass straight through the middle of the Iveragh Peninsula, where the Ring goes around the outside. Steep rock walls, almost no traffic, and a road that demands your full attention.
Not one for a nervous driver in a large hire car. Passing places are limited and the surface is variable.
Derrynane Beach
Technically on the Ring, practically ignored by it. The walk out to Abbey Island is the reason to come, and it is tide dependent. Check before you set out, because people do get caught.
Caragh Lake and Forest Park
A long lake in the hills between Killorglin and Glenbeigh with the Reeks beyond it. Very quiet, easy walking, and a good option on a day when the coast is unworkable.
Park on the east side of the lake, where Coillte maintains a small forest recreation area with a couple of short looped trails. Still mornings are what you want for the reflection.
Sauce Creek, Dingle Peninsula
A remote cove hemmed in by high ground on the north side of the peninsula. Getting there involves a walk across open hillside and a proper drop down to the water.
I would not send an inexperienced walker here in poor weather. It is properly remote, there are no safety barriers, and there is no easy exit.
Clogher Strand, Dingle Peninsula
A small beach on the west end of Dingle that takes the full force of the Atlantic. Not a swimming beach. A watching-the-sea beach.
Sunset with a big swell running is the thing here, with the Blaskets out beyond it.
Fenit Lighthouse, Tralee Bay
A lighthouse on a small island connected to the mainland by a causeway from Fenit. Undervalued because it is on the north side of Kerry, which most itineraries skip entirely.
The lighthouse itself is not open to the public, but you can walk out along Fenit Pier for a clear view across to it, with Banna Strand and the Slieve Mish mountains behind.
The Hydro Track, MacGillycuddy's Reeks
The best value walk in Kerry and almost nobody outside the county knows the name.
From the Hydro Track car park it is an out-and-back to the Hydro Dam and the twin lakes: two to three hours, no scrambling, and views that hold their own against anything on Carrauntoohil. Most people either do the full summit or nothing, and miss this entirely.
If you do want the summit, budget six to eight hours, proper boots and a genuine weather window.
Eask Tower, Dingle
A solid stone tower on Carhoo Hill above Dingle town, built in 1847 as a navigation marker for boats coming into the harbour. The walk up is short and steep, and the reward is the whole of Dingle Bay laid out beneath you, out towards the Skelligs on a clear day.
The landowner charges a couple of euro at a small hut by the car park, worth having in coins. Go up for sunset and bring a torch for coming down.
