Day 11 was probably the most varied scenic day of this leg of the Irish coast cycle I I cycled down the entire western side of the Beara peninsula – here there were a lot of parallel local roads that enabled me to avoid the main road which is what the Wild Atlantic Way follows. Almost all my route coincided with Eurovelo 1. If you wanted to do one short bikepacking trip then getting the train to Killarney and then heading to Kenmare via the Black Valley and then Beara might be the most heavy traffic avoiding choice of this leg.
The video over the freshly mown field lead to a conversation with an elderly Kerry farmer who emerged from the house at the other side of the lane. He assured me there was only one big hill left before the pub, pointed out Carrauntoohil & we’d a discussion about how great mountain rescue volunteers are who rescue ill prepared hikers year round. I asked if he had ever climbed it and he said no.
I did stop for lunch at Helen’s pub which was excellent & from there the road is boarded by beautiful woods opening up at times on the left to sea views. Then the landscape becomes more rocky & I diverted off route to not one but two stone circles, Uragh and Ardgroom. Even if you have no interest in the circles themselves they are worth a visit as they always seem to be placed where there are amazing views of the landscape.
The last stretch was on to the Allihies and here my route planning let me down as I found myself on a tough gravel track heading over a steep pass. I really did not fancy the descent on that surface so backtracked and took the longer 12km around the coast, a spectacular road in itself with steep climbs but at least a surface that you can descend without lethal skids. But that added a good distance into what was already a long day.
My overnight stop was the Allihies – an area whose landward side is a steep sided bowl of ancient eroded hills laden with copper. Fittingly there was an amazing copper themed sunset further enhance by the outline of the Skelligs on the horizon. If the sunset had been in Starwars it would have been felt to be way too much CGI. Today was when I contacted a friend and arranged a trip out to the Skelligs later that summer – something you can do from Portmagee but places are very limited so you do need to book well in advance
Reached by home or walking this area is very isolated but the village includes a good pub-restaurant & a general store – both open until 8, the pub part being open for drink way beyond that. There is also a very basic campsite, a field with a toilet block above the beach.
I’d hoped to swim here but the tall steep sand shelf along with the dumping waves & undertow made me feel a solo swim was too risky.
Insta photos at https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce_ZD8isS-9/?img_index=1 and https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce_PpK4sBTB/?img_index=1
Route map at https://cycle.travel/map/journey/326922
4 Comments
Wonderful scenery. It's like a nicer version of Scotland but without the dreaded traffic
Scenery is amazing when cycling. Was it filmed recently? I think it's getting cold now.
The skelegs looks great, reminds me of going to Staffa with the puffins. I've been their , need to do that island to . Thanks for sharing
I think stone cicles were gathering places for tribal ceremonies or ancient drug infused raves.