Cycling Through the Gap of Dunloe - Amazing Day Trip in Killarney, Ireland

I didn't know that Ireland was such an adventurous destination, but I was quickly proven so the longer I stayed in the beautiful country. In fact, on my first full day in Ireland I was taken on an amazing custom tour through the lakes of Killarney National Park and the famous Gap of Dunloe.

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I flew into Killarney, Ireland for TBEX, Travel Blog Exchange, a conference for travel content creators, and those that attend get to go on some of the tours that the local tourism board sets up. I chose to go on the one that looked the most adventurous, naturally. Boy, was I in for a treat.

Ross Castle

The tour picked our group up at Ireland's National Event Center and took us to Ross Castle, a 15th century keep that sits on the edge of a lake called Lough Leane. From there we were picked up in small boats by Gap of Dunloe Traditional Boat Tours that took us on a tour through the 3 lakes that are all connected in the national park. We made a stop on one of the islands in the lake that had a ruin of a 7th century monastery that tried to isolate itself from the outside world but was invaded several times by powerful clans and vikings in search of gold and riches to pillage.

Ruined monastery in the middle of the lake

It rained as we boated through the lakes and we tried to stay as dry as we could, although not very successfully. But we all loved seeing the beautiful landscapes and wildlife of the national park until we reached Lord Brandon's Cottage which marked the end of our lake tour and the beginning of our bike tour. Ireland Walk Hike Bike led us from the cottage up into the Mountains of East Kerry to the Gap of Dunloe, which is basically a glacial-cut pass in the mountains and is a very popular site to see in western Ireland.

The first few kilometers was a lot of uphill cycling and took a lot of energy to get to the top of the pass. The chain on my bike got tangled up beyond quick repair so I had to ask our guide for the spare bike they brought along for such an occasion. Of course, once we all got up to the top where it was all downhill for us, it started raining again. So the ride through the most scenic portion of the trip was hastened by the weather. Thankfully I was still able to get a few good photos and some good footage.

The road through the Gap of Dunloe

After 11 kilometers of cycling, we ended our ride at Heather Restaurant. We started off with probably the best Irish coffee in the WORLD... or it just felt good to have something warm in my body. But seriously, I haven't had a better Irish coffee than that one, ever. Then we ordered food. I got a soup and sandwich, both of which were DELICIOUS. Especially the seafood chowder made from local ingredients.

After we warmed up at Heather, we boarded our bus that took us to our last stop, Beaufort Bar. Here we were treated to live music from a local duo that played a bunch of Irish folk songs and even taught us a dance with a broom. Come on, not like we all haven't thought of dancing with our brooms once we're forced to sweep the floor. The Irish just made it less embarrassing for everyone by making it part of their culture.

Beaufort Bar

Killarney may be a small town but it has so much to offer. I had A LOT of fun during my few days there and I wish I could have stayed longer. I have more videos of Ireland I'll be uploading soon, so be sure you're following me so you don't miss those.

Have you ever been to Ireland? What do you think of it?

Music used:
Traveler by Alexander Nakarada
@ SerpentSound Studios https://soundcloud.com/serpentsoundstudios
Music provided by No Copyright Music:
source

Roads That Burned Our Boots by Jahzzar
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

My video is at DLive