South West Ireland Attractions

Ireland's most famous scenic drive — 179km around the Iveragh Peninsula with mountain passes, glacier-carved lakes and views of Skellig Michael. Drive anti-clockwise to avoid the tour buses.

26,000 acres of ancient oak woods, three glacial lakes and the MacGillycuddy's Reeks on the doorstep. Jaunting cars, boat trips, Ross Castle and Muckross House — the most varied national park in Ireland.

A narrow glacial pass through the MacGillycuddy's Reeks — 11 km of mountain valley with five small lakes, taken on foot, by bike or by jaunting car.

A rugged Atlantic peninsula with early Christian monuments, Slea Head's views over the Blasket Islands, and the town of Dingle as a base.

The Blarney Stone and a 15th-century tower house near Cork — but the Rock Close gardens are the real underrated gem. Arrive at opening or after 4pm to skip the tour bus queues.

A steeply terraced Victorian port town — Titanic's last stop before New York in 1912, and home to 2.5 million emigrants during the Famine.

Ireland's most south-westerly point — a signal station on a cliff-edge island connected by a footbridge, with Atlantic views in three directions.

A sixth-century monastic settlement on a sea stack 12 km off the Kerry coast — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Star Wars filming location.

A 15th-century tower house on the shore of Lough Leane — the last stronghold in Munster to hold out against Cromwellian forces in 1652.

A 5-kilometre sand spit pushing into Dingle Bay — one of the longest beaches in Ireland, with excellent surf and a legendary pub at the entrance.

A star-shaped 19th-century fortress in Cork Harbour — an island prison that held 2,000 Famine convicts and was voted the world's best tourist attraction in 2017.

The original Jameson production site in County Cork — home to the world's largest pot still and an immersive whiskey experience in a working distillery complex.

A small harbour town widely considered to have the best restaurant scene outside Dublin — surrounded by 17th-century fortifications and a beautiful estuary.

A group of uninhabited islands 3 km off the tip of the Dingle Peninsula — evacuated in 1953, and the source of three of the most significant works of 20th-century Irish literature.

Cork's covered food market trading since 1788 — butchers, fishmongers, artisan producers and the famous tripe stall under a Victorian iron roof in the heart of the city.

A 19th-century Gothic Revival prison in Sunday's Well — its cells and corridors now tell the story of Irish imprisonment, the Famine era and the struggle for independence through life-size recreations.

Cork's most iconic landmark — a 18th-century church tower where visitors can climb to the top and ring the famous eight bells themselves. The two-tone salmon-and-limestone facade is the city's most photographed image.

A walk-through wildlife park on Fota Island in Cork Harbour where cheetahs, giraffes and 30+ species roam with minimal barriers across 100 acres of former estate grounds.

A 13th-century Anglo-Norman castle on the banks of the Shannon in Limerick city — one of the best-preserved examples of Norman military architecture in Ireland, with excavated Viking-era settlement visible within the walls.

Ireland's most picturesque estate village — a street of thatched cottages, medieval abbeys and the grounds of the Adare Manor estate. Frequently photographed and deservedly so; easy 90-minute stop from Shannon.

A privately managed cliff viewpoint near Portmagee with some of the most dramatic coastal scenery in Kerry — sheer drops to the Atlantic, sea stacks, and on clear days a direct view of Skellig Michael on the horizon.

A Victorian mansion built for Queen Victoria's 1861 visit, surrounded by Killarney National Park — the house, the lakeside gardens and the working Traditional Farms nearby are three of the most visited sites in Kerry.

An intact dry-stone Early Christian church on the Dingle Peninsula — a small corbelled oratory built without mortar between the 6th and 9th centuries that has remained waterproof for over 1,000 years.

The highest mountain pass in Ireland at 456 m, crossing the spine of the Dingle Peninsula with panoramic views north to the Castlegregory lakes and south over Dingle town and harbour.

A 15-acre Italianate garden on a small island in Bantry Bay — created from bare rock between 1910 and 1953 by Harold Peto for Annan Bryce. The ferry crossing passes seals on the rocks; the island has a Martello tower, a Grecian temple and plant collections from five continents.

The only cable car in Ireland — a small box suspended over Dursey Sound at the tip of the Beara Peninsula, carrying 6 passengers (or a cow) the 500-metre crossing to Dursey Island. Remote, raw and genuinely unlike anything else in the country.

An 18th-century Anglo-Irish mansion overlooking Bantry Bay, with one of the finest formal gardens in Ireland — seven Italian terraces descending to the sea. Still lived in by the White family, with the original art collection and furnishings intact.

Sea kayaking on Ireland's only marine nature reserve — a salt-water lake connected to the Atlantic by a narrow tidal rapids. Night kayaking in summer reveals bioluminescent plankton. One of the most distinctive water experiences in Ireland.

Guided whale and dolphin watching from Baltimore harbour — fin whales (the second-largest animal on earth), humpbacks, minkes and large common dolphin pods in the waters off west Cork. Ireland's most reliable whale-watching location, with sightings on most trips from August to October.

A 17th-century star fort on a headland at the entrance to Kinsale harbour — one of the finest examples of military star-fort architecture in Europe, built after the Battle of Kinsale (1601). Still largely intact, with substantial walls, bastions and views over the harbour.

Whale watching from the picturesque village of Courtmacsherry in Seven Heads Bay — humpback whales feed regularly in these waters from September to November, alongside fin whales and large pods of common dolphins. A quieter alternative to the Baltimore boats.

A high-speed RIB boat safari around Dingle Bay and the Blasket Sound — sea stacks, caves, grey seal colonies and bottlenose dolphins in the bay that Fungie the wild dolphin made famous. The fastest and most exhilarating way to see the Dingle Peninsula from the sea.