Travelling Ireland; Wednesday, 04 August, 2004

Wednesday was the first of two coach tours that I had booked myself onto, both run by Bus Éireann the state bus company.

Wednesday's itinerary was the Ring of Kerry, a 100+mile circle round the county taking in some of the most stunning scenery in the country. The tour itself is very well presented with the driver supplying an frequent commentary to the ride.

The first stop was Killarney. The town itself is not massively pretty and there is not a lot there, apart from the retail park which is located at the end of the bus station. However, just outside of Killarney the road rises towards the mountains and from a view point you can look down over the picturesque lakes of Killarney.

The next stop was the Kerry bog village, an open-air museum giving you an idea about how people involved in the peat industry lived in the past.

The coach then ran along side the coast on the opposite side of the Dingle bay from the Dingle Peninsular before pulling into the town of Waterville. The town's main claim to fame is that Charlie Chaplin regularly visited.

After reaching the highest point above Sneem the tour turns back inland and headed towards the town of Kenmare where we stopped for dinner. The town itself is very pretty and has quite a lot of history, just out the back of the town is an ancient stone circle.

After a stop in Kenmare we headed back towards Cork on the coach, finally arriving just before 10pm.