Private Tour: Ring of Beara from Killarney.

Tony did a great job making sure we saw the key sites, sharing his “local” insights, and timing things to avoid the crowds. We had a lovely day.

Peter was incredibly knowledgeable on the history of all the villages we passed through on the tour. He was very accommodating when we expressed interest in visiting Dursey Island which was not on the original itinerary. Would highly recommend this tour and Peter and would schedule another tour with him again if we get the chance.

Peter took two of us on a tour of the Beara Peninsula. The full day tour was excellent. He is passionate and knowledgeable not only about the Beara Peninsula but Ireland. He is sociable and explained all of the locations we visited. We lucked out because the day we took the tour, the weather was sunny. The peninsula’s rugged beauty is amazing. On the road trip, Peter drove along the coast, took back roads, and showed us small villages on the coast. He pointed out the Skellig Islands where some of the Stars Wars movies were filmed. Along the way, he gave us plenty of time on our own. For example, we had time to explore the Kenmare village shops and stone circle, the fishing town of Castletownbere, ruined abbeys and cemeteries, take photos of the mountains, valleys, ocean, and innumerable sheep. One of the tour’s highlights was our visit to the Uragh Stone Circle, one of Ireland’s most famous Neolithic stone circles. Peter suggested two restaurants, one in Kenmare (Maison Gourmet where the owner serves delicious and fresh French pastries) and one in Castletownbere (Lynch’s which serves burgers and other casual foods). We bought sheet music and a tin whistle at Soundz of Muzic store, which stocks instruments, Irish sheet, music, and more. He arrived on time at our hotel, namely, the International Hotel Killarney. After the tour, we felt well acquainted the Beara Peninsula and left with memories of a lifetime.

We did a modified Beara itinerary spending more time in Glengarif and Kenmare because that's where my ancestry is probably from, rather than spending more time to do the entire Beara peninsula out to the end. Peter did a great job, giving us commentary and observations, and picking out interesting places to stop and take pictures. From Killarney, we went through the national park and stopped at the Torc waterfall, which was not crowded in the morning since the ring of Kerry tour busses go around the ring counter clockwise and wouldn't come through here until the afternoon. We stopped at Molly Gallivan's, which had a period cottage where she her businesses in the early 1800's = around the time my ancestors were near there. Glengarriff was nice - smaller than I thought, with only an intersection and a block or two of main buildings in the center of town. A shop and some pubs may be owned by some of my long-lost cousins (I suppose I'm the one who's lost). The centerpiece had to be the Healy Pass - just remarkable views on both sides of the top. Wasn't socked in at all on the day we went, although we could see the lines of clouds against the mountains. Watch out for the wind! We had more time in Kenmare, like we wanted, for a lunch stop, which was good that we had a couple hours.

Peter picked my husband and I up at our hotel in Killarney at about 9:45 am, and the three of us spent a beautiful day driving around the Bears Peninsula, and through Healy Pass. Peter was a wonderful guide! We stopped at Torc Waterfall and a couple of spots that were on several other tours, before heading to the Beara peninsula. Peter put some thought into where he’s like us to stop for lunch and he chose the lovely fishing village of Castletownbere. It was a Sunday, and not too many businesses were open, but we had a great lunch of fresh mussels outside and did some people watching! We learned so much about the area from Peter, stopped at a beautiful old cemetery, and saw jaw-dropping vistas (and about a million happy sheep). I highly recommend if you’re looking for a personalized tour, off the beaten path, and one unlike anything you’d get on a large, crowded tour bus! Peter dropped us off in town, at our request, around 4 pm., so we could do some shopping and visit a few pubs. It was a great day. Thank you, Peter!