The Beara Way
Ireland - County Kerry/Cork
The trail:
- Location: Ireland - County Kerry/Cork
- Categories: Spring / Summer / Autumn / Winter / Human continental / Highland / Mountain / Foothill / Forest / Wood / Rural / Sea / Lake / River
- Duration: 6-11 Days
- Distance: 128 Miles
Walking the trail:
- Summary: A challenging 128 mile adventure across a rural quiet part of Southern Ireland. Simply an outstanding scenic route along green coastal paths and low level mountain passes with plenty of historical and archaeological sights along the route. Allihies is a must see section!
The Beara Way (Sli Bheara) is a circular 128 mile long distance walk located in South West Ireland (County Kerry & County Cork) on the obviously named Beara Peninsula.
The route follows quiet backroads, footpaths and tracks over low level mountain terrain, forests and open coastal areas as well as entering many towns and villages enroute. Much of the paths traverse private lands agreed with landowners so a condition is no dogs! (like most of the long distance walks in Ireland)
Starting and finishing from the small town of Glengarriff. (or whatever start/finish point you fancy!)
The beauty of this trail is you can attempt in one long adventure or break it down into sections depending on your timescale. A bus service runs across the south section (between Dursey Island and Glengarriff) so you can take advantage of this doing some sections and getting a return bus back to your start point. Bus timetable below.
The highlight of this adventure for me was the western tip around the town of Allihies. A copper mining town from the 1800s to early 1900s. There's lots of old ruins of the engine houses which provide some fantastic views from up in the hills behind. The whole area and Ballydonegan bay is beautiful and yet surprisingly quiet still in the summer. Allihies also has a very charming local pub (O'neills Bar) that has regular live music. Just perfect for an area of long distance walking.
Allihies camping is also one of the best and cost effective camp sites I've ever stayed at! If you don't mind the owner passing by on his tractor around 10pm to collect the 10 euros a night fee!
More information can be found on the official Beara Way website.
https://bearatourism.com/beara-way
Any questions feel free to contact me.
GPX file available on request.