Ireland has many long-distance walking trails tucked into its relatively small island, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. And there are a lot of ways, because that’s what most of Ireland’s walking trails are called. Each day on a walking trail in Ireland brings something different and, because the country also has four-season-in-a-day ways, some may say that dry days are the best days. The Irish do love to chat a lot about the weather, however. And at the end of these best hikes in Ireland, find yourself a good pub where you can chat about the weather, and the way, while you wait for your Guinness to settle. By the time it has, you won’t be worrying about the weather at all anymore. And just be feeling excited about the next day’s hike ahead.
Black Valley to Glencar, Kerry Way and Killarney National Park
Killarney National Park is Ireland’s oldest national park, and one of the most popular walking holidays in Ireland, following the Kerry Way. This is a colossal and sometimes challenging 210km long-distance walking trail that takes 12 days to complete. For us, one of the highlights is the walk between Black Valley and Glencar, which takes place on day three of the holiday. Setting the tone perfectly for the emerald jewels that lie ahead.
Black Valley is beautifully remote and was, in fact, the last place in Ireland to be connected to the electricity grid in 1967. The trail takes you on mountain roads where shepherds have walked their flocks for generations and where you feel you have escaped time. Keen birders keep an eye out for white-tailed eagles, which were introduced here a couple of decades ago. You’ll definitely feel as free as a bird as you trek in the shadow of MacGillycuddy’s Reeks, which is home to Carrauntoohil, Ireland’s highest mountain. Other hiking highlights include cattle droving paths up to Bridia Valley, rocky uplands, the fuchsia-lined hedges that conceal ancient, ruined homestays, and views down to the Lough Acoose. All leading finally down to Glencar, a hamlet in the heart of MacGillycuddy’s Reeks.
Distance: 23km
Hiking time: 6-7h
Slieve League Cliffs, Donegal Way
It’s a mystery why more international visitors don’t know about County Donegal. Right up in the north-west and bordering with Northern Ireland, it’s the place of peace that so many Northern Irish people sought out during the years of conflict. And it’s still a place of peace that’s off radar to many ramblers. And, like so many other northern nirvanas, such as Asturias in Spain, Emilia Romagna in northern Italy or the Wild Taiga of Finland, Donegal is dramatic and authentic.
The Donegal Way is a route that combines both sections of the Bluestack Way and The Ways of the Gaeltacht, and has the Blue Stack Mountains at its heart. After walking through these wild mountain landscapes, more hill walking terrain than alpine, the trail comes to a crescendo at Slieve League Cliffs on your last day. If you already know about the Cliffs of Moher in the Burren on the west coast, which peak at 214m high, Slieve League is, well in another league, topping 601m. The walking trail to get there is also uplifting, following ancient paths through blanket bog as far as Carrick, and then heading to the coast as far as the fishing harbour at Teelin. From here, head to the Slieve League Centre, where you can get a shuttle bus to the cliffs, or you can walk a further 4.3km to a famous viewpoint of the cliffs at Bunglass. Get ready to be blown away, although never go close to the edge, to avoid taking that literally.
Distance: 14km
Hiking time: 4h
Dingle to Dunquin, the Dingle Way
The Dingle Way covers 179km of some of Ireland’s finest beaches, rural villages, dramatic cliffs and panoramic views along what is now known as the Wild Atlantic Way. The Dingle Way is a world-renowned walking trail, and yet you will always find tranquil spots on the likes of Mount Brandon, in the foothills of Slieve Mish or among the dunes of Inch Strand. It’s this day of walking between Dingle and Dunquin that hikers hone in on however, when they are pushed to pick a favourite. The walk takes place on day four of both our 10 day self-guided walking tour and eight day hiking holiday of the trail’s highlights.
Leaving the town of Dingle behind, well known for its traditional music scene, the first stage takes you towards Ventry harbour, alongside beach and dunes, and then to Kilcolman, the remains of an early Christian settlement. There are other ancient structures along the way, including the Glenfahan or Fahan settlement, which has cave dwellings, beehive huts, stone
monuments and forts. The route continues to some elevated viewpoints of the coast and, in particular, the Blasket Islands, which have been uninhabited since the 1960s. You can read more about these in The Great Blasket Centre in Dunquin, where you spend the night. And a special place it is too, as it is the westernmost village in Ireland, on the shores of the Atlantic at the foot of Mount Eagle. Check out the path to its pier below, and you’ll get the vibe.
Distance: 25km
Hiking time: 7h
Kilkrohane to Toreen and Sheep’s Head Lighthouse, Sheep’s Head Way
The Sheep’s Head Way is one of the south-west’s most spindly peninsulas, measuring just 19km long and 5km wide. For keen walkers it’s like a tardis, however, with 150km of hill walks leading you to dreamy coves, dramatic cliffs, ancient archaeological sites or to its elusive lighthouse right at the tip – all strengthened by a sandstone ridge which stretches down the core of the peninsula like a central spine. It also has an impressive local community, fully committed to sustainable tourism on its prettiest of patches, and it’s thanks to them that such superb walking access has been granted to its hiking visitors.
It’s the tip of the peninsula that tops our list of day hikes on the Sheep’s Head Way, which is located down a narrow, stepped path just outside the hamlet of Torreen. You can visit it on either day four or five of our walking holiday, both of which take you to Toreen, but then lead you along the peninsula in different directions. Take your pick, as both are wild and wonderful. The lighthouse is so fantastically exposed, however, in that way that Irish lighthouses are on the brink of the Atlantic. There’s no cafe there, but don’t miss the nearby Cupán Tae (2.3km), which you don’t have to work too hard to translate. Sometimes nicknamed ‘tea shop at the end of the world’, the tea tastes out of this world.
Distance: 14/16km
Hiking time: 4/5h
Glengarriff to Adrigole, Beara Way
Beara is a beauty and so remote that many Irish people haven’t even visited. The Beara Way is a waymarked 196km walking trail taking you around, over and into the heart of this wild and windy hillwalking heaven. Whether you walk it in 12 days or do the slightly shorter ten or eight-day versions, you can mix exhilarating cliff-top walks or ancient bog roads with offshore islands Garinish and Bere. This stretch between the waterfront village of Glengarriff, which has the Caha mountains on one side and Bantry Bay on the other is a Cork-er. Irresistibly bad pun, given that this is the heart of West Cork. It’s also irresistibly beautiful.
Glengarriff translates as rugged glen from Irish, and it’s a wooded one too as you will see at the start of the trail, which then takes you on ancient tracks along the Coomarkane River and Valley. The backdrop is the Caha Mountains and, in particular, Sugarloaf, which is the highest mountain on the peninsula, at 574m. As you walk along its sweet flanks, the trail then takes you to Toberavanaha Lake, which is a good spot to cool off your feet. Continue on through this utopian upland region as far as Adrigole, a harbour village overlooked by Hungry Hill. And if you are hungry, or thirsty, head to the Wild Atlantic Bar, after which you are met and transferred back to your accommodation in Glengarriff.
Distance: 16km
Hiking time: 5-6h
Drumgoff to Laragh, Wicklow Way
The Wicklow Way dips in and out of Wicklow Mountains National Park for 132km, visiting some of its most magnificent natural heritage highlights, such as Glendalough and Powerscourt Waterfall, Glenmalure Valley and the stupendous saddles at Mullacor, White Hill and Djouce. A vast open bogland, with rounded bronze coloured peaks, you can walk in some of the country’s wildest spots, with vistas of heath, waterfalls and long winding roads for miles around including out to sea, as the national park overlooks the east coast.
The Wicklow Way also takes you through some fascinating cultural heritage sites, especially monastic ones. And it’s on this section, between Drumgoff and Laragh, where you can pocket a multitude of memories of all aspects of the area. Starting off at Drumgoff, it leads into forest, which ascends up to Mullacor saddle, then continues on through typical Wicklow moorland to the slopes of Derrybawn Mountain.
If you take a diversion up to the top of Derrybawn, (476m), you get Wicklow in all its wonders, with views across to Ireland’s iconic Sugar Loaf Mountain (501m), the Spinc and Mullacor Ridges. And also to Glendalough, otherwise known as the glen of two lakes. After a walk through more sweeping valleys, you get to the idyllic Irish Laragh village. This is also gateway to the 6th-century Glendalough Monastic Settlement, just 2km from the village. It’s really worth booking an extra day in Laragh to take more time there.
Distance: 18km
Hiking time: 6h
These day hikes are all part of longer walking trails in Ireland. For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact our adventure specialists. And please note that Ireland is very committed to protecting its flora and fauna, and building biodiversity. To read up more about leading conservation organisations, see the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, An Taisce, Birdwatch Ireland and the Irish Wildlife Trust. You can also donate to their causes of course. You may also enjoy our other blogs on Ireland.
