Kerry
The Iveragh and Beara peninsulas hold some of the finest small roads in the world, and in May they’re at their best. The gorse is yellow on every hillside and the hawthorn is out along the walls. The Healy Pass stacks its switchbacks like a folded ribbon, the Priest’s Leap goes up at grades that make you laugh out loud, and the Ring of Kerry unrolls the Atlantic on three sides.
This is a training week, not a sightseeing tour, though the sights will find you anyway. Real riding in a place that hasn’t smoothed its edges for anyone: narrow roads, stone walls, weather with opinions, and descents you’ll describe badly at dinner because words don’t quite cover them. Pack for every condition: rain jacket, thermal layers, gloves, and something for the sun, because in Kerry you can meet all four seasons before lunch. The weather is part of the trip, and we ride prepared for all of it.
Every route this week is modular: the support vehicle shadows every ride, so any day can become a shorter one, and no one will say a word.
The details are ours to carry: six nights in one hotel in Kenmare, breakfast and dinner included (lunch on you, mid-ride), airport transport included, and routes built from firsthand knowledge.
Ireland doesn’t perform for visitors. But give it six days, and it will hand you one unforgettable week of riding.
The route
- Day1Arrivals · Kenmare
Land at Cork (ORK) by 2pm for the group transfer to Kenmare — just under ninety minutes by car. Settle in at the Kenmare Bay Hotel & Resort, build bikes, and spin the legs out on a shakeout ride that finishes at a pub. Welcome dinner at the hotel.
- Day2Ring of Beara141 km (88 mi) · 1,603 m (5,259 ft) climbing
The peninsula loop to open the week. Stone walls, slate roofs, the Caha Pass through its rock tunnels, and the Atlantic on three sides. The longest day of the week, with a tailwind home if we’re lucky.
Caha Pass 6.0 km · 255 m · 4.3% avg · 6% max - Day3The Ballaghbeama Gap116 km (72 mi) · 1,264 m (4,147 ft) climbing
The other-worldly one. A single-track road into the heart of the Iveragh mountains and up through the Ballaghbeama Gap — no walls, no traffic, just rock and sky. The day that doesn’t look like anywhere else.
Ballaghbeama Gap 7.0 km · 280 m · 4.0% avg · 7% max - Day4Dingle to Kenmare107 km (66 mi) · 1,105 m (3,625 ft) climbing
A one-way day: a transfer up to Dingle, then the long ride home across the peninsulas and back over the gap to Kenmare. Quieter on the climbing, big on the views.
Ballaghbeama Gap 7.0 km · 245 m · 3.5% avg · 5% max - Day5Ring of Kerry171 km (106 mi) · 1,504 m (4,934 ft) climbing
The classic. Short transfer to Killarney for the start, then the full loop of the Iveragh — Killorglin, Cahersiveen, Waterville, Sneem, home — over the Coomakista Pass with the Atlantic laid out below. The most famous road in Irish cycling, and it earns it — the day everyone tells stories about.
Coomakista Pass 4.8 km · 203 m · 4.2% avg · 6% max - Day6Priest’s Leap & the Healy Pass90 km (56 mi) · 1,391 m (4,564 ft) climbing
The two climbs that define the trip, back to back. The Priest’s Leap goes up at grades that make you laugh out loud; the Healy Pass folds its switchbacks into the Beara like a ribbon. Short on distance, but you’ll feel both.
Priest’s Leap 4.8 km · 450 m · 9.4% avg · 15% max Healy Pass 7.1 km · 317 m · 4.5% avg · 7% max - Day7Departures
Morning transfer to Cork airport. Coffee provided for the road. Departure time from the Kenmare Bay Hotel TBD.
What’s included
- Six nights at the Kenmare Bay Hotel & Resort
- Breakfast and dinner at the hotel (lunch is on you, mid-ride)
- Daily guided rides with a support vehicle on every ride
- Professional photography throughout the week, shot by the founder — the moments of suffering can’t go forgotten
- A welcome bag with a few useful items from our partners (to be announced soon)
- Pre-trip route briefing
- Group airport transfers from Cork (ORK)
- First Guinness on arrival day
- Van transfers to the Day 4 (Dingle) and Day 5 (Killarney) starts, so the riding begins away from Kenmare — Killarney is a short hop; Dingle is about ninety minutes up, with the ride home from there
- Bike rental — a Giant TCR Advanced 2 (Shimano 105, carbon wheels), $270 for the week, arranged on request
- Travel insurance
- Flights
The week on the map
Every day’s route — six days out and back from one base.
Getting there
Fly into Cork (ORK) and land by 2pm on Day 1 to meet the group transfer to Kenmare (3pm) — just under ninety minutes by car. Once we’re settled in, there’s time to build bikes and spin the travel out of your legs on a shakeout ride. It’s an easy spin that happens to finish at a pub. First Guinness is on us.
Prefer to fly into Dublin? DUB has more direct flights, but it’s around four hours from Kenmare, and our group transfer runs from Cork only — you’d make your own way down by train, bus, or rental car at your own cost. Let us know if that’s the way you’re going. If you can’t arrive in time for the group shuttle on May 2nd, we suggest flying in a day earlier and staying in Cork the night of the 1st.
Book a return flight from Cork on your final day — it’s about ninety minutes to the airport, and the group transfer is timed to the earliest flight in the group. An earlier flight needs a private transfer at an additional cost; write to us and we’ll arrange it.
Not sure how to route it? Tell us where you’re flying from when you inquire and we’ll help you sort the connections.
8 riders. 6 nights.
The journey is small on purpose. If it sounds right for you, send a note — we’ll write back with the route notes and any open dates.
Inquire about Kerry →