Muckross castle forest and lake, South Ireland

Muckross castle

Muckross castle hike

Killarney National Park is very big and scenic, with mountains, forests, lakes and rivers, there are many hiking trails inside. 

Muckross castle hike

I have chosen one that goes round the lake half way and come back by boat. The 2 hour hike is easy, going through oak forest, along the lake, over stone bridges. 

Muckross castle hike

Muckross castle hike

Coming back by boat is a good decision as this allow us to enjoy the view inside the lake.

Muckross castle boating

Muckross castle boating

Scenic West Cork, South Ireland

Ballydehob

While talking to locals in Kinsale, they said that if we like the sea view of Kinsale, we should visit West Cork, the scenery there is even better. 

Kemare

Indeed the coast there is more rugged, with a lot of inlets, islands dotted around, and many rivers and lakes. 

Killarney

Killarney

Killarney

Ballycotton cliff walk, South Ireland

Ballycotton cliff walk

The beauty of the south coast of Ireland can be seen in easy walks,  where all you see is total wilderness. 

Ballycotton cliff walk

Like this one outside Ballycotton, a one and a half hour stroll along the ridge with beautiful view of open sea, of course a sunny day helps.  

Ballycotton cliff walk

Ballycotton cliff walk

 

Seafood at Kinsale, South Ireland

Irish lobster at Fishy Fishy

Well, another reason I like Kinsale very much is that there are a lot of restaurants, most using Irish produce and have good cooking skills. 

squid with soba noodle at Maxs'

Really tender squid with soba noodle, just cooked black sole at Maxs', tasty chowder with lots of seafood and lobster with a refreshing sauce at Fishy Fishy, for example.

Grilled black sole at Maxs'

Beautiful Kinsale, South Ireland

Kinsale

Kinsale is the prettiest harbour town I have visited in Ireland so far, being so lucky to have continuous sunny days helps the positive impression.

Kinsale

Kinsale in the evening

Very beautiful hill town with colourful buildings sprinkled around the curvy coastline. Lots of serious and simple restaurants, and a number of scenic sites to visit.  

An hour gentle walk along the coast leads to Charles Fort, built 200years ago. 

Charles Fort, Kinsale

Charles Fort, Kinsale

Charles Fort, Kinsale

 5 minutes drives and you arrive at Sandy Cove, a secluded bay where locals do water sports. 

Sandy Cove

And another 15 minutes drive to the end is Kinsale Old Head, a fist like mass of land that sticks out a long way. 

Kinsale Old Head

Lismore Castle garden

Lismore Castle

Lismore Castle is impressively huge, still in private ownership, visitors can only visit the garden, maintained by 5 gardeners. 

Lismore Castle

The garden is full of colour, there is a part for ornamental plants and a part for vegetables, super well done. 

Magnolis

  

double petal ornamental plum blossons

magnolia and camelia

coverable raise beds

  

artichokes, fennels and fruit trees

Hiking in the mountains of South Ireland

The coastal area is very flat and land is fully cultivated, mostly for grazing animals, endless patches of farm fields. 

Sort of tied of the flat landscape and farm fields, went inland north of Lismore to the mountainous area. 

Hike up to Coumshingaun glacial lake

Coumshingaun glacial lake

Coumshingaun glacial lake

Coumshingaun glacial lake

There are a lot of hiking routes, most of them not difficult as mountains in Ireland are not that high, very easy to get up high to have a good panoramic view. 

Then on the forth day, the sun comes out, the sky becomes so blue and grass bright green, amazing transformation.

Hike to Mahon Fall

Mahon Fall

 

Mahon Fall

  

Mahon Fall

Tour the south coast of Ireland

Dunmore East

It is a fantastic spring in France, clear blue sky and warm, sort of crazy to decide to go to South Ireland for 2 weeks tour, as it is famous for cloudy days and rainy weather. But the target is to see how the place is during the poor weather season and without tourists. 

south coast of Ireland near Dungarvan

For the first 3 days, we had a taste of what Ireland is famous for, cold drizzly days, when day and night temperature does not vary much, really cold compared with France. 

South coast of Ireland near Dungarvan

However, the people we met (Irish or other nationalities) are all naturally cheerful, really unlike the gloomy weather, and sort of act fast, direct, happy to get things done type, very easy to talk to.

South coast of Ireland near Tramore

 

A lot of the buildings are painted in unusually bright colours,  cheerful to look at.

Dungarvan