Three Tips for Driving the Ring of Kerry

If you have plans to see Ireland’s famous Ring of Kerry soon, make sure you keep these three tips in mind.

Know Your Irish Traffic Laws

While you won’t need any special license to rent a car in Ireland, it is helpful to know the rules of the road. The Irish drive on the left side and most vehicles have manual transmissions, so you’ll likely need to get adjusted to the change. Especially on the Ring of Kerry, some of the roads can get pretty narrow, but speed limits are higher than what you’d expect in the United States. However, don’t worry about going too slow for your fellow drivers. Tourist vehicles are marked with a sticker on the rear window that indicates to other local drivers you don’t really know what you’re doing.

Plan Ahead

The Ring of Kerry is huge and there’s not really any one particular guide to the Ring. As such, there are tons of points of interest that popped up along it and every guidebook and travel blog has a different opinion on which are worth your time. So, instead of just deciding you’ll drive the Ring of Kerry and then showing up, plan well in advance. Decide what you want to see and plan a route that makes sense for your timeframe.

Don’t Try to See It All

Because there’s so much on the Ring of Kerry, it’s pretty impossible to see it all. Instead of trying to cram everything you can into a small amount of time, just pick the things you’re most interested in seeing and enjoy yourself. Make sure to leave a little time in your itinerary, too, for side stops you maybe didn’t expect. If you can, spend a few days driving the Ring and take a more leisurely pace. You can always come back and see the things you didn’t catch this trip.