Valentia Island

A popular trip for many visitors to our hotel is a drive around the Ring of Kerry. Take a step off this well-worn route to discover the charms of Valentia Island, on the Wild Atlantic Way. You can reach Valentia Island either by road bridge from Portmagee or via the car ferry that runs from April to October between Renard Point in Cahersiveen and Knightstown on Valentia. The journey takes just a few minutes by sea. 

Starting in Knightstown, a tour of the island should begin with a stroll around the unusual period buildings and historic houses, which date back to the days Valentia was the launch pad for the first transatlantic cable. Overlooking the town is the site of the Valentia slate mine, which has supplied slate for destinations including London’s parliament buildings. Nearby you will find the 19th-century Cromwell Point lighthouse, which you can tour in season, and where you can enjoy stunning views of diving gannets – residents of the Skellig Islands.

Other attractions include a set of fossilised tetrapod footprints, Geokaun mountain and Fogher Cliff, and the Bray Head walk. If you take the road bridge from Portmagee, the first building you will see on the island is the Skellig Experience Centre, where you can discover much more about monastic life on the remote and magnificent Skellig Michael. the Great Blasket, and there is a fine bookshop on site. If you are inspired to visit the island, you can travel by ferry to the wildly beautiful Atlantic outpost and contemplate the lives of those long departed.