The Beara Way Walking Holiday — 7 Days (Moderate)

The Beara Way begins tomorrow.

Arrive in Glengarriff, gateway to Beara. The village sits in a sheltered harbour surrounded by native oak woodland and the Caha Mountains. Collect your route notes and waterproof maps from your B&B. The Bamboo Park, the Blue Pool and a good pub are all within easy reach. Easy evening; early night.

Through the ancient oak woodland of Glengarriff Nature Reserve, up onto the Caha mountain flank, under Hungry Hill (685m) and past the Mare's Tail waterfall on its north face. Bantry Bay opens to the south; the Sheep's Head across the water. Down through Adrigole, then west along the southern coast past Dunboy Castle ruins and the harbour views to Bere Island. Into Castletownbere: fresh fish and MacCarthy's Bar.

Distance: 21km. Ascent: ~500m.

Morning ferry from Castletownbere to Bere Island — a quiet, car-free island in the mouth of Berehaven harbour with a remarkable military history. The loop walk takes in Martello towers from the Napoleonic era, First World War gun batteries (when this was a Royal Navy base), and Second World War observation posts that watched the Atlantic convoys. All now silent in the grass, with wide views across to the Beara mainland.

Island pub for lunch; evening ferry back to Castletownbere.

Distance: 12km. Ascent: ~150m.

West from Castletownbere on the copper-mine trails over Miskish Mountain. Engine-house ruins, old tramway cuttings and drystone walls from the 19th-century mines appear as you climb. The descent into Allihies is dramatic — the village appears below you between Ballydonegan Beach's red sand and the green hillside. Copper Mine Museum visit; walk to the beach at dusk.

Distance: 18km. Ascent: ~250m.

Beara's most dramatic walking day — the northern coastal path above the Atlantic. The trail climbs out of Allihies with Cod's Head panoramas opening wide: ocean to the west, the Skellig Islands on the horizon to the north, old copper workings and long-abandoned stone farmsteads on the hillside. The descent into Eyeries follows the famous row of pastel-painted houses — pink, blue, mustard, green — strung along the northern shore.

Home to Milleens Cheese and Caureen's Bar. A short day that deserves a long evening.

Distance: 19km. Ascent: ~300m.

A coastal day heading east along Beara's northern shore — clifftop paths and hill tracks with the Atlantic below and mountain ridges above. The day ends at Ardgroom, a small village above the water, where the Ardgroom Stone Circle — fifteen standing stones erected around 1500 BC — sits on open hillside twenty minutes from your B&B. One of the finest prehistoric sites in Munster, with no fence and no interpretation board — just the stones and the view over the Atlantic. Harrington's pub for the evening.

Distance: 19km. Ascent: ~280m.

Last Beara breakfast in Ardgroom, then your scheduled transfer to Kenmare (around 30 minutes) for onward connections north — bus to Cork, train from Killarney, or the drive to Kerry airport. Cork airport is around 2hrs by road.

The 8-day version continues from here west to Lauragh, through the Healy Pass foothills and the ancient gardens of Derreen. We will keep a bed for you.