The first time I drove onto Valentia Island, the ferry was unloading a tractor in front of me and a man in a wool cap was leaning on the rail with a mug of tea. It was not a curated visitor experience. It was better. That is the tone of the place: a working island that happens to have one of the best views in Kerry, and it does not apologise for being neither a theme park nor a wilderness.
Valentia is not on the main Ring — and that is the point
I have watched cousins complete the full Ring of Kerry in a day and still miss the turn for Valentia Island. They drive the N70 past Caherciveen, stick to the coast, and assume the best scenery is already behind them. It is not. Valentia sits just off the Iveragh Peninsula, close enough to be a side trip and separate enough to feel like you have slipped off the itinerary everyone else is following.
The island is about 11 kilometres by 3 kilometres, with one proper village, one working harbour, one bridge, one seasonal ferry, and a lighthouse at the western end. It is also one of the few places on the Kerry coast where you can look west and see the Skellig Islands without boarding a boat. That alone justifies the detour, but the real appeal is smaller: a quiet road, a good bowl of chowder, and the sense that you are driving somewhere that still earns its living from the sea rather than from coach-bus passengers.
If you are planning the full Ring of Kerry route first, our covers the loop from Killarney to Killarney. Think of this article as the optional chapter that most visitors skip, which is exactly why it is worth doing.
This is not a place to tick off in ten minutes between Caherciveen and Portmagee. The island asks you to adjust your pace, and the ones who do are the ones who remember it long after the Ring of Kerry bus tour has blurred into a single green memory.
The two ways onto the island: ferry vs bridge
You have two options for getting a car onto Valentia, and the choice shapes the kind of afternoon you will have. The bridge at Portmagee is free, fast, and open all day, every day. The ferry from Reenard Point, near Cahersiveen, lands you in Knightstown itself and turns the crossing into part of the trip.
The ferry takes five to seven minutes and runs regularly through the day in season, with a reduced winter schedule. You pay per car and the fare is modest. In high summer, queues can build at the slip, especially around midday when day-trippers arrive from the Killarney direction. If you are on a tight schedule, take the bridge. If you want the photograph and the small adventure, queue for the ferry.
| Reenard Point ferry | Portmagee bridge | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Per-car fare | Free |
| Season | Reduced service in winter | Open year-round |
| Landing point | Knightstown harbour | West of Knightstown |
| Best for | Experience and photos | Speed and flexibility |
| Queues | Likely in July/August | Rare |
Most cousins combine Valentia with a night in or a lunch stop in Sneem. Either works. Just do not try to squeeze the island into a Ring of Kerry coach-bus schedule: the whole point is to slow down.
One practical note: if you take the ferry over and the bridge back, or vice versa, you get a loop rather than an out-and-back. It is a small thing, but it turns the crossing into part of the route instead of just a utility.
Driving once you are across: roads, parking and passing places
Once on the island the R565 takes you from the bridge through Knightstown and on toward the lighthouse. The road is paved, signposted, and perfectly manageable in a normal car. It is also narrow in stretches, with grass growing up the centre and stone walls close enough to brush the mirrors. This is not a place to daydream at the wheel.
You will share the road with tractors, cyclists, and the occasional sheep that has decided the tarmac is warmer than the field. Passing places are marked and the etiquette is the same as anywhere rural in Ireland: the car closest to a passing place reverses, you raise a hand in thanks, and nobody hurries. If you meet a tour bus near the harbour, be prepared to reverse; the locals are patient and expect the same from you.
Parking is straightforward in Knightstown, with a small pay-and-display area near the ferry terminal and free street parking on the side roads. For Bray Head and the lighthouse, there are small lay-bys; get there early in summer. The road up Geokaun Mountain is private and charges a per-car fee at the gate, so bring cash or check ahead if that is on your list.
Weather also decides how far you bother driving. If the summit of Geokaun is in cloud, there is little point paying the gate fee. If Bray Head is clear, go there first. The island is small enough that you can change plans without losing an hour, which is one of the pleasures of having your own car.
Knightstown: the village that faces the mainland
Knightstown is the only settlement of any size on Valentia and it feels like it. The waterfront is lined with colourfully painted houses, a couple of pubs, a small shop, and a handful of cafés that open and close according to the ferry schedule and the weather. It is not a tourist village in the Kinsale sense; it is a working harbour where tourists are welcome but not the whole economy.
This is where you buy a sandwich, use the toilet, and ask someone where the Skellig view is clearest today. It is also where the ferry docks, so if you arrive by boat you start here. Do not rush through. Sit on the wall, watch the ferry unload, and notice that the people getting off are mostly locals with shopping bags, not visitors with selfie sticks. That tells you a lot about the place.
Knightstown is also your last reliable stop for fuel, cash, and snacks before you head to the western end of the island. There is no big supermarket and no petrol station at Bray Head, so fill up and stock up while you are in the village.
The Skellig view from Bray Head
The Skellig Islands are the single biggest draw in this part of Kerry, and most visitors chase them from Portmagee or the boat operators at Ballinskelligs. Valentia gives you a different angle. From Bray Head, on the western side of the island, you look straight out across the water to Skellig Michael and Little Skellig. On a clear day the Great Skellig looks close enough to paddle to.
There is a short, steep walk from the car park to the viewpoint. It is not a hike that requires boots, but it is not a paved path either. Good shoes, a windproof jacket, and a pair of binoculars are worth bringing. The Atlantic wind here is serious even in June, and the clouds move fast enough to hide and reveal the islands several times in an hour.
If you have not managed to book a landing tour to Skellig Michael, and most people do not because the trips are limited, this is the next best thing. You are seeing the same profile the monks looked at for six centuries, without the boat fare and the seasickness.
The boat landing tours are weather-dependent, strictly limited, and not for anyone who gets seasick. That is why the Bray Head viewpoint matters. It gives you the same silhouette, the same stone monastery profile, and the same sense of remoteness, without the two-and-a-half-hour open-water crossing.
Geokaun Mountain and the cable station
The highest point on Valentia is Geokaun Mountain, and the road to the top is private, so expect to pay a few euro at the gate. The summit road is steep and narrow in places, but it is paved and the views over the Kerry coast are expansive. If the weather is closed in, skip it; the summit is only worth the fee when you can actually see something.
Back in Knightstown, the Valentia Transatlantic Cable Station is a quieter piece of history than it sounds. The first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable came ashore here in 1866, and the station building still stands. Opening hours vary, so check locally rather than treating it as a guaranteed stop. Even if it is closed, reading the plaque and understanding that this tiny village once carried messages between Europe and North America is worth a few minutes.
If you have time and the weather is mild, the subtropical gardens at Glanleam are a peaceful contrast to the exposed coastal headlands. They are privately owned, open on a seasonal basis, and worth the small admission for the mature trees and the sheltered walks. Again, check opening hours before detouring.
Where to eat and what to skip
Knightstown has a handful of places to eat and they are all within a few minutes' walk of the ferry. Seafood chowder, brown bread, and a pint of stout are the obvious choices and they are usually well executed. There is no need to overthink it. Pick the place that looks busiest with locals, not the one with the largest laminated menu in five languages.
What you can skip is the temptation to treat Valentia as a quick photo stop. The island does not reward a twenty-minute dash. The light changes, the ferry comes and goes, and the best moments happen when you are not trying to fit the place into a spreadsheet itinerary. Give it a half-day at minimum.
If you are visiting on a Sunday or out of season, call ahead or check social media for opening hours. A Kerry island pub that was heaving in August can be quietly closed on a wet Tuesday in October, and there is no shame in planning around that.
Sorting the car for Valentia
You cannot do Valentia properly without a car, and the driving here is exactly the kind of slow, scenic, narrow-road work that makes rental-car small print matter. The good news for My Irish Cousin customers is that the small print is unusually short: zero excess, no deposit on a credit card, free additional driver, and full roadside assistance included as standard. Northern Ireland is covered at no extra charge too, though that is less relevant on this particular trip.
If something goes wrong and the car becomes undrivable, MIC aims to get a replacement to you as fast as logistics allow. On an island with one bridge and one ferry, that matters more than it does at Dublin Airport. The point is not to worry; it is to be with a company that has thought about what happens when the trip does not go to plan.
Is Valentia worth the detour?
Yes, but only if you slow down. Valentia Island is not a blockbuster sight in the Cliffs of Moher mould. It is a place you drive to, look around, have a bowl of chowder, and leave feeling like you saw a corner of Kerry that the coach buses missed. The bridge, the ferry, the Skellig view, and the quiet harbour are the reward for taking the turn the sat-nav did not insist on. For a self-drive trip down the west coast, that is exactly the kind of afternoon that makes the rental car worth having.
