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.

Your first day on the Beara Way. The trail leaves Glengarriff through the old oak woods of Glengarriff Nature Reserve, then climbs a mountain track to about 500 m. From the top you look out over Bantry Bay and the Caha Mountains. You come down past the Glenlough valley to Adrigole, at the foot of Hungry Hill.

There is nowhere to stay in Adrigole, so we collect you at the end of the walk and bring you back to Glengarriff for a second night.

Distance: 17.3 km. Ascent: about 600 m.

After breakfast we drive you back to Adrigole, where yesterday's walk ended. The trail climbs onto the shoulder of Hungry Hill (685 m), the highest mountain on Beara, then follows old mountain roads west above the coast. Bere Island lies in the harbour below for much of the afternoon. You finish in the fishing port of Castletownbere.

Distance: 22.1 km. Ascent: about 720 m.

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: 14.7 km. Ascent: about 600 m.

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: 14 km. Ascent: about 400 m.

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: 14.4 km. Ascent: about 150 m.

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.