Last week we all ventured off on our staycation in Ireland. County Kerry has been on my list for a long time, particularly Dingle. Thankfully we found a great deal on the official Ballgarry House Hotel website. We had to stay at least three nights to get 15% off of each night. We stayed four nights and so we saved a good bit of money.
The journey to Tralee was about three hours. We had maybe one or two stops. Thankfully I packed lunch for us so we could have this in the car on the way down which was very handy. In fact I had bread and all with me for the four days we were staying there. The hotel kindly provided us with a mini fridge in our room where I could store things like butter, ham, cheese, etc. This saved us a few bobs and we only had to go out for dinner.
Before we made our way to the hotel, we stopped off at our first sightseeing destination. This was only located fifteen minutes away from the hotel. It was the Crag Cave. Admission for all four of us was only €24. It turns out they don’t charge for three year olds and under three at all. The guided tour was quite frequent and we were called through the speaker when the next tour guide was available to show us around. My two absolutely loved it. I thought Chloe was going to be very scared, as at the start there were no lights turned on at all but I think she was fascinated by it all. The tour took thirty minutes and we could wander around for a bit after to take more photos.
Not to forget to mention that they have a lovely cafe there where you can relax with a cup of coffee or a little treat after… we did it before the tour.
It was time to check into our hotel afterwards. The receptionist was very friendly and the check in process was very quick. We were shown where the lift and the breakfast in the morning was. Our family room was massive. I haven’t seen a family room that big in a long time. We had a king size bed and two single beds. There was plenty of space to walk around, too. I know in some hotels they place the beds required in the room but you can barely walk around then. The view was amazing, too. That evening we went for food in the local town in a pub called The Station house which was recommended to me.
Day two… (which was really day one as the first day was traveling half the day) The evening before we decided we would do the bike tour on this days first looking at the weather forecast. I am glad we did. It was actually really hot at some stages throughout the day. Of course there was a bit of rain here and there but that didn’t bother us at all. The journey from Tralee to Killarney is only thirty minutes. I have been to Killarney many years ago but that was for work so I could only remember some bits very vague.
We rented our bikes from The Killarney Bike Rental Company. The best thing about them is, they are right in front of the cycling path. Chloe can’t cycle yet and Matthew had a broken arm and so we rented a two bikes with a trailer attached to each bikes. The kids were loving the luxury of just sitting there and enjoying the view. While mummy and daddy were busy cycling up and down the hill. The whole lot costs us €40 for the day which is very reasonable in my opinion. The kids got sweeties as we arrived and when we brought back the bikes. I would definitely recommend this place if you were planning to explore Killarney National Park. We were given a map too to see where we would cycle to.
And so we cycled through the forest all the way to Muckross House. There was a children’s playground and farm on the way as well but we didn’t get to see that unfortunately. At Muckross House we left our bikes in the designated bike park with the lock we were given by the rental company. The kids saw all the different horse carriages. Not within our budget, but as a little treat, we said we would go on it as a once off. Chloe adores horseys (a ride on the horse carriage is €40). Our horse was called Tori. It brought us all the way up to Torc Waterfall. It meant we didn’t have to cycle to it all the way (which we ended up doing in the end anyway). We were given fifteen minutes to walk up to the waterfall and come back to ride back to Muckross House.
It was time to explore the grounds of Muckross House. We had our packed lunch in the gardens before we headed into the beautiful garden restaurant for a treat as it started raining heavily. The kids had a cupcake each while the parents had a cup of tea with a slice of cake. In that moment we had another milestone in Matthew’s life… his first tooth fell out. It was wobbly the day before but only fell out then. The tooth fairy came of course that evening.
After our bellies were full, we walked back to our bikes and explored the rest around Muckross House which we previously saw on the horse carriage. We stopped off at a lake. The views were stunning. In the background we saw the mountain Carrauntoohil. With a height of 1,038m it makes it the highest mountain in Ireland. On the way back we spotted a deer which we could literally touch. I’d say it must be used to all the people around him at this stage. It was so friendly, standing there just eating in the grass, not bothered at all of people taking photos.
Later on we dropped the bikes back and made our way back to the hotel. This time we dined in the hotel’s restaurant the Brasserie. We then had a little drink in the bar while Matthew was busy playing Nintendo Switch and Chloe was entertained by an eight months old baby. She loves babies. The baby was playing games with her. She dropped the teddy and Chloe went over and gave it back to her. It was adorable to watch.
Stay tuned for day three and four of our Kerry adventure.
