Ring Of Kerry Day Tour From Killarney: Including Killarney National Park

Disappointing Experience So Far – Ring of Kerry Tour The tour started at 8:20 AM, and as of 12:02 PM, almost four hours later, we still haven’t properly started exploring the Ring of Kerry. So far, the stops have mainly been at private businesses or attractions that seem to have arrangements with the tour operator, rather than the scenic locations I was expecting. I understand that some stops may be part of the itinerary, but it feels like too much time is being spent on optional paid activities and commercial stops instead of actually sightseeing. For example, we were told that we needed to pay an additional €16 for a horse-and-carriage ride at Killarney National Park, or otherwise be dropped off in town. I was disappointed that there didn’t seem to be an option to explore the national park independently during that stop. I booked this tour to experience the beautiful scenery of the Ring of Kerry, not to spend most of the morning visiting commercial attractions or being encouraged to pay for additional activities. Hopefully, the rest of the tour will focus more on the actual highlights of the Ring of Kerry.

Our tour was great . The guide / driver was wonderful and very knowledgeable We had a great time on the tour. The meeting place and time changed as well as the tour itself. We did not know about these changes . Trip advisor sent email with tickets and instructions on meeting the day before. At 4am there was an email that we didn't see that meeting place and time had changed . The phone number on the email with tickets for Paddy wagon tours did not work. No one answered. We were able to figure out the changes but there should be a better way to communicate. Text message would probably be better .

As a local Dubliner, I’d advise visitors to Ireland to try other companies if possible. I’ve been on several bus tours around Ireland with different companies and have generally found them to be decent experiences. I took this tour with Paddy Wagon, as they’re one of the few operators offering a Kerry route. Overall, I found this tour underwhelming, particularly for the price paid. One notable difference from other companies is that you get a joint driver/tour guide. This is generally a net negative, since the driver can’t give you the same time and attention as a dedicated guide who isn’t also focused on driving. I want to emphasise that having a joint driver-guide meant we received less information about Ireland in general and the areas we passed through than I’d expect — certainly less than on previous tours I’ve done with a dedicated guide who wasn’t also driving. This seems like an inherent limitation of the role rather than a reflection on the individual, since it’s very difficult to drive safely and narrate in depth at the same time. Some of the stop-offs felt sudden, with little build-up about where we were going or what to expect until right before we got off the bus. It’s a long trip, so I understand things need to be condensed — that’s fine. But some of the stops listed in the advertised itinerary turned out to just be things you see from the road during the drive. In that sense, the tour feels over-advertised compared to the real experience. One genuine highlight was the optional horse-and-carriage ride through part of Killarney National Park, which is a great way to see more of the park in the limited time you’re given there. It’s worth noting that this comes at an extra cost on top of the tour price — something that isn’t mentioned anywhere on Paddy Wagon’s own website, where the ride is simply listed as “optional” with no indication that a separate charge applies. So you’re either paying a bit more (which I personally felt was worth it) or left to explore the park or village on foot at your own pace. For the two hours you have in Killarney, the carriage ride is a good way to make the most of your time. In summary, I don’t think this tour is generally worth it, and in my experience there are better tour companies out there — particularly ones with dedicated tour guides. If you’re looking to do a tour with paddy wagon I’d recommend checking if Finn McCool tours offer the same tour and going with them from my own experience.

If you like being packed in like sardines, then you will like this trip. If you board the 64 passenger bus in Killarney, know that most of the seats will already be filled from Limerick and Cork. We received an email the day before our tour reassuring us that the pick up location, and time were the same. No bus showed up. There were 7 other people waiting with us. Finally got a hold of the company who told us they had sent a new email a few days ago that we had missed. Then why send us a new email the day before with the wrong information? Tour was 2 hours later and a new location. Bus was packed, not able to sit by my family. Whoops! They were short a seat. After trying to get the person who was apparently on the wrong bus off, we gave up and decided it was our best decision of the day to skip the tour. I had made the reservation 3 months prior. Paddywagon cares more about making money than providing a good service.

I did the Ring of Kerry bus tour today with Conor. It was fantastic! He was so cheerful and gave us so much wonderful details about Irish mythology, folklore and history all along the Wild Atlantic Way, while we enjoyed some spectacular scenery and local cuisine etc. It was very enjoyable. Would highly recommend it!

Conor is a great driver and guide, very pleasant tour! And I loved the soundtrack!

A really enjoyable day. Our driver was great! Funny and knowledgeable. We loved the stops. All good!

Would definitely give no stars if there was an option. We went to Dingle. First of all the driver didn't even bother to turn on the aircon when there's around 30degrees outside. We had to ask him to do it as my nephew almost vomited on the bus... after 2 hrs aircon broke completely and we spent full day at 27degrees inside. As this is his 1st time in Ireland when he saw some nice views through the window he would ask some questions. The driver reprimanded me in front of evervone that I cannot talk and need to listen ta what he is saying... we were not speaking loudly and only when there's was really a need for it. The driver made rude comments over the mic 3 more times....absolutely disrespectful and rude attitude. I didnt know this is "in silence trip where noone is allowed to talk during 9hrs trip".. . He didnt stop at all during Slea Head Drive where all other buses would stop. Didn't stop at all for Dunquin Pier, when previously said he would... We spending a full day on the bus and he is only stopping so we can take pics from inside of the bus.... Absolutely a waste of money, time and shocking service. Booked Paddywagon for the 1st and last time. Extremely poor quality of trip. Dont recommend! Horrendous BTW.. the driver hit a bird on the way and didnt even bother to remove it

Very enjoyable tour despite the weather. DJ was knowledgeable and entertaining

Fantastic tour taking in great scenery and locations. Highly recommended. very friendly driver Only down side was that we were given the wrong meeting location and start time. Only found out after making a phone call.

The trip is well worth the value of money. It was a great day out with my parents.

Think twice about using Viator and Paddy Wagon Tours. They changed the time and location, but never notified our group. They claim they sent an email, but never received anything from them. There were two other parties there that also never received notification from the tour operator or Viator. We did receive an email from Viator that morning confirming the time and location that I had on my confirmation email. The tour operator changed the location and time. They took our $900+ dollars and told us to go pound sand and would not give us a refund. Viator does not help or protect you from sketchy tours. Very disappointed, think twice

The tour itself is lovely but our tour guide, Tommy, made it even more special.

We signed up for this tour months in advance. It was supposed to be a guided tour taking us from Dublin to visit various locations in southwest Ireland. Day One began with a temporary driver, Michael, who took us to our first overnight destination. He had some mic problems but soon figured out a way to fix them. Day two began with our permanent tour guide, Connor, who started off Day Two by letting us know we would not be seeing the sights listed on other tour's brochure. He was unable to make his mic work at all and informed us that he didn't want to hurt his voice by speaking to us without a mic, so he drove us through various parts of the countryside without speaking to us. We had no idea where we were or what we were seeing for the rest of the day. Day Three began with Connor showing us that he had a small PA system for that day. When he tested it out on our group he discovered that he couldn't increase the volume sufficiently enough for the entire bus to hear him without the system creating an echo effect when he spoke. He said that the echo effect would drive him nuts so, again, most of Day Three was spent driving from one unknown town to the next without knowing where we were or what we were seeing. Day Four was just the same silent drive around the countryside. When those of us seated in the back of the bus told him at every stop that we couldn't hear him, he responded "That's Ok". But it wasn't OK at all. This was supposed to be a GUIDED TOUR, not just a country drive. All of our attempts to tell the Paddywagon office about these issues, and, later, requests for a refund have gone unanswered. I would not recommend Paddywagon to anyone and they should be avoided like the plague.

The tour was great. Our driver was super knowledgeable and made it a really fun experience.

We really enjoyed the Ring of Kerry tour. Our driver was Zicu (may have mispelt) and he was a considerate, safe driver and friendly and helpful to his passengers. He told us about places as we drove along and we enjoyed all the places we stopped. We'd have loved longer at Torc Waterfall though. One thing, Paddywagon changed the pick up point from Rock Road in Killarney to outside the Tourist office - we did not ever get a message about this and even on the morning Viator was still telling us the pick up point was Rock Road. By chance, a couple of days before someone in the Tourist info office told us it had been changed and we then rang Paddywagon to ask for confirmation of this. Apparently this lack of update was affecting a lot of people who had booked the tour via Viator earlier in the year (like us). So I'd urged anyone else to double check!

This bus tour provided zero communication Our original tour was rescheduled due to bus problems and we were never contacted. Thankfully someone else at the original pick up point who had received a voicemail was able to guide us. The bus driver was aggressive on the road and the ride was bumpy and scary at times. The tour guide was very biased against England and the US and made that known. Not a great look when they are taking US and UK money from us to take the tour Won’t recommend period

Our family took the Ring of Kerry tour from Killarney on Thursday, April 24th. Unfortunately, we paid $180 euros for the worst experience by far of our entire 10 day trip through Ireland. For the entire 6 hour trip, the bus was extremely warm with very little circulating air. A number of people asked for more air to no avail. Even after removing all our outerwear, we were always uncomfortable, sometimes to the point of nausea at the back of the bus where we were sitting. Also, the entire back of the bus couldn’t hear what the driver was saying for the first half of the trip. The driver said the audio system wasn’t working but it somehow worked fine the second half of the trip. Most importantly - and disappointingly - the driver barely said ANYTHING the entire trip about the sights we were seeing. 90 percent of the time we just sat there listening to the same 5–10 Irish songs play on repeat. We have never been on a tour - much less a 6 hour tour! - where a guide talked less. If we had known that we were paying almost 200 euros for a bus ride, we would have driven around the Ring of Kerry in our own rental car. We booked with Paddywagon because we understood the guides to be engaging and informative but that clearly was not the case.

Booked my tour 4 months ahead . tour was scheduled at 9:30 am …emailed by the tour company the day right before the tour. The company changed it to 11 am , not aware they had two other picks prior to our area leaving bus mostly full . Martin and Brian was wonderful, saw everything promised . They made up for all the changes .

DJ our tour guide/ driver was excellent. Efficient, friendly and upbeat. Very lucky to have him as our gyide

The tour is exactly as described: a tour of the Ring of Kerry with frequent stops to use the toilet, admire the views and buy souvenirs. What didn’t match up, however, were the timings: a message the day before to say that departure would be 1½ hours later than planned (9.30 am → 11 am), and on the morning itself, a 30-minute delay with no explanation or message (pick-up at 11.30 am); we thought the tour had been cancelled... The driver, however, was very competent and friendly.

Paul with Paddywagon was absolutely amazing! We first met him for our Cliffs of Moher tour. He was super nice and full of fun facts about Ireland. He also has some good jokes! When we were loading in the bus to head to lunch after the cliffs, he let us sit right behind him, since the seats had opened up. It allowed for better views and good conversation with him. Towards the end of our tour, he asked where we were headed next in Ireland (we were on our honeymoon) and when we said Killarney he suggested we book the Ring of Kerry tour that picks up there. He would be leading the tour, and it was an experience we could not miss. So, we booked it. He was right! It was absolutely amazing! We were blessed with sunny skies, which never happens! Paul was yet again wonderful on the tour. We learned so much about Irish history and fun things about every town we stopped in or passed on our tour. On the day of our tour the Ireland rugby team was playing and my husband got to bond with Paul over the game. All in all, we are so glad we booked Paddywagon for both The Cliffs of Moher tour and The Ring of Kerry. We truly got to see what Ireland has to offer. You will not regret booking Paddywagon for your tour. Try to get Paul as your tour guide if you can!

Paul, our driver, was a great and entertaining guide. Our day started off badly as we booked a 9:30 trip. After waiting a half hour, we called paddywagons. No answer. Eventually we poked around in the Viator app and found it was rescheduled with a new pickup point. It seems they thought it was enough to email us with less than 24 hrs notice. They had our phone numbers. A simple call or text would have been enough. No. They had to email us on vacation. Love Paul, cannot recommend paddywagon.

It was a nice trip. Without the rain it would have been much nicer. So, unfortunately, the clouds and fog did not allow us to see much of Dingle. Yet, the tour has shown us the beautiful nature of Kerry. Would do it again - with better weather

Our tour guide was excellent with a wealth of knowledge. The stop in Waterville for lunch was superb as everything else.

Great experience!! I was very happy with the tour, Michael the tour guide was awesome. Lots of stops along the way and they explain it all to you. Lots of opportunities for food and bathroom stops. Plan on this taking up your whole day!

It’s a must while in Ireland! The views and the history are nothing short of spectacular! We loved learning the history of the park and the culture! Our tour guide, Paul was hilarious and made it more interesting than just the views. His stories brought a whole different perspective!

We had a great day traveling the Ring of Kerry today with our driver Kevin! Kevin was safe, conscientious, funny and informative and we highly the experience. The Ring of Kerry was definitely a highlight of our amazing week in Ireland!

It was such a great trip! Very informative and our guide was very nice and added a good bit of humor in the tour! We got to see and learn a lot!

The tour was not worth it. The only saving grace was the Torc Waterfall which was the last stop. The first stop “Kerry Bog” was terrible. The tour needs to find a couple of quaint towns where there are places to eat and shop and then give us time to do both. Otherwise, it’s just a long bus ride on very curvy roads with a couple of stops for a quick photo shoot.

We enjoyed the tour and were glad we left the driving to someone else! John, our tour guide, was knowledgeable, fun and engaging. We ended up staying on the bus at the first stop at the bog village since we weren’t interested in paying the admission fee and there wasn’t anywhere else to hang out there on a rainy day. The itinerary stated no food was supplied yet the stop in Waterville was designed for us to go into a restaurant for lunch (self-pay). Had we known this, we would not have brought something else to eat as a hot meal would have been preferable on such a a stormy day. The Sneem stop could have been a bit longer since the store was so crowded with other tour bus riders and we knew we had to make quick choices before standing in a long line to pay for our purchases (kicking myself for not buying a couple things because of the quick decisions). Overall, it was a good experience and we were happy we booked it with Paddywagon Tours.

The tour and driver were excellent. Just glad I could sit back and enjoy the beautiful drive. We highly recommend it the tour. Make sure you ready for the tight turns the bus has to make

Tour guide was nice, and a great driver on the narrow roads, but not very informative. It was difficult to be able to ask questions. Bus had AC, but when it was on I couldn’t hear the driver’s commentary.

Fantastic tour even tho the weather was foggy for the middle of it i still enjoyed the tour and our driver was very funny and i would recommend and definitely decide to do this again

Bus was late and we were then informed us that they do not do the Dingle Stop, which was the whole reason we booked this specific package. Driver rushed us, and his driving made us very ill.

Our bus driver Paul took us around the Ring of Kerry. At first sight I thought „nah what an unfriendly bus driver“ but then I actually loved his sense of humor and his stories which he was telling while driving us from stop to stop. Paul is going to tell you so much about the country and also about the people living here and describes it with his own experiences. I hope that Paul is maybe your next bus driver and you enjoy it as we did. The sightseeing spots were also great, even when the weather wasn‘t that good. The only thing I could wish for is the fact, that in Killarney it is required to do a trip by a horse-drawn carriage. Also the fee for the Killarney National Park is not included. We decided not to do the horse ride to the Park and instead walked through the city. Therefor, one hour is not enough time to walk around and explore Killarney. So if you do the trip, make sure you inform yourself about the opportunities you have when arriving in Killarney!

Martin and Neal were fantastic and knowledgeable. We learned a lot and got some great photos from our day. Highly recommend a Ring of Kerry Tour with Paddy Wagon!☘️

Had a group of 10 people, 13 to 56 years old. Advertised as AC Bus, no AC or vents. Bus was 35C(95F) for the 7hour trip. Ruined the whole experience. Plus, they drop you at multiple predetermined sites that cost extra, no extra time to enjoy the amazing scenery. Guide gave little to no information about where you were passing through. Do not do this tour, total waste of money.

Lots of driving. Some trivial stops but overall a nice day. Ring of Kerry and National Park worth the trip.xxxxxxxxxxxx

We had a wonderful day exploring the Ring of Kerrie while learning the history of this area and Ireland. Paul was our driver and guide. He did a fantastic job navigating the windy roads. Highly recommend!

We had a really enjoyable trip around the Ring of Kerry. Our driver Paul kept us both entertained and informed with some really interesting historical information, and humorous anecdotes from his personal life which included cultural information of interest to we Australians. The scenery was awesome, and I felt very safe with Paul’s excellent driving.

Beautiful views, excellent driver/guide, Paul, who kept us safe, informed and entertained throughout. Thanks to Paddy Wagon Tours!

The tour was great! Plenty of stops made for breaks, photos, food and fun! Definitely worth the half day. Paul, I hope you get the pot this month!

Beautiful scenery with an experienced driver/guide in narrow and winding roads. The stops at a pub for an Irish cafe at 11:30 am was a waste of time for tourists who did not want an Irish cafe and there was no food to buy. I would have preferred an additional photo stop instead in a place offering a nice view and later, for lunch, there could have been an offer of Irish cafe in a pub that also serves lunch. Otherwise, it was a nice tour.

Really enjoyed this tour and had a lovely driver who was informative and fun. Be prepared for winding roads and make sure you sit in front if you are prone to motion sickness. Driver was incredibly agile on the roads.

Paddy wagon I would avoid. We spent an hour eating lunch which was just about the same amount of time we spent at the few stops we stopped at for pictures. Their tour was disappointing and the driver pitching for tips. Use another tour provider for this tour.

Our tour guide Paul was great. We all really enjoyed it. We also enjoyed all the stops that were scheduled. The time allotted for the stops was perfect.

Loved Waterville. Killorglin history was interesting. Bus ride fun. Killarney National Park was beautiful.

A must take trip in Ireland. Spectacular views at every turn! Adequate break periods for shopping, eating, bathroom breaks and photography. Our tour guide was excellent weaving humorous stories in with the explanation of our sites.