Gap of Dunloe, Ireland
 

We are traveling to Ireland in early June and friends have recommended the Gap of Dunloe tour. I have read many posts about it but still have some questions. Is the walk doable for 60 year olds who are in fairly good shape - not hikers but can walk 18 holes of golf, do a 5km hike or a 10 - 15 km moderate bike ride ( not all in the same day!). If some of the people in our group hike the gap and others take the jaunty car do we all meet up at Lord R's house? Some of the things I was reading made it sound like there is only 1 boat per day back to Ross Castle at 2pm. If so, will we have enough time to hike the gap if we are just leaving from Killarney at 10 - 10:30? We would appreciate any advice. Thanks

I can only speak from my own experience, and I am not a walker or biker. The Gap is up and down hill and at certain points we were required to walk beside the jaunting cart while going uphill. Only you can decide whether you can walk it or not and how long it would take. We saw plenty of people walking and plenty sitting by the roadside resting! It is about 11km from Kate Kearney's Cottage to Lord Bandon's Cottage, and as I said, up hill and down.

If you are on the Deros Tour, yes, there is just the one boat "sailing". Actually, it's more than one boat but they leave about the same time. Not sure if there is other transport across the Lakes to Ross Castle.

Yes, you would all meet up at Lord Bandon's Cottage. They have a nice covered pavilion with picnic tables for lunch and the grounds are lovely for a stroll while waiting for your party. We had a good relaxing wait between arriving in the cart and leaving by boat.

I hope others who might have actually walked the Gap will chime in with more information.

Oops, that Lord BRANDON'S Cottage. For some reason I always get that wrong.

Thanks for the info.

My DH and I (both mid-50's) walked the Gap of Dunloe last May. We were coming from Kenmare and approached the Gap from the Black Valley. We parked in a pullout off the side of the road about 6 miles (10 km) from Kate Kearney's. There were a few hilly spots but nothing that someone in "fairly good shape" couldn't manage. We walked to Kate Kearney's and back to the car in about 4 hours. We were a bit tired afterwards, but it was a lovely hike. Since it was a Sunday morning in mid-May, we encountered few drivers or jitneys.