does everyone take the jaunting carts? Do you ride for the experience or to avoid walking uphill? Just wondering what others thought about the carts.

We are hikers and love scenic hikes, so we are looking forward to our visit.

We are hoping it stops raining.

No, everyone does not take the jaunting carts. I wopuld say about half the people do the hike. My wife and I have hiked the Gap twice. We are in our 50's and in reasonable shape. The hike is wonderful, lovely views and not at all hard. If you are hikers please take the walk and the boat ride through the lakes is also quite nice. Have fun

It is about seven miles through the gap. Many people do not want to walk the whole way and take the jaunting cars. Sometimes if the hill is steep you have to get off and walk up the hill anyway. It is also possible to bike, horseback ride and drive through. Driving is frowned upon during the season.

Hi we did this about 4 years ago, Took the jaunting car as we have kids so wanted that option if they were tired. We had a great driver and while hubby and I walked alot, our youngest who was 9 at the time hopped on and off when he was tired. The driver went along at a slow enough pace for him and me to do this. either way it was a wonderful experience. It is doable for anyone who is a nonhiker so if you are hikers then it should not be an issue.We then took the boat trip back as I did not want to hike back.

We took the jaunting carts - we are fat, middle-aged women who don't hike The cart driver (Tim) was delightful and full of local knowledge - his father and his grandfather had done the same thing, a family tradition. It added a lot to the trip to have the points of interest explained.

I did the jaunting carts in 2002. Our driver, Jamie, was good even though he was quite hung over from a fair he and a pal attended the night before. The pal, another driver, had to pull his cart over while he heaved behind a rock. Glad I wasn't in THAT cart.

As others have stated, we had to get out of the cart periodically when going up steeper inclines so as not to put as much stress on the pony. There were four of us in the cart. One decided she wanted to hike most of the way so when we got out on a hill she took off and we didn't see her again until the end of the road. We did take the boat trip on the lakes which was marvelous.

And it drizzled most of the entire trip but everyone still enjoyed themselves.

LeeParis

I am Irish . . . I have walked through the Gap, biked through the gap and taken the jaunting car.
I took the jaunting car a few years ago for two reasons: I was with my mother who was not able for the walk also I though it was the "thing to do" so why leave it to the tourists! The jaunting car tradition goes back a long time and the jarveys (drivers) are second and third generation jarveys whose ancestors drove Victorian tourists around the lakes and scenic areas of Killarney.
I must say I enjoyed the experience, but, we warned, they are tough business men and you need to bargain with them before setting off! The man we had was very entertaining and had a lot of local knowledge which was worth hearing.
If you are up for walking and have the time, I would recommend walking.