Slea Head/Connor Pass Q
 

Hi,

I was wondering how long it takes to drive each of these?

Can they be combined into a single day trip? We will be there in Nov., so I know the days will be short.

Lastly, how scary is the Connor Pass drive? :)

Thanks,

Kevin

One follow up Q...I will be driving down to Dingle from Shannon Airport. Would it be best to do Connor Pass on the way down and Slea Head the next day?

You can certainly take Connor Pass into Dingle on the trip from Shannon. As long as you arrive early enough in the day, you should be able to make the pass in the daylight, though it would not be unusual for it to be fogged in. I wouldn't try to do Slea Head that Day. You can make the Slea Head drive as long or short as you want. I could probably be driven in about 1.5 hours (or less), but you'll want to stop many times along the way. Again, in bad weather, it is not particularly impressive because you can't see much, though a stop at the beehive huts and Gallarus Oratory among other spots can certainly hold your interest for a while, even in bad weather.

Bill

As Bill said, I wouldn't attempt to do both in the same day. Assuming good weather, each drive will have enough to keep you occupied considering the length of the days.

I wouldn't classify the Connor Pass drive as scary, but as fun and challenging. We did it on our second day in Ireland and lived to tell about it :)

Not the best picture, but it represents fairly well the POV of parts of the drive:
http://s87950052.onlinehome.us/IMG_4203.JPG

All, thanks for the replies :)

FYI - We drove Connor Pass both ways on Oct 12 & 13 of this year and the lower portion on the North side was under construction. I am not sure how far up they plan to go with what appears to be a widening project, but they were almost up to the waterfall rest stop. I cannot imagine going up much further, as there is no place to add space unless they start cutting into the side of the rock!

You can climb up and over the Pass in around 30 minutes, but you will be pulling over for photos so add some time. We drove Slea Head in about 2.5 hours and it was, as always, breathtaking.

I found driving Connor Pass rather scary, but gorgeous! Expect to drive very slowly, and be prepared to stop for a few errant black-faced sheep in the road :)

I can confirm the Connor Pass construction that Steeleyes mentioned was still ongoing October 27 when we drove from Dingle to Lahinch. It had us stopped for about 20 minutes; the folks heading into Dingle looked like they were really backed up.

Thanks for the mention of the construction. We will be there on the 21st of this month, so hopefully it will be completed :)

We went through on a Saturday in mid-October but weren't slowed by the construction at all. I don't think you should expect it to be finished, but plan on giving yourself a little extra time to pass through. It is a beautiful drive and I am glad we were able to do it. In 95 when we drove it, it was fogged in. (Like Sky Drive in Clifden in 03!)

We were in Dingle in October. At the last second we changed our plans to spend two days and two nights in the Dingle area. I am so glad we did. You really can't get a sense of this wonderful area if you don't stay a bit.