Driving from Dublin to Waterville Co. Kerry with young kids

az2wp0sye65487

OK so as the title says we'll be making a trip from Dublin to Waterville in Co. Kerry with a 4yr old and an 18 month old.

Google maps estimates it will be a 4.5hr trip. We won't be able to do it in one go. Will need to stop off once or possibly twice along the way for toilet / refreshment / nappy change breaks and to let the kids stretch their legs & get some air etc.

We will have 2 groups of friends making the same journey and they each have young kids too.

Looking for suggestions of places to stop off along the way. I was thinking maybe try get as far as Limerick in the first go as that would be motorway.... it's still another 2 hrs + from Limerick to Waterville

Any thoughts/suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Ray von

When going to Tralee from Dublin with kids similar age we try to make it as far as Adare were the motorway ends. A good few cafes for refreshments or the visitor centre has a cafe and free toilet facilities. Recommend the good room cafe just on the left as you enter Adare village. Loads of parking in visitor centre or Dunraven arms hotel.

If you can't make it that far the Obama Plaza is half way down just off the motorway in Moneygall.

Walter2016

The birdhill junction of M7 has an applegreen services with kids area and plenty of food options.

That's probably best first stop.


Once you hit adare it gets slower due to it no longer being motorway, - its probably about hour and a half from there to Killorglin (turn right at Centra in faranfore instead of going through Killarney)

Killorglin is a decent town for a stop.


Again its about hour and a half from there to Waterville at a steady pace.

If time allows, you could stop at Kells (15 min past glenbeigh) and have a walk in Kells bay gardens - a subtropical forest with fallen trees sculptured into dinosaurs which kids can climb. Also they have a coffee shop.

From there a stop in cahirciveen for any shopping as Waterville just has a londis and centra.

Waterville is about 20 minutes from cahirciveen.

az2wp0sye65487

Great, thank you both for the suggestions!

magicbastarder

adare can be a right old traffic jam at times.

probably of no use to you at the end of a long journey, but weather permitting, you should drive over the ballaghisheen pass at some point. it's beautiful up there. it's the road which cuts across the middle of the peninsula.

coylemj

If you're stopping in Adare, turn right at the first roundabout in the village (not far from the Dunraven Arms), then park on the right in the car park behind the tourist office. That way, it's easy to get out again because when you drive back up to the roundabout to turn right for Kerry, traffic coming from Dublin has to give way. If you park anywhere else, getting in or out is a total pain. The Dunraven Arms car park can be jammers if there's a wedding on and it's probably an expensive place to bring kids for food. There's a cafe in the tourist office building.

Matt the Thresher in Birdhill has a good selection of food though that would be a halfway point so probably worth considering only if you're stopping once but you could stop there for a full meal and then pull over in Killorglin or Caherciveen for a quick snack. When leaving Matt the Thresher, go back on the old road towards Dublin to rejoin the M7.

skywanderer

Drive to Cork on the M7/M8 take the N22 towards Killarney and the R569 to Kenmare and then the N72 to Waterville, you have Motorway 2x2 from Dublin to Ballincollig and decent enough road all the ways to Kenmare except for the stretch from Macroom to Ballyvourney. Kenmare to Waterville is bad quality road. Make sure you time it to avoid Macroom during rushhour, Adare is a terrible bottleneck and from Farranfore to Waterville is bohereen track quality road. Stop at Juncion 14 or Cashel Motorway services.

Atlantic Dawn

AC on helps keep the cabin comfortable.

allthedoyles

You could stop at Subway near Portlaoise on the way - you get breakfast for a fiver

Walter2016

skywanderer wrote: »

Drive to Cork on the M7/M8 take the N22 towards Killarney and the R569 to Kenmare and then the N72 to Waterville, you have Motorway 2x2 from Dublin to Ballincollig and decent enough road all the ways to Kenmare except for the stretch from Macroom to Ballyvourney. Kenmare to Waterville is bad quality road. Make sure you time it to avoid Macroom during rushhour, Adare is a terrible bottleneck and from Farranfore to Waterville is bohereen track quality road. Stop at Juncion 14 or Cashel Motorway services.

Must be a while since you did the journey

N22 is a slow route. Macroom is very bad for traffic just like adare.

At this time of year Adare is free flowing except 4.45-6pm each evening Monday to Thursday and from about 4-6pm on Friday.

A fair few improvements to the adare to faranfore road in the past couple of years and immense improvements to the Killorglin to Waterville road, much of which now has new surface.

coylemj

Walter2016 wrote: »

Must be a while since you did the journey

+1 Farranfore to Waterville is a perfectly good road. Also agree that avoiding the bottleneck in Adare is easy with proper timing.

And going via Ballincollig and Kenmare would add 50 kms to the journey!

From the Red Cow to Waterville, I make it 357 kms if you go to Adare, turn right in Farranfore and through Killorglin and Cahirciveen whereas it's 407 kms if you go via Ballincollig, Kenmare and Sneem.

Bass Reeves

It all depends on what sort of refreshments or breaks you want. Is it access to convience store with takeaway tea etc . It is unlikely with a journey like that you want to drag it on to 6 hours.

First choice of stop would be the Birdhill junction or if it is only a Centra/Mace type shop you want pull in to Patrickwell's just before the end of the motorway. There is a Centra and Mace in the village ( the Centra is the better of the two with a little seating area at the back of the shop and an internal toilet area).

Killorglin is about the best choice for the next stop however before you get to Killorglin you will pass through a little village call Milltown and there may be a nice shop or cafe there. Places like Adare tend to be over priced and a little bit rushed. Having said that the Tourist centre in Adare has an interesting historical section but it is more apt for older children.

On the way back you might hit Obama plaza at Moneygall.