Ireland Travels with Toddler – Torc Waterfalls

Most travellers doing the Ring of Kerry in Ireland are bound to make a pitstop at Torc Waterfalls and that’s what we did on our road trip with our toddler. So far we’ve shared with you our Dublin picks, our travels through Kinsale, Cork  and Kilkenny and then our day in Dingle. Today’s Travel Thursday post is about our tour in Killarney during our drive from Cork to Dingle on day 3 of our 7 day road trip. If you’re wondering about the coordinated outfits – it was Canada Day so we were well coordinated thanks to Mom!

Leaving our hotel in Cork brought us to the Killarney National Park within an hour and we headed straight to the Torc Waterfalls. Easy parking right by the falls meant that we walked the Little Monkey in through the forest ( I wouldn’t bother with a stroller if you’re just going to the falls). There’s lots of large trees and the waterfall is fairly accessible by jumping over the large rocks. Being preggers I wasn’t willing to jump all the way to the top but the hubs and his dad got to the very top for some great pictures. No swim suit required but do wear some bug spray as there’s midges around. Midges are tiny little bugs, almost like mosquitoes as they bite you but the bite wears off within the hour and doesn’t sting in the least. We spent about 20 minutes at the falls marvelling at the green green hues and splashing our toes in the water.

We could have hiked past the waterfalls but opted for a Jaunting Car ride instead. What’s that you say? Well it’s a horse and buggy essentially! Given that we were a group of 6 adults we took two cars and our guides, two jovial Irish lads, took us around the Park including a pit stop at Muckross House. We walked around the gardens at Muckross House and marvelled at the 19th Century 65 room Tudor style mansion that was originally owned by the Guinness Family. The place was mainly updated for a visit by Queen Victoria in 1861 which ironically drove the then owners, the Herbert family to debt! Since the Jaunting car ride was an hour and the pit stop another hour, we knew we’d have to get back on the road to head to Dingle before nightfall. We got a deal on our Jaunting cars as they only charged us 60 Euros for the two hour journey for both cars and the history lessons we got along the way was definitely worth it. The lads even pointed out flora and fauna that Dad really appreciated. Some hard to find wood can be spotted here and if you’re lucky perhaps a deer or two as well.

Killarney National Park is definitely a spot where you can spend a couple days hiking (Gap of Dunlop anyone?) and exploring, or a couple hours soaking in the scenery, marveling at some of the backdrops for movies. As part of #IGTravelThursday with Skimbaco I’ve included some of my instagram photos along with the videos I took- Including one o me Instagraming the hubs! . Kilarney National Park was fairly baby friendly, we didn’t need our stroller as we got her to walk or carried her around. There’s a cafe near Muckross House which has high chairs and diaper change stations, though we didn’t stop here for a bite as our heavy breakfast from Blarney Castle Hotel was still in us! Those Irish Breakfasts I tell ya!