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Dublin To Castletown-Bearhaven County Cork Private Car Transfer
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From €1450 per person
Your chauffeur meets you at Dublin Airport arrivals with a name card, or collects you directly from your Dublin city accommodation. Your flight is tracked electronically so the timing sorts itself out, and you get a full hour of complimentary waiting time at the airport if bags take longer than expected.
The drive to Castletown-Bearhaven on the Beara Peninsula in County Cork takes 5 to 6 hours, heading south through the Irish countryside in a Mercedes Benz E220 Executive Class. The Beara Peninsula is one of the quieter corners of West Cork - less visited than the Ring of Kerry next door, but with scenery that’s every bit as dramatic. Castletownbere, as it’s known locally, is a working fishing town at the foot of the Caha Mountains, with Bere Island sitting in the harbour and the Slieve Miskish mountains rising behind the town.
The vehicle holds up to 3 passengers with luggage - specifically 2 standard 20kg cases plus 2 small suitcases. Both the vehicle and chauffeur are fully licensed and insured under the Irish Government Transport Authority.
Castletownbere is a proper working town, not a tourist village. The fishing fleet is one of the largest in Ireland, and the pubs on the square are used by fishermen and farmers as much as visitors. McCarthy’s Bar on the main square is famous - it doubles as a hardware shop, which tells you everything you need to know about the place.
The Beara Peninsula is genuinely off the beaten path. You won’t find the coach-party crowds here that you get on the Ring of Kerry. The Beara Way walking route runs the length of the peninsula, and even just driving the coastal roads between Castletownbere and Kenmare gives you scenery that most visitors to Ireland never see.
Bere Island is worth a half-day if you can spare it. The ferry from Castletownbere takes about ten minutes, and the island has old military fortifications, quiet roads, and views back toward the Caha Mountains that are hard to beat. It’s the kind of place that rewards slow travel.
The Healy Pass connects the Beara Peninsula to Kerry and is not to be missed. If you’re planning any movement north to Kenmare or Killarney, the Healy Pass road through the mountains is one of the great drives in Ireland - narrow, steep in places, and genuinely spectacular at the top.
Stock up in Castletownbere before heading to more remote accommodation on the peninsula. The town has the main supermarkets and shops for the whole Beara area. If you’re staying somewhere more isolated, it’s worth knowing that options get thinner the further west you go.