In this travel vlog, Kathryn Bird documents her motorhome adventure along Ireland’s Ring of Kerry, part of the Wild Atlantic Way. She opens with an overview of the route, emphasizing that motorhome travelers should drive anti‑clockwise to avoid head‑on encounters with buses and coaches on narrow roads. She highlights several scenic stops—Moll’s Gap, Ladies View, Torc Waterfall, the Gap of Dunloe, and Sneem—while noting parking difficulties, especially at Torc Waterfall, and advising early or late visits to avoid crowds. Kathryn recounts a near‑miss accident when she drove clockwise between Torc Waterfall and Ladies View, where an overhanging rock almost struck her vehicle, underscoring the danger of the wrong direction. She also warns that the Gap of Dunloe is unsuitable for motorhomes longer than 6.8 m due to a tight bridge corner, though she managed to navigate it after careful maneuvering. After a night’s stay in a large car‑park near Killarney, she proceeds to Sneem for a unique seaweed bath. Brendan explains the bath uses Fucus serratus, the “Rolls‑Royce” of seaweeds, harvested six months earlier, dried, then re‑hydrated in hot water to release skin‑nourishing oils and gels. The experience is described as pleasant, non‑slimy, and beneficial for the skin. Throughout, Kathryn offers practical motorhome tips (laundry services, overnight parking, road‑size considerations) and expresses enthusiastic appreciation for the scenery, concluding with a recommendation to explore the Wild Atlantic Way further.
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Hi, I'm Kat. I live, work, and travel full-time in my motorhome touring the UK and Europe, and I'm currently exploring the incredible Wild Atlantic Way. I've already been here a few weeks, so if you've missed them, do go back and watch the earlier videos. But today I'm driving the famous Ring of Kerry, which involves fabulous views, roads I'm not entirely sure I should be driving my motorhome down, and Seaweed baths. It's certainly going to be an interesting day. Join me as I find out. And as always, if you're not subscribed and want to see more motorhoming travels and adventures, then feel free to hit that subscribe button. Right, let's get started. As you drive north from Bantry, where there's a marina with services if you need them, you'll find yourself treated to some spectacular scenery. There are a few places where you can pull over and take photos of the surrounding countryside, and you'll find yourself passing some Don't miss Moll's Gap, which was a very pretty area to drive through. I highly recommend if you are in a motorhome or even a campervan that you do the Ring of Kerry in an anti-clockwise direction, so head up towards Killarney rather than going southwest. This is purely because this is the route that all the coaches and the buses go, which means that you won't encounter them coming head-on on the road. On some of the narrow roads. If all the big vehicles go in the same direction, it makes life a heck of a lot easier. As you work your way around, you'll find yourself coming up to Ladies View. This is where Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting stopped and had a picnic, and they liked the view so much that they named it after them. And you can see why— it's stunning. Keep working your way around towards Torque Waterfall, and if you're lucky, you might see some of the local wildlife. Torc Waterfall was beautiful, well worth a stop, but again, parking isn't easy with a motorhome, so try to get there earlier or later in the day if you can, not around lunchtime. Now, I made a mistake at this point, and I went all the way around to Torc Waterfall, then decided to go back to Ladies View for the sunset. And while the views were stunning, I almost wrote my motorhome off because the overhang on the rocks going clockwise Clockwise between Torc Waterfall and Ladies View is horrendous, and if you've got traffic coming the other direction, which it's one of the most popular routes in Ireland, there's always traffic coming the other direction, you'll find yourself so close to the rock wall, and I nearly, nearly hit the van on a rocky outcrop. So be so careful, and ideally don't go clockwise between Torc Waterfall and Ladies View. But as you can see, it was worth it. The views were stunning. And then I spent the night, went through Killarney where I actually stopped and did some laundry at the services, and then I stayed here. Good morning. So I slept here last night, which is actually in the grounds here, and it's this massive car park. I've got one other van here, and it was really peaceful and quiet. The cows are going this morning, but we are gonna go— what are we gonna do today? We're gonna do the rest of the Ring of Kerry. And go up to the Gap of Dunloe and then go and try and find dinosaur tracks. That's the big— oh, and have a seaweed bath! Have a seaweed bath too, that'll be fun. Right, well, all right, first we're playing with a ball, then we're going for an adventure. If you followed my channel for a while, you'll know that I like crazy mountain roads. They're kind of fun and I enjoy driving them. But I have to say, the Gap of Dunloe may have been a mistake. If you've got a motorhome any longer than 6.8 meters, which is what I am, I strongly, strongly recommend you do not drive this road because there was one particular corner going over this bridge that I did not think I was going to be able to get around. It was very, very tight. But don't get me wrong, it was a fantastic road, and if you're in a car or a motorbike, absolutely Absolutely drive it. The views from the top are brilliant, and I did make it in the motorhome, and I managed to get around the other side, turn around, and come back again. And then I highly recommend, having done all that hard work, that you stop here for breakfast. It was delicious. And then look south, like towards me and the barrier. 385 million years. So parked up in Sneem. I'm gonna stop walking because I'm bobbling. And now in the Sneem Hotel, which is remarkably posh, I'm going to go to the seaweed bath, which, um, yeah, sounds a bit bizarre, but I'm gonna go and sit into hot seaweed. There we go, we have found the Sneem seaweed baths. Is it bizarre? I don't know what to expect. This is my barrel. Oh, it's nice. Oh, look, there's seaweed. Okay, is it filming?
Is it?
Yeah. Right then. Oh, that is nice.
There's a wall!
Oh, I'm overflowing! That's lovely. More legroom in here than I thought as well. Yeah, okay, lovely. I just need someone to fan me and feed me grapes. So what's your name?
Sorry, Brendan.
Brendan, go on then, Brendan.
So this was— this is where the magic happens. So, the type of seaweed we use is called the Fucus serratus, and it gets its name because of the serrated edge. There's a serrated edge on it.
Serratus.
Serratus. Fucus serratus. So, the reason we use this seaweed as opposed to any of the other 200 species which are out there, this is the Rolls-Royce of the seaweeds for the seaweed baths. It's the one that's most full of the oils and gels which are fabulous for your skin. So, we would have harvested this back about 6 months ago, and we dry it out. So, it just loses its water content. It doesn't lose any of its goodness. And then half an hour before you arrive back, we put it into a bucket of hot water, and the hot water rehydrates it, but most importantly, it extracts all the oils and gels out of it. So we don't put it into the barrel before you get in because we like to give you a chance to feel all the oils and gels. So put your hand in there, give it a stir.
Ooh, I mean, it is kind of slimy, but you can see it's like—
Look at it.
Look at it! And that's all natural? You haven't added any oils?
Nothing, nothing other than seaweed and hot water. It's just magical for the skin.
So does all seaweed have something like this in it?
All of them do, but some have more than others. And this one has— this is one of the ones with most of it. Yeah, little tiny little barnacles on it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, growing on it.
There'll be crabs in it, right?
No, it was picked 6 months ago and it dried out, so you're safe. You're safe. Here we go.
Come on then. This is the most bizarre thing I've ever done. So is there a way of doing this? Do I Drape myself in seaweed?
You can.
But just literally—
You know the time it is?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, just literally sitting here.
Yeah, yeah, and you can just, you can just rub it into your skin all, all throughout the year, loads of times.
How bizarre. It doesn't feel anywhere near as slimy as I thought it was going to. Yeah, this is actually very pleasant. Look at the view as well.
You can hardly see Gregor, he's laughing.
So it's raining, but actually that was magic, and I haven't had a shower or anything. I put my hair under to get all the oils in, but it just feels soft. It doesn't feel greasy. You know when you've had like a spa and a massage and it feels all greasy in your shower afterwards? No, not at all. It's— I feel really good. I spent the evening at Sneema feeling incredibly relaxed. So yes, I see why the Ring of Kerry is so popular. It is beautiful and highly recommended. Join me next time as I continue exploring the Wild Atlantic Way in my motorhome. If you'd like to know when the next video goes live, then feel free to subscribe. Thank you as always for your time, and I'll see you soon. Take care. Bye.
