Ireland West Tours has been bringing visitors on guided tours to this “Hidden Gem” for many years. It was known outside mainly by the word of mouth of visitors and its own island diaspora. Things change though, so when the Google mapping van arrived and recorded Valentia’s byways and stunning vistas our little secret was out.
The Island can be reached by bridge or by ferry. There are many great views on The Ring of Kerry but so many people miss out on not going on a guided tour to nearby Valentia.
With vantage points over some of the most exceptional sights along the Wild Atlantic Way, nestled in the Southern Peninsulas a trip to Valentia Island and its Lighthouse is a must. Valentia Lighthouse at Cromwell Point is also one of The Twelve Great Lighthouses of Ireland. On a guided tour of the lighthouse, you will discover more information about Irish Lights and their international humanitarian obligations under SOLAS. On the guided tour you will reach the Lighthouse tower and balcony where you can enjoy the astonishing panorama of the Atlantic Ocean and the remote wave-thrashed Blasket Islands and Begnish Island which local folklore claims were a former home of The Vikings.
Valentia has the 300-million-year-old footprints of a Tetrapod, the first dinosaur to step from water onto land.
From the very old to the not so old, it was from Valentia Harbour that the world’s first transatlantic cable was laid, stretching an incredible 1,686 nautical miles to Newfoundland in 1866.
