South of Ireland

Day 3: After arriving in Ireland, we wanted to avoid the main roads and instead took a small country road towards Arthurstown. Due to our tiredness, we decided not to drive far, so we had enough time to plan our rough itinerary for the next few days. Since our travel guide described wild camping as being prohibited in Ireland, we were pleased to see a sign for 'Camper Parking 2.5 km' in Wellingtonbridge, which tempted us to turn onto a narrow side road. We had found our first spot in Ireland by a small bay! We didn't mind that it cost 20 EUR per night because there were showers and toilets, and we could refill our water tank.

Day 4: Our first destination of the day was the Hook Head Peninsula, where we took a windy walk around the lighthouse. The campervans parked there quickly showed us that wild camping in Ireland isn't taken as strictly as we thought, so we decided to be more adventurous in the future.

After that, we headed straight to Cork, where the app showed us a parking lot in the city center for overnight stays. However, when we arrived, we found out that it had been closed for almost 4 weeks :( After a brief moment of confusion, we decided to find another parking lot and not stay in Cork for the night. We visited the English Market, a covered food market with various culinary stalls, and found a pub on Paul Street, a street known for its student life, where we could have fish and chips. With full stomachs, we took a short city tour to see various sights. Overall, we weren't particularly impressed with Cork, so moving on wasn't difficult for us.

However, as our journey continued, this turned out to be a fortunate turn of events because we drove on towards Kinsale and found a dreamy parking spot at Charles Fort to watch the sunset and spend the night.

Day 5: After a restful night, we were greeted with a 'Hello, how are you?' by our neighboring parkers - Dan and Dee, an Australian couple who sold their belongings to travel through Europe in a motorhome. With their months of experience, they recommended two apps to us - park4night and campercontact. Our departure was delayed - luckily - due to our first small talk in English, allowing us to witness a group of dolphins heading towards the harbor.

Afterwards, we explored the colorful town of Kinsale, then visited Drombeg Stone Circle and soon set off towards Baltimore. The former pirate stronghold is no longer dangerous and is now instead overrun by watersports enthusiasts.

Since we decided against staying at an urban sheep square, we drove a few more kilometers to Ballydehob, where we had a great spot by an old stone bridge overlooking a bay. After a short walk, the weather changed and we spent some time in the van. Later, a VW van with a German license plate joined us. Sonja and Christian from Mannheim invited us to spend the evening together in their T3.

Day 6: The stormy and rainy night was followed by a sunny morning, so we set up camping chairs in front of the van and had breakfast by the water.

Then we headed to Mizen Head, the southwesternmost point of Ireland. The entrance fee was rewarded with various beautiful views of the sea and rock formations. From the arch bridge over the sea trench, we could watch seals playing in the water. Since we were there quite early and outside of the tourist season, we even had some moments of solitude. Mizen Head is definitely worth a visit!

Since we were told by two friends - André and Linda - that we didn't have to visit all five fingers/peninsulas, after Mizen Head, we decided to drive the Ring of Beara. During our lunch break at a parking lot with a wonderful view, the familiar VW T3 from Mannheim actually pulled into the same parking bay. Hihihi... Ireland is so small.

We then continued to Castletownberehaven - with the most beautiful public toilets so far :D. We will spend the night at a free camper parking lot here and possibly visit one of the pubs in town.