The best MTB trails around The Municipal District of Bandon-Kinsale

Monumental ruin of a 14th-century Franciscan friary on an older site of St. Molaga, at the mouth of the Argideen River. The Gothic windows, cloister garth and tower form an impressive silhouette against Courtmacsherry Bay. Freely accessible as a quiet, historical viewing stop in the village of Timoleague.

A wide, light sandy beach on the north side of the Old Head, with low dunes, an open horizon and a constant Atlantic wind. The Blue Flag status and the guarded zone in summer make it a safe and accessible stop, while the flat entry and spacious beach are ideal for a short break or a refreshing walk.

This long headland was for centuries home to countless castles belonging to the mighty Courcy family. On its point stands a lighthouse rising 70 meters above the waves. Not far from this rugged peninsula, the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by the Germans on May 7, 1915. This event, which claimed 1500 lives, was the trigger for American participation in World War I. The Lusitania Museum is housed in a watchtower built during the Napoleonic Wars. (first peninsula on the Wild Atlantic Way)

Old Head Signal Tower, Lusitania Museum & Memorial Garden together form the historic heart of the Old Head: a fully restored Napoleonic signal tower on the highest point of the headland, with a small but poignant museum inside about the RMS Lusitania, the passenger ship torpedoed off this coast in 1915; outside lies the quiet Memorial Garden with the long bronze wave sculpture listing all the victims and an original davit pointing to the wreck site—a place where coastal defence, maritime history and a wide Atlantic panorama come together in one powerful moment.

The Ringrone castle ruins are the remnant of a medieval tower house strategically situated above the mouth of the Bandon. Of the original complex, only one high wall section remains today, a four-storey fragment rising from the grassland like a narrow, weathered shaft.

The Harbour of Kinsale forms the historical and visual heart of the town: a sheltered, natural inlet where fishing boats, merchant ships, and naval vessels have docked for centuries. Its location deep within the Bandon estuary made Kinsale a strategic port, both economically and militarily, and that layered history is still palpable today in the rhythm of the quay, the mix of old warehouses and modern yachts, and the constant presence of tide and light.

Kinsale is a historic harbour town at the mouth of the River Bandon, known for its colourful streets, maritime heritage, and exceptional culinary reputation. It lies about 25 km south of Cork and forms the official starting point of the Wild Atlantic Way. The town combines a compact medieval street plan with an open, wide harbour basin that has been strategically important for centuries. Call it the little Honfleur of Southern Ireland.

The stretch forms one of the most beautiful, quietest (cycling) segments around Belgooly: a gently meandering road through the Owenabue valley, with open sightlines, green verges and the typical South Corks countryside. It is not an officially separated cycle path (!) but a rural, low-traffic corridor that feels like a natural green route along the river. The path stops at a developed viewpoint and then you have to go back. (see elsewhere)