Bantry Bay Harbour is a popular vacation spot. Its beaches are excellent, and the bay region is full of small secluded beaches. The nearest beaches to Bantry are a 40-minute drive away. The area has many roads and pathways where visitors can enjoy walking and cycling.

Bantry Bay Harbour’s town of Bantry features a large town square with a promenade and a mile of paths at the seafront. It is a major commercial and shopping center for the region. Visitors to Bantry will want to visit Bantry House, a Georgian mansion with impressive collections of art, tapestries, and furniture. The French Invasion Exhibition Centre reconstructs the events of the attempted invasion in 1796. A mile outside of town is the Kilnaruane Carved Pillar Stone, a monument from the early Christian times. The gun batteries on Whiddy Island date from the late 17th Century.

On the northern shores of Bantry Bay Harbour is Glengarriff, a town in a narrow valley surrounded by beautiful mountain ridges. The valley stretches to a sheltered harbor with several islands. With a Mediterranean climate, the area is a beautiful resort with a varied botanical community. Bamboo Park is a new, growing garden with 30 species of bamboo, 12 species of palm trees, and many types of ferns.

In the Bantry Bay Harbour region are several villages you’ll want to see. Eyeries is known for its historic Christian settlements and ancient monuments. Adrigole has the highest waterfall in Ireland on Hungry Hill mountain. Coomhola boasts several megalithic monuments. Ballylickey has some of the best hotels in the area. Kilcrohane is home to Bardic University, which was famous in Western Europe from 600 to 1200 AD.

The islands in Bantry Bay Harbour offer more sights. A daily ferry offers visits to Whiddy Island with its ancient church and castle ruins, gun batteries, and what’s left of a World War I seaplane base. Daily ferries to Garnish Island offer a look at the best example of semi-tropical vegetation in northern Europe. A cable car ride takes visitors to Dursey Island, a quiet sparsely-populated haven for birdwatchers. Visitors can explore this tiny island and explore the remains of three island villages that were evacuated after the fisheries failed.

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