Kells Bay House & Gardens

Kells Bay House & Gardens

Kells Bay House & Gardens
4
09:30 - 18:00
Monday
09:30 - 18:00
Tuesday
09:30 - 18:00
Wednesday
09:30 - 18:00
Thursday
09:30 - 18:00
Friday
09:30 - 18:00
Saturday
09:30 - 18:00
Sunday
09:30 - 18:00
About
Kells Bay House & Gardens is Ireland's premier sub-tropical botanical gardens situated overlooking Dingle Bay on the Ring of Kerry. It is home of the SkyWalk, Ireland's longest rope bridge (112 foot long). Ideal for everyone with over 3 kms of walks and lots of Dinosaurs for the children. We also have 4 star accommodation in the former Hunting Lodge, with our Cafe and our Thai restaurant, Sala Thai, open daily throughout the year (by prior appointment only in January).
Duration: < 1 hour
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.

Top ways to experience nearby attractions

Are you currently on your trip?
Help us find experiences available for you.
The area
Address
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
2 within 5 kms
Attractions
3 within 10 kms
See what travellers are saying
  • Michael C
    4 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Favourite hotel we’ve stayed in.
    We stayed there on April 3rd. My wife and I have stayed in 5 star resorts and hotels all over the world. This is our third time staying there and we both agree that we prefer staying there over any other hotel worldwide. We stayed in the Alexander suite this time. It was spectacular waking up to the birds chirping. A wonderful Thai dinner combined with a full Irish breakfast was icing on the cake. Highly recommend a stay there. Make sure you put aside a few yours to walk the gardens and beach.
    Visited March 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 4 April 2024
  • Trish A
    Grand Blanc, Michigan379 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Worth the trip there
    This gem is off the beating track but well worth the visit. We went on the only sunny day we had in Kells. The views are spectacular and a lot of trails to follow. Much thought was put into this attraction. The waterfalls as you enter draw you in. One must try the rope bridge. It's a bit scary but worth the adventure.
    Visited April 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 12 June 2024
  • Trail11172037063
    9 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A magical place
    We visited by public transport, catching the Local Link bus from Killarney. The walk down from the bus stop took about 20 minutes and we arrived shortly before the garden opened. There is a hotel there and they were happy to serve us a very good cup of coffee. The gardens are absolutely delightful. I read one review which said it was just 'a walk in the woods' and so it was but what a fantastic walk. There are natural streams, dramatic waterfalls, beautiful ferns and impressive trees. There is no gift shop or ice cream kiosk or even rubbish bins to distract. You just slow down and enjoy nature. I would recommend going early, we had the place virtually to ourselves and it was magical. Early June was just right for the rhododendron and camelia flowers. The rope bridge was fun and we also enjoyed spotting the dinosaurs.
    Visited June 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 28 June 2024
  • AntoniaTrip
    Bristol, United Kingdom459 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    A great find.
    So looking forward to this visit. The location is fantastic. It is worth walking down to the beach also and having a swim. The garden itself is lovely, but looking a little unloved. Beautiful tree ferns and dinosaur sculptures. The landscaping does not progress well in the car park and cafe. Much more attention to detail in required here and around the sitting area. Please invest in a proper plant sales centre, or don't bother at all. Invest some of that design excellence around the cafe.
    Visited July 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 6 July 2024
  • rockyl
    Dublin, Ireland508 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Stunning gardens! One of my holiday highlights
    An amazing garden treat ! What a gem. Visit on a sunny day! Beautiful and extensive gardens with ferns at its core and nature all around. Good paths and coffee shop on site. Also a fabulous walkway bridge not for faint hearted. Stunning views too. Takes finding but well signposted.
    Visited July 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 9 July 2024
  • Holly_M_99
    Chichester, United Kingdom51 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Green nature therapy
    This is a very beautiful and extraordinary place, where you can wander amongst 10 foot tall tree ferns, and feel the ancient wonder of plant life. I am sure they need to recount - there must be more than 600 of the beauties. It has a wild feel, with just enough human intervention to keep the paths clear! Soak it in and walk slowly. Also excellent tea at the cafe!
    Visited August 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 12 August 2024
  • Set4Road
    Cork, Ireland67 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Beautiful location
    First impressions left much to be desired. There were kittens everywhere, including on the tables and drinking out of milk jugs left on patio tables. Not a good look when there is a Thai restaurant on-site! Reception area could have done with an overhaul. Built in units must have been removed as the undercoat paint was evident. There were also people dining very close to us, felt bizarre for a reception area. The room was beautiful, airy and relatively clean, could have done with a vacuum. Once you figure out how to enter the nearest car park to the house, via an unmoving barrier, parking is signposted for residents, behind the buildings via an extremely narrow gap. We saw a beautiful car being scraped off the wall in an effort to pass through. DO NOT PARK THERE if you are nervous of narrow driveways. Dinner was served quite late, regardless of booking time, with a plate of prawn crackers being offered to stifle any pangs of hunger one may develop. The couple next to us were given a second serving of crackers, and weee not impressed, as it meant their dinner was to be served at a much later stage🥴 We had planned on eating there the second night, but cancelled it. Breakfast was good, once you opted for the cooked, as the continental servings were not replenished, regardless of how many were for breakfast 🙁 We don’t get to go away too often and was disappointed with the atmosphere and Faulty Tower’esque way the place is managed. Will most definitely not be returning, and will not be recommending.
    Visited August 2024
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 16 August 2024
  • Nicola H
    7 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Fantastic Garden...Coffee Shop disappointing
    Really beautiful walk..really enjoyed our time spent in the garden. We returned to the Coffee Shop after our walk in the garden (around 4pm) but were told rudely that the Coffee Shop was closed and the door literally slammed in our faces. Very disappointing especially as we had enjoyed the rest of our time at Kells Garden. Would love to go back to Kells Garden again but will avoid the Coffee Shop in future.
    Visited September 2024
    Travelled with family
    Written 11 September 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Contribute

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles408 reviews
Excellent
255
Very good
67
Average
41
Poor
19
Terrible
26

Laura L
72 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Pleasant gardens but overpriced and poor customer service
Aug 2021 • Family
We decided to visit Kells Bay House and Gardens after seeing a write up in the Lonely Planet. It was easy to book online and we arrived shortly after opening and proceeded to reception, which is also a cafe where we showed our vouchers and received our entry stickers. It was myself, my husband and our (nearly) 4 year old. It was raining lightly and we enjoyed wandering around the trails searching for the dinosaurs (carved out of trees, some were a bit naff but our daughter appreciated them) Unfortunately there was a lot of litter around the trails, so many discarded coffee cups etc, really can't understand the mindset of some people! Not the fault of the venue but it wouldn't have been difficult to send a member of staff out with a rubbish bag before they opened. I saw a review complaining that it was 'over grown' in places but for is this just added to the rainforest feel. It was a pleasant walk and we especially enjoyed the rope bridge. We did feel it was a little bit too pricey (we paid 23 euros for the 3 of us, a family ticket was 26 euros)

When we arrived back at the reception area it was considerably busier. We wanted to get some food and had set our hopes on a Thai meal. We asked for a table and the woman advised that you have to sit outside (probably since Covid) she also explained you couldn't order until 1pm, I feel this took a lot of questioning and she didn't seem to know what was going on which didn't fill us with confidence. We were a bit early so decided to occupy a table and wait and purchase drinks from the cafe. But because the cafe was also reception there were many people queuing closely around us to buy their tickets which made us feel uncomfortable considering we are all still meant to be social distancing. It really wasn't a good set up considering there was a one way system around the gardens but then people were forced to be close together at reception and in the cafe. We decided to pass on food and head to the beach with was advertised on their site. We assumed this was walkable but to walk there from there it appeared you would have to walk through private land so we just drove there ourselves.

So all in all a pleasant visit if you have young children, but a bit overpriced and I would book online and get there early if you choose to go and I wouldn't recommend eating there because it all just feels so disorganized and people queue next to you.
Written 22 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Colin S
Virginia, Ireland5 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Wonderful Place
Dec 2022 • Couples
Had a "wonderful" stay at Kells Bay House and Gardens. Can thoroughly recommend, the gardens are genuinely unique, unlike anything I've seen in other period houses. What also makes this place very different is the authentic home cooked Thai cuisine. Fantastic food, sumptuous rooms, easy access to the ring of Kerry, sea views and easy access to harbour for a dip. For garden and foodies this place ticks all boxes and more. Enjoy. Thanks to Billy & Penn for a wonderful stay. Shall return in the summer

Col
Written 31 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kiddal
Dublin, Ireland49 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Beautiful honeymoon stay
Oct 2022 • Couples
We enjoyed a beautiful two night stay in Kells Bay for our honeymoon. Our room was exquisite with fantastic views of the bay and a beautiful ensuite with rainfall shower and freestanding bath.

We enjoyed dinner in Sala Thai restaurant which was really authentic and delicious.

We loved exploring their unique gardens complete with rope bridge, waterfalls, beautiful collection of ferns and dinosaur carvings. We would recommend to all people who love exploring nature.
Written 21 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Butterfly2013
Ireland79 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Angry rude man
Jul 2022
We visited here today 23rd July to enquire about a group stay in September for a special occasion. As you enter the gate there is a waterfall to the right and a carpark to the left or drive on to another carpark for gardens and house. So we thought lets look at the waterfall and then continue on to the house and visit the gardens. We had just walked to the waterfall when a grey haired man (maybe in his 60's) approached us very angry and rudely shouting you have to buy tickets, you have to buy tickets for the garden!! There is no price signage or details at or inside the gate! This man was so awful we said no way were we going to enquire about a group stay if staff were that rude. We left immediately disgusted at been shouted at. Thankfully there are other beautiful friendly places to stay in the area.
Written 24 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Tracey
Newbridge, Ireland197 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Not family friendly in the slightest
Aug 2020 • Family
We had visited Kells Bay House and Gardens last summer and we were looking forward to our return visit with our little boy. We booked into the restaurant for dinner. Our little boy was admittedly quite loud but we were the only people in the restaurant at the time. My husband left to get some toys from the car to occupy him while we waited for and ate our food. Once my husband left, the owner Billy addressed me and said that he had a table of 8 coming in and he couldn't possibly have my child being so noisy. I asked him what he would like me to do and he replied "Placate him". He had previously been tutting every time my 15 MONTH OLD BABY made a noise. He could have offered us seating outside and asked us politely but he was incredibly rude and upset us to the point where we felt we had no option but to leave. There is no children's menu at this restaurant anyway and they are clearly not equipped to deal with families with young children. Incredibly disappointing.
Written 9 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

David L
Leighton Buzzard, UK25 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
A magical stay
May 2023 • Couples
A magical place to stay in a beautiful location. We were fortunate to spend four nights at this charming relaxing hotel run by owners Billy and Penn. The care and attention to the rooms, restaurant and truly inspiring gardens create an extraordinary ambiance. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed working our way through the Thai menu over four evenings- vegetarians are well catered for. Our room was large and comfortable with a lovely view onto Kells Bay. Staff were friendly, attentive and created a delightfully chilled mood. We certainly hope to return.
Written 4 May 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Robert G
Limerick, Ireland134 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Nice but bit souless
Jul 2021 • Couples
First thing I noted was the chaotic check in to the accommodation. There didn't seem to be anyone in charge and us along with some bewildered day visitors seemed to be left to figure out where to go. Eventually a very helpful staff member arrived and looked after us. The room was nice with a very comfortable bed. The only food option is Thai themed and that is fine. The helpful French girl who checked us in seemed to be the only staff member there, she worked the dining room as well as servicing very busy takeaway orders. The food at dinner and breakfast was good. We were checked out by a very impersonal lady who may have been the co-owner. This is a great location for peace and quiet in the evening with lovely walks and a small beach. The accommodation side (outside of the hardworking female waitress) was a bit soulless and not very welcoming.
Written 1 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Paula G
13 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Rope bridge highlight in beautiful river and woodland setting
Jul 2022 • Family
We purchased our tickets online before arrival, I was glad we had as it’s not very clear where to get tickets on site, you are directed onto the start of the garden walk once you leave the carpark area. We didn’t see any sign of a ticket office or meet anyone checking tickets for our whole visit. The carpark is spacious and we had no problem parking up our campervan. Work is on going in this area. The woodland garden is really stunning and fun for kids to explore. The dinosaur wooden carvings provided extra fun for them. We loved the rope bridge, not as long as we expected but still the highlight of our visit in a beautiful river setting.
Written 31 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Munsterhead
6 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Fantastic place, pity about the obnoxious owner
May 2021 • Family
Fantastic place and would love to give it 5 stars however the owner really let's the place down, such a pity. He really has no personality, no appreciation/thanks or any interest in his customers paying money. Suggestion...get someone else front of house!! The gardens are magnificent and really do deserve a 5 star review.
Written 1 May 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Charsh123
Selby, UK8 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Not worth the entry fee
Aug 2021 • Couples
This would have been a very average walk, if it were free. It seems that the gardens have been very nice and well-kempt at some point, but that point is not now..
The gardens were very unruly and looked as though they had not had some attention for quite some time. The time it takes to walk round is hugely overstated. A part which is stated to take 25 minutes may take about 15 and a part which is stated to take 15 may take 5-10.
It really took no time at all for us to see everything there was to see and whilst there are one or two nice view points, the same type of views can be found for free outside of the gardens.
€8.50 per person really is too much for what is there, lots of the plants are overgrown and there are an awful lot of weeds taking over, and also lots of litter lying around which should really have been cleared.
It might just be the case that the gardens had become messy since COVID and therefore no staff have been working on them, and so it may be better to judge once businesses and places have had chance to recover…
Written 15 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 377
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

KELLS BAY HOUSE & GARDENS: All You MUST Know Before You Go (2025)

All things to do in Cahersiveen
Day Trips in Cahersiveen
RestaurantsFlightsHoliday RentalsTravel StoriesCruisesCar Hire