There are many great roads in the world and therefore many great road trips. Covering them all is the XXL Family Bucket list of bucket lists – and of course, I’ve got one. The Transvaal Highway, Route 66, the depths of Patagonia, and Iceland’s Route 1 – they’re all on there but I feel it’s smart to tick off those closer to home first.
I’ve enjoyed the NC500 in Scotland, crossed the Lake District, and plowed through Snowdonia, but Southern Ireland, with its wild coastline and craggy rocks, has always been on the list and finally, I had the good fortune to tick it off. And I didn’t just ‘tick it off’ – I did it in style, with luxury, culinary treats, and a few rather decent Italian cars.
One challenge that often arises when describing a road trip is that we can’t all do it in the same car, or even the same type of car. A Mondeo will give you a different weekend away from a 110 Defender or a Caterham 7. I think that Europe’s great roads can and should be enjoyed by anyone in any car. It’s an egalitarian, universal pursuit, the road trip, and should be free to all.
However, what’s most likely when you’re somewhere like Ireland, with its weaving tarmac, is you’ll get 3 types of people – those in an SUV or high-riding car which will be great for the views and plenty of luggage, the romantic weekend trip in a top-down sports car full of charm and finally the petrolhead, track-day loving road-tripper who will rock up in a proper car; a supercar or even a track car. But how does one experience a trip in 3 ways?
Well, one joins a gaggle of Ferrari fans and the brand’s 3 biggest and best sellers that’s how. I had the ridiculous fortune to experience the Emerald Isle’s taut surface in the Purosangue, Roma Spider, and 296 GTS: Family car (sort of), top-down 2-seater, and mid-engine supercar. Tick Tick Tick.
After a welcome evening which included the simply unparallelled culinary experience of the 2 Michelin-starred TERRE, we hit the hay before the 2 days of driving ahead. We set off from the sumptuous Castlemartyr Hotel just east of Cork, where the paddock of prancing horses was waiting for us in the car park. Me and my erstwhile photographer Michael, I jumped in a yellow 296 GTS to start with, and what a way to begin.
After a bit of dual carriageway chomping, we headed west towards Cork, it was a good opportunity to familiarise ourselves with our cars and generally settle in. We had been given a preset route but after a quick word with one of the team, there was an ‘alternative route’ for those more confident in their cars. This was red rag to a bull for me and having driven quite a few high-end cars over the years felt brazenly up for it.
After passing Cork there is a southward road called the R600 which takes you right down to the coast and through Kinsale, before hanging a right and following the water. This is the great thing about coastal road trips, as long as you keep the water on your left, you’ll be going the right way! I had no qualms about dropping a couple of gears in the 800hp mid-engined supercar. An accessible but still biblically capable hybrid with the ability to throw you around a racetrack but also slip into EV mode to shyly creep into any carpark you may come across.
As ours was bright yellow, ‘incognito’ was a slightly lost cause, and at a first coffee break, we were quickly surrounded by a couple of locals, ogling at the quarter of a million pounds (before you add about £70k’s worth of extras) supercar. Caffeinated we hurtled onwards passing through sleepy fishing villages, along winding coastal roads, and past a good few castle ruins. I wouldn’t usually praise bad weather but the bleak, eerie greyness we found ourselves in only added to the stark and dramatic landscape.
Lunch stop was the equally filmic Bantry House, a place once in ruin and now slowly being renovated back to its former glory – but a house and location suitably grandiose to receive our cavalcade of Italian thoroughbreds. Afternoon tea was served (a conspicuously English convention in a thoroughly Irish town) and before long we were swapping chariots – I’d had the racing car, now for something softer, smoother, and saliently; easier for Michael to get in and out of.
The Roma Spider would carry us around for the second half of the day, an elegant and beautiful car, as happy here as on the Italian/French Riviera, whilst remaining understated. Lots of people dream of owning a Ferrari but not all want it to be bright yellow and draw a crowd everywhere they go.
Ours was a soft, deep Rosso Portofino and with the top down, in profile, simply one of the most beautiful cars Ferrari has ever made. (In my opinion. Yes, the 250 GT California wasn’t bad on the eye either.) After lots of ‘who is the fairest of them all’ we headed off to discover more Irish countryside and the well-known Ring of Kerry. With just over 600hp the Roma is no slowcoach after the 296 and a very happy place to be– comfort, technology, and speed.
We headed north from Bantry to aim for our next night’s stop – the modern and dynamic Europe Hotel, a large luxurious resort hotel on the banks of Lough Leane. It’s a winding route on the N71 that starts to introduce the West Coast of Ireland, which bears many similarities to the West Coast of Scotland; rising mountains, endless twists and turns, and a variety of flora and fauna at every turn. Heading north the N71 passes through Glengarriff, then over the Caha Mountains on towards Kenmare and eventually our hotel just outside Killarney.
Thankfully the Gods allowed for some top-down driving which is certainly the way to see this country, if only for the added amount of sky – this isn’t somewhere you want to be interrupted by A-pillars, roofs, or blind spots. A brief stop-off at the spectacular Moll’s Gap – officially the highest point on the Ring of Kerry and named after a wily young lady in the 19th Century who ran an illegal bar. Sadly, the bar didn’t survive but the views did and there’s now a handy café and shop instead (Avoca Store & Café if Googling the route.) A quick coffee that we really didn’t need, and we blasted the 3.9-liter V8 all the way to our hotel and a little allotted downtime.
Having had a busy and exhilarating day I afforded myself a little R&R in the hotel pool and spa before joining the team for some carb loading in the Italian ‘Riva’ restaurant. I had an early night after just the one Negroni and slept full of anticipation for the full Ring of Kerry come sunrise.
Fuelled up on breakfast it was time to load up into our 3rd and final car for a solid day’s drive that would end back at Cork airport. The Purosangue gave me a chance to enjoy the most laid-back setting on this trip and nearest to what other people would be driving in. Something big, comfy, and with a little power should it be desired. Well, an Audi Q7 this is not. With a 6.5l V12, 715hp, and the ability to graze 200mph, this was actually the 2nd most powerful car here and possibly quicker to 60 than the Roma, depending on where you get your information. In short, it’s not an SUV (as Ferrari keeps telling everyone), it’s a supercar. With 4 seats. I was excited to hear the V12 and Michael was excited to step down from a car for once.
The final drive took on the Ring of Kerry in its entirety – we headed back south to Moll’s Gap and hung a right to link up with the Ring and then continued to do another ‘keep the water on the left’ until ending back at Killarney before blasting the N22 all the way to the airport. The Ring is much like the NC500 in Scotland (although much smaller) but a tourist destination and conveniently located road that takes in the epic expanse that is the Atlantic Ocean on your left whilst keeping Ireland’s truly special landscape on your right.
We were again confronted with a mix of weathers, from glorious sunshine to a deep misty greyness that felt like George R. R. Martin had contrived it – winter had certainly come at this point. I was glad to be in the cocooning interior of the Purosangue, complete with massage chairs, heated everything, and such a strong road presence that I felt like if there was a cliff-top rock fall we wouldn’t even notice it.
Before segueing onto more conventional roads, we stopped at a carpark sitting atop a precipice and looking over the ocean. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, but this is what cars are for – the ability to go to places that take your breath away. Moments to look out over the vast ocean, alone or with a friend, feel a humbling smallness, and breathe in the cold, crisp air. Nothing else can do that. Thank you, Ferrari and Ireland, for that moment.
The final drive was a straight shoot down a very new bit of motorway, but as the weather continued to be poor it became a bit of a slog and simply getting to the airport became the aim. Normally I’d hate drives like this, but all it made me do was realize how powerful a road trip, in a great car, in a great place can be – we had just driven miles and miles in the very same weather and not once did it bother me; because of the route, the view, the experience. Once on a motorway, you realise how special it was, that even in the worst weather it was still magical.
I parked the Purosangue next to its brothers and sisters before they were loaded up on a lorry set for home and headed to departures.
On the flight I reflected on the big tick I’d managed to place on my bucket list and the outrageous fortune of enjoying it in 3 of the best cars on the market right now, let alone in the Ferrari stable. I think the Roma Spider is the sweet spot for its softness and open-air experience but the other two would be a happy joint second.
The real choice here is the place; please go there, drive those roads, breathe in the cold, crisp air. And in reality, I’d happily do it again in any car (but ideally, it’d be a Ferrari. Probably the Roma Spider. In red.)
With thanks to:
Ferrari
