A car ferry also departs from Reenard Point to Knightstown, the island's main settlement, from April to October.

Another, smaller village named Chapeltown sits at roughly the midpoint of the island, three kilometres (two miles) from the bridge.

[6] The first attempt in 1857[7] to land a cable from Ballycarbery Strand on the mainland just east of Valentia Island ended in disappointment.

[9][10] On 21 May 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh made his first landfall in Europe over Dingle Bay and Valentia Island on his solo flight from New York to Paris.

[11] In 1993 an undergraduate geology student discovered fossilised tetrapod trackways, footprints preserved in Devonian rocks, on the north coast of the island at Dohilla (51°55′51″N 10°20′38″W / 51.930868°N 10.343849°W / 51.930868; -10.343849).

[14] The combined features and history of the island make it an attractive tourist destination, easily accessible from the popular Ring of Kerry route.

Sitting on the eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean, Valentia Island is, on average, the wettest weather station in Ireland.

There are two connections to the Irish mainland, the fixed Maurice O'Neill Memorial Bridge to Portmagee, and a seasonal vehicle ferry service from Knightstown.