Dingle for a week

roo1103 · Member

Dingle for a week

tony2phones · Guru

Personally I am not a big fan of Dingle for a couple of reasons. Firstly due to a certain "God" of tourist guides and other followers having it punch well above it's weight. Secondly because it's a peninsular and people use it as a touring base without considering that they will spend 3 hours looking either side of the same road just getting to and from somewhere else every day.

For the South west I would consider somewhere around Kenmare which gives day tip options to all of the peninsulas in the bottom corner and has a good choice of things to do, places to drink and eat and doesn't charge the "tourist buck"for them. I would consider self catering as it will be a cheaper option and give you more freedom of choice, If you feel the need you can pop up to dingle for an overnight in a B&B (Pax House?) mid week. Both Shamrock cottages and Imagine Ireland have cottages to let in Ireland but you would have to contact them as next year bookings cannot be made on line yet.

http://www.shamrockcottages.co.uk/properties/kerry/

http://www.imagineireland.com/Kerry-cottages/default.asp

roo1103 · Member

Thanks Tony2phones! I will check out Kenmare as I want this to be very special for my mom!

Melissa5 · Guru

roo1103: tony2phones gives great advice and has been all around Ireland. I am just going to add my 2 cents worth of advice, since I only took 1 trip so far to Ireland, and my second trip is coming up in September.

We are staying in Kenmare for the first time in September, so I'm looking forward to that.

My family and I loved Dingle and the Dingle peninsula! My family...husband and 2 young adult daughters...spent 3 nights in Dingle several years ago. tony2phones is right that lots of Rick Steves guidebook fans do go to Dingle because it seems to be Rick's favorite place in Ireland. I have to say that Rick Steves guidebook for Ireland is NOT the most accurate guidebook in general. However he does have an excellent and accurate section for the Dingle peninsula specifically, in my opinion.

Michele Erdvig has excellent information about all of the peninsulas in her guidebook...Dingle peninsula, Beara peninsula, Ring of Kerry (Iveragh peninsula) etc.

We really loved dingle, and we all felt reluctant to leave. Our 3 nights in Dingle allowed us just enough time to do the Dingle peninsula drive, which is scenic and includes some ruins and wild scenery. It allowed us time to check out some pubs in Dingle but we never had time to see all of Dingle town and we never got to explore Inch beach.. It allowed us time to visit the Blasket Island visitor's center which is on the Dingle peninsula. We found it to be fascinating...so much so that we all agreed we wanted to take a boat out to the Blasket Islands from the Dingle peninsula. However much to our disappointment it was too late in the day to get to the Blasket islands, and we didn't have any more nights in Dingle!

So I highly recommend Dingle and the Dingle peninsula and I'd love to go back there for a week.

However I'm sure tony2phones is correct that Kenmare is also a great base for a week because there is so much to do from Kenmare...you can do the Ring of Kerry, the Beara peninsula, and lots more! I haven't been to Kenmare yet but we are going in September!

I love fresh fish, and my favorite fresh fish entree was in Dingle, and I believe I ordered it at a pub...it was fresh and fabulous. (I'm very picky about fish being fresh.) Somewhere on Michele's web-site I have a very long trip report about our 1st trip to Ireland which includes our experiences at Dingle and Dingle peninsula.

We stayed at Heaton's Guesthouse which is walking distance to Dingle town. Heaton's had the best breakfast that we enjoyed in Ireland...there were wonderful and varied choices on the menu, all included in the room price.

Sometimes when I have read the guidebooks and asked questions online and if I'm still not sure where I want to go, I read trip reports and also look at photos.

Have a wonderful trip!

Michele Erdvig · Host

roo,

As Tony wisely suggested Dingle is not best situated for day trips. If you are content to stay on the peninsula and just want to relax then I think you would enjoy a week there. But if you want to see many other things and do multiple day trips then Kenmare is an excellent base. I have rented cottages there 4 separate times for a week at a time. I never ran out of things to see and do. Go to my self-catering page, where I have links to some cottages in Kenmare. I also have to say that the people of Kenmare are super friendly. Plus it is my favorite small town in Ireland.

Since you have two weeks I think doing a week of B&Bs and one of renting a self-catering cottage would be ideal. You will get the best of both experiences.

Michele

wojazz3 · Guru

I agree that Dingle for a week might not be the best choice for seeing a lot of things. It does get a lot of tourism and in June it's picking up pretty strong. Kenmare is a much better base and you can certainly get to visit a number of locations from one spot. That said, don't give up on Dingle.

Mile for mile, the Slea Head drive on Dingle may pack in the most oohs and ahhs on a coastal trip (perhaps the Torr Road on the Antrim coast could challenge that). It is not a very long drive but you can spend most of the day doing it if you do it right. If you decide to stay a night there, I love to stay at the Shores Country House on the north coast of the peninsula. Beautiful B&B looking out over one of the longest beaches in Ireland and Annette provides a beautiful place to stay, great food and is a charming hostess. My favorite place to stay in Ireland.

You can take a boat out to Great Blasket which some people find boring and others find amazing and peaceful. I fall into the second category if the weather is good. There are NO ammenities on the island, just loveley walks so if people are moderately fit, it's a lovey option. This is again, weather dependent.

Speaking of weather dependent (and fitness), if folks are up to a healthy climb, have no fear of heights and the weather works out, consider Skellig Michael off the Ring of Kerry. It is one of the most amazing sites in Ireland. The climb to the top on the stairs is moderately strenuous (I live in Colorado so at that altitude, it was comfortable) but there are moments when the steps are along a fairly steep drop off so it's not for the faint of heart. The view from the top is outstanding and the history is ... well, just read about it

. You can catch boats along at a few places along the Ring of Kerry. I would suggest the shorter boat duration trips from say Portmagee. I traveled with Joe Roddy and Sons. Joe is an amazing character if you are fortunate enough to climb on board with him.

There's too much to write about in that area so I will stop now.

Bill