2 Days in Dingle

2 Days in Dingle

Dingle is an Irish town located in the most north-west region of Kerry. The area is the most western point of Europe, the peninsula is full of stuff to see and interesting things to do. The town has a load of nice restaurants, Irish pubs and great seafood to try! In this 2 days in dingle article, have included some cool stuff to do and see.

Dingle has loads to keep you busy for days. Everyone loves Dingle, it has nice scenery, arguably one of the nicest driving routes in Ireland, historic attractions and really nice Irish pubs! What more do you want!

Getting to Dingle

There are many ways to get to Dingle, public transport, private hire buses, or drive yourself. Approaching Dingle from Tralee, you will come to a beautiful viewpoint called Connor pass, this is a must-see viewpoint!

This road to Dingle can be a bit tricky if it’s your first time driving in Ireland ,so take your take and plan the route!

Driving yourself

So the road from Tralee, Dublin, or Limerick to Connor Pass and onto Dingle is a beautiful route but be warned as you get close to Connor pass this road can be a tricky route to manage because its a very narrow road and you will be travelling up and through a large mountain range.

You can take a different route via N86 road through Annascaul that isn’t as tricky to drive, but not as scenic.

Travelling from Killarney follow the signs for Dingle and the R563 Aghadoe, Milltown and Inch Beach signposts. This route has some nice stuff to see along the way too.

Check out my article on Best Things to do in Killarney with the Aghadoe Viewpoint info here!

Public Transport

Bus Eireann operates a number of routes to Dingle from Killarney town and other locations around Ireland, Bus Eireann have a journey planner on their website that is handy for planning out your route from all over Ireland to the various locations including Dingle check out the Bus Eireann link above!

Day 1

This 2 days in Dingle article include lots of cool stuff to see and do in Dingle and the surrounding areas. It’s a very popular town for Irish people to visit and tourists so it can be quite busy in the summer months!

Go see Fungi the Dolphin

Dingle is home to Fungi the Dolphin, Fungi is a male common noise Dolphin that has amazed experts and has been the subject of a number of studies, he was first spotted in the Dingle in 1983 and amazing has remained there since then.

Fungi plays up to the boats that carry out groups to see. Fungi jumps up out of the water and performs for the boats and visitors. You can take a boat trip out to see Fungi from the harbour in Dingle.

Tickets are priced at 15.00 euros for adults and seniors and student tickets are priced at 14.00 euros. Tickets for children are 8.00 euros. Who doesn’t like Dolphins especially when they perform when you go and see them!

Check out Connor Pass

Connor Pass is something else, the area is FREE is visit and this beautiful viewpoint is very high up and you can see Dingle in the distance, it’s a lovely area to get some nice photos. Be warned it can be quite foggy at times up there because it’s so high up.

It a must-see on your trip to Dingle! The views from Connor Pass will blow you away, it shows the beauty of Ireland that everyone just loves!

It one of Ireland’s highest mountain passes with a dramatic landscape and be warned the roads are extremely narrow so take your time and respect other roads users, the road is so narrow in parts that only one vehicle can pass at either time, so take it handy and enjoy it, its a great part of Ireland!

Try some of Ireland’s Best Ice Cream

Murphy’s ice cream is a company that have a few ice cream stores around Ireland. They produce some of the best ice creams you will taste! The handmade ice cream comes in a few delicious tasty flavours, tis unreal ice cream!

This ice cream is very popular all over Ireland! The ice cream is available in 12 different flavours, Irish coffee flavour and honeycomb Carmel flavour are really good! You have to try it!

Visit the Dingle Distillery

The Dingle Distillery is located just outside the town just at the start of the Slea head driving route. You can easily walk to the Distillery for the town centre!

Tickets are price 15.00 euros for the Distillery tour, this tour takes around 45 minutes and shows how all the spirits are made and some history on the industry.

The second tour costs 30.00 euros per person for the Dingle Whiskey experience which includes the tasting of four mature Irish whiskeys produced inhouse in the Dingle Distillery!

See my post here on 8 Best Things to do in Kerry Ireland!

Day 2 Travel along the Slea Head Drive Route

Day 2 is packed with cool things to see and do, this route is dramatic, scenic and so enjoyable!!! The Slea Head drive is around 30 miles in length, you can easily spend a full day stopping off at all the things to see and do along the route.

The Slea Head Drive is full of old forts, historic churches, some of Ireland’s best scenic locations, beehive huts, and some extraordinary stops along the route. You will see Skellig Michael island on this route which was the location of some of the scene from the Star Wars movie Episode VII The Force Awakens.

This is one of the best routes on the Wild Atlantic Way in the Emerald Isle! It is advised that you drive this route CLOCKWISE so you do cause any traffic chaos for tour buses and coaches. You will want to stop at some many different places, trust me you will enjoy this route!

Tips for driving the the Slea Head Drive Route

1 – Travel the route clockwise

2 – Make sure to stay on the left side of the road.

3 – Follow the road signs for Wild Atlantic Way and Slea Head drive.

4 – Beware of other road user, walkers, cyclists and farm machinery like tractors

5 – Use the lay by areas to pull in let other vehicles pass

6 – Beware of all farm animals, goats, cows and sheep on the road

Visit Paudie O Shea’s Pub

This quaint Irish pub is located on the route on your left-hand side, it has been visited by plenty of famous people down through the years! Paudie O Shea’s pub is located in one of Ireland Gaeltacht areas, this means that the Irish (Gaelic ) language is spoken and used by local businesses in the area.

The pub is full of old photographs of famous visitors, it’s a lovely place to stop for a coffee or something a bit stronger! Paudie was one of Ireland’s best GAA footballers, he won many medals and plenty of trophies down through the years, both as a manager and a very talented player.

See Dunbeg Fort

This old fort dates back to the iron age, it is located on the side of a cliff. This old fort was used to fight off attackers, with massive earth walls and a rampart was used to protect the building back in the day. Dunbeg fort is part of a number of ancient buildings located in the Dingle Peninsula

Hold a baby Lamb and see the Beehive Huts

Did you ever want to hold a little lamb,tis great craic! This is a cool attraction on the Slea head drive, you can see the baby lambs close up and hold one and play with them. They are so cute, its located in a really scenic section of the route, where you can pull in and just look out and say O my God, this is beautiful!

This super cool attraction has sheepdogs and old beehive huts on site. The beehive Huts are amazing buildings, put together by hand with no cement or mud, just placed into the correct order.

The beehive huts are dating back to the 6th to the 11 century AD, people used to live in these old stone buildings, they get their name from local beehives that looked very similar in shape.

There is a coffee shop on-site and full toilet facilities and plenty of parking for cars, buses and coaches. You will see some cool views of the Basket islands and if your lucky you will see some dolphins out in the Atlantic!! Tis a must-see attraction!

Crucifix Statue Slea Head

This is a cool area to stop and take in the beauty of this magical road trip. This area is perfect for some class photos that will help you remember this beautiful road. This part of the route is just so beautiful, its just highlight the unreal views of the Wild Atlantic Way that make it sure a popular route!

Check out Dun Chaoin Pier

This is one of the most popular locations in the beautiful Dingle Peninsula, it’s another great scenic location on this wonderful driving route. Dun Chaoin is on the lefthand side but be careful not to drive down into this cool little pier, you will get stuck.

Be-careful at this location because it can be quite dangerous, take your time and stay alert. You can catch the ferry at Dunquin pier to the Basket islands if you wanna give that a try!

Visit Gallarus Oratory

This old oratory is boat-shaped oratory. These old church buildings are shaped like boats upside down. Gallarus Oratory is 6.85 metres x 5.70 metres on the outside. Inside the red sandstone gives a colourful feel, the walls of this old church are 1.2 meters in thickness.

It’s a perfect place to say a quiet prayer. Gallarus Oratory is one of the best-preserved stone structures in Kerry and a wonderful example of an early Christian church in the whole of Ireland!

The location of the oratory is Caherdorgan South, Dingle. There is loads of car parking at this site and a lovely little coffee shop and you can see some beautiful views of Sherwick Harbour. This is a lovely spot as we say in Ireland!

Stop at the Ceann Sibéal viewing point

This viewpoint is one of my favourites on the Slea head drive, its pure class. There isn’t much parking in this area, but like many parts of Ireland, we make do with what we can and squeeze in!

This area was used for scenes of the Star Wars movie The Force Awakens Episode VII, the film crew need other locations because of the limited amount of time they could film on Skellig Michael island because of travel time out to the island and weather conditions, so the crew selected other areas in Kerry to use for scenes in the movie.

The Ceann Sibeal viewpoint is something else on a really sunny day, there are some telescopes at the viewpoint that you can use to zoom into the faraway lands, islands and coastal views!

Check out my post of Best Things to do in The Ring Of Kerry Ireland here!

I hope you find this post useful, I welcome any questions or suggestions by email to info@allthings-ireland.com

Thanks

John Conway