OConnor Pat - Rick Steves Snapshot Dingle Peninsula

SNAPSHOT

Dingle Peninsula

Rick Steves & Pat OConnor

This Snapshot guide, excerpted from the latest edition of my guidebook Rick Steves Ireland, introduces you to the beautiful Dingle Peninsula, the westernmost part of Ireland where youll find friendly locals that speak the Irish (Gaelic) language. This 10-mile by 40-mile patch of green is the perfect place to bide a while and immerse yourself in Irelands history, scenery, music, and culture.

In Dingle town, shop for local crafts, and spend evenings trawling the pubs for traditional music and good craic (conversation). Take a challenging bike ride (or drive) around the 30-mile Slea Head loop. Archaeological sites from the Neolithic Age through early-Christian times offer thoughtful exploration. Catch a small ferry out to the Blasket Islands to look for puffins, dolphins, and a vanishing way of life. Youll probably enter or leave the Dingle Peninsula through the gateway city of Tralee, which offers a fine museum that tells of 7,000 years of County Kerrys history.

To help you have the best trip possible, Ive included the following topics in this book:

Planning Your Time, with advice on how to make the most of your limited time

Orientation, including tourist information (abbreviated as TI), tips on public transportation, local tour options, and helpful hints

Sights with ratings:

Dont miss

Try hard to see

Worthwhile if you can make it

No ratingWorth knowing about

Sleeping and Eating, with good-value recommendations in every price range

Connections, with tips on trains, buses, and driving

Practicalities, near the end of this book, has information on money, phoning, hotel reservations, transportation, and more.

To travel smartly, read this little book in its entirety before you go. Its my hope that this guide will make your trip more meaningful and rewarding. Traveling like a temporary local, youll get the absolute most out of every mile, minute, and dollar.

Happy travels!

Dingle Town Dingle Peninsula Loop Trip Blasket Islands Tralee

The Dingle Peninsula, the westernmost tip of Ireland (and Europe, for that matter), offers just the right mix of far-and-away beauty, isolated walks and bike rides, and ancient archaeological wondersall within convenient reach of its main town. Dingle town is just large enough to have all the necessary tourist services and a steady nocturnal beat of Irish traditional music.

Although Dingle is crowded in summer, it still feels like the fish and the farm really matter. A dozen fishing boats sail from here, tractors leave tracks down the main drag, and a faint whiff of peat fills the nighttime streets.

For over 30 years, my Irish dreams have been set here on this sparse but lush peninsula, where locals are fond of saying, The next parish over is Boston. Theres a feeling of closeness to the land in Dingle. When I asked a local if he was born here, he thought for a second and said, No, it was about six miles down the road. When I told him where I was from, a faraway smile filled his eyes, and he looked out to sea and sighed, Ah, the shores of Americay. I asked his friend if hed lived here all his life. He said, Not yet.

Dingle feels so traditionally Irish because its part of the Gaeltacht, a region where the government subsidizes the survival of the Irish language and culture. While English is always there, the signs, chitchat, and songs come in Gaelic. Children carry hurling sticks to class, and even the local preschool brags ALL Gaelic.