Dingle, Ireland

This route took us a very full 5 days. You can read all about Dublin here. We did a straight shot from Dublin to Dingle, with a stop in Limerick for a good Irish breakfast (the blood sausage is…unique). Dingle is worth a few days of your time, and I would recommend it over the Cliffs of Moher (which are more of a see it and you’re done thing). From Dingle we headed to the bustling yet quaint Killarney for a brief few hours. This is one of the places I could have stayed longer. And from Killarney to Cork, which, aside from the heavily touristed Blarney Stone, wasn’t worth the stop. For more info about what to do and how to get around Ireland, head over here.

But on to Dingle! This is a cute little coastal town out in southwest Ireland that makes you want to snuggle up in a lamb’s wool sweater and head on down to a pub.

Things I did that were great

• Walk down to a pub and listen to some old Irish music. Annnnnd I now have Rattlin’ Bog cycling through my head on repeat.
• Bike around the Dingle Peninsula. There are bike rental shops scattered about, so find one, rent some bikes, and bike the 30 miles around the peninsula. You’ll see the gorgeous coast, rolling farm fields, and there are plenty of little cafes and inns to stop in for a bite (or to escape the torrential downpour…check the weather first).

• Dick Mack’s. A cozy bar that gets a little crazy at night (don’t let Negative Nancy in bottom-center fool you).

Things to eat

Dingle can be a bit cold and rainy (though the picture below doesn’t really depict that), so hunker down and get you some Shepard’s Pie.