Ireland trip - Kerry & Dingle Peninsula

Its good to be back for the third blog on Ireland trip ! Three blogs in a fortnight !! Happy me 😊

After Dublin city sight seeing, we had planned to venture out to the countryside and after considering various options, we narrowed on Kerry county, southwest Ireland, some 330 km from Dublin. The base location was to be a small village called Anascaul.

Day 1 (10.5.23) - Long drive to Anascaul

We started our drive at 8 am and as I described in my earlier blog (Ireland trip overview), the 330 km drive was a pleasure with well maintained roads (no potholes !!), less traffic and the greenery on both sides. We took about 4 hours to reach Anascaul with one breakfast break at Barack Obama service station.

Anascaul was a beautiful village (one of the several we came across during our trip). Its last recorded population was <400, so it was amusing to see some 5-6 pubs, 2 pizza restaurants, 1 convenience store and (strangely) no pharmacies here! Our Airbnb was this beautiful 5 bedroom house overlooking the hills. It was fully furnished stocked with all necessary gadgets, kitchenware and also some board games. To top this, the host paid us a visit bringing yummy apple pie and rhubard pie tarts. What a beautiful welcome !

After settling in the kids and grandparents, four of us ventured out as the beautiful blue skies were too enticing. 

We drove about 15-20 minutes to reach this awesome, serene lake. There was no one else there (except for the million flies near the waters) and the sights were refreshing. We also spotted a huge rainbow in the horizon overlooking the lake. 

Later we planned to go for an early dinner at 8:15 pm and were surprised to see that they close kitchen at 8 pm (seriously !!). Luckily we found a pizza takeaway spot and had some family wine & dine in the house. 

Day 2 (11.5.23) - Ring of Kerry

Ring of Kerry is a popular 180 km long scenic drive with spectacular coastal landscape. 

We started the ring road drive with planned stopovers for sight seeing. The first such stop was Rossbeigh beach. We couldn't resist the waters and had to maneuver through the pebbles and sand gravel to play with the ice-cold waters. 

Next on the list was Kerry Cliffs. This is touted as the "most spectacular views in Ireland" by some websites and the place aptly fitted the description. The climb up the hill was worth it for the beautiful views, the photos may not do justice !!

We did a couple more stopovers on the Ring of Kerry before returning to Anascaul. Since the next day was planned to be a late start, we decided to play board games. After small kids and grandparents went off to sleep, four of us and Arnav enjoyed games like Cluedo, Uno, Dobble cards till late night.

I have to admit here that while at vacation, the days are spent seeing tourist attractions, however the lasting memories many a times would be of these fun moments spent with family, playing, arguing over 'alleged cheating', celebrating, mocking etc. Even during our other holidays, we ensure to keep Monopoly board or other games packed in our luggage for the post-dinner fun. 

Day 3 (12.5.23) - Killarney

We woke up quite late and then started for Killarney National Park - one of Ireland's extensive and important natural habitat. There are multiple trails inside the park which could take hours to explore, however I thought that inspite of the vastness, one never really gets lost in the wilderness as someone or other would be roaming around exploring the trails. Also we didn't find any animals except for the one deer, which was bit disappointment.

After the National Park, we explored Killarney town which looked very lively with pubs, restaurants and touristy shops. If you are travelling with friends and not with kids, then you should look at staying here instead of villages like Anascaul.

Day 4 (13.5.23) - Dingle and Blasket Islands

It was an early morning start as we had booked a ferry ride to the Great Blasket Islands, the last piece of land on the east coast of Atlantic Ocean. The ferry ride takes about 45 mins and we get to spend ~2 hours on the island. It's uninhabited since several years due to adverse weather conditions. We were lucky to have a good sunny day so we could take in these beautiful views

We met a group of hikers who had camped on the island the night before and they showed pictures & videos of the spectacular starry night, shooting stars amongst sound of the ocean and the seals. Another thing which you could add to your list, if you are travelling solo or in group of friends, without kids.

After Blasket Islands, we spent the afternoon exploring Dingle town. Another beautiful town (like Killarney) especially with the colourful buildings on the coastline. 

Next on the plan was the beautiful Inch beach, it's sandy expanse and the ocean waves were amazing !! We spent about an hour playing in the cold waters. 

By the time, we were back to the house, we were dead tired.

Day 5 (14.5.23) - Sleahead Drive

The last day of the trip before we head back to Dublin. First we had to get the packing done and cars loaded. Then we decided to explore the other most scenic ring route in the county - the 47 km Slea Head Drive. 

We took 2 halts - one at Dunmore Head viewpoint and other at DunChaoin Pier. I am running out of adjectives here so I would simply share few pictures of the views there !!

After lunch at Dingle town, we started our return journey to Dublin, reaching home by evening 8 pm. 

And that's the wrap of our holidays and my blog. It was a 14 day holiday, 2 days spent on aircrafts and 2 days unpacking & packing and 10 days of Irish sightseeing. 

Please share you views and comments below. 

Cheers