Driving the Dingle Peninsula was my absolute favorite day in Ireland. Find our full Ireland itinerary here.
We are DIY travelers so this itinerary was researched and discovered by us. If you want to know why we love DIY travel read more here.
Driving the Dingle Peninsula Versus the Ring of Kerry
When we first planned our trip to Ireland, I planned to drive the Ring of Kerry because it was on all the tourist lists. However, as we got into our trip, we were having less time to get to everything we wanted to do. The night before we planned to drive the Ring of Kerry, we did more research and decided to go on the Dingle Peninsula instead. Since we didn’t have time to do both, I can’t compare the two. But this I know, the sights on the Dingle Peninsula are incredible and worth the effort.
Ultimately, for us, we chose the Dingle peninsula over the Ring of Kerry because of these 5 reasons.
- Dingle is less crowded, ensuring better views and less traffic. Getting stuck behind a caravan of tourist buses was not on our agenda.
- Dingle Peninsula is only a 27-mile drive and 1 hour in the car. This is assuming you are starting in Dingle. It is 40 more miles of faster paced driving to get to dingle from Killarney. Ring of Kerry is 120 miles of driving. How much time and patience do you have for slow and narrow roads?
- The charming city of Dingle. We loved the colorful, little town to start and end our drive. After you leave Dingle, it is very rural.
- To stand on the western most point of Europe.
- The Best views of the Blasket Islands are on Dingle. On the first part of the drive, you get an excellent view of the Ring of Kerry too. So I feel like we saw both!
Don’t miss these important tips about driving in Ireland {coming soon}
All the places to stop the car are listed below in the order you will drive to them (counterclockwise around the peninsula). Print this out and follow along for the ultimate driving the Dingle Peninsula tour.
Inch Beach
The first stop you want to make is at Inch Beach. It is about 15 miles before Dingle. The beach isn’t very flashy, but what we loved is that you can drive your car right out onto the beach for 5 miles! I wish we went all the way to the end. But we stopped about 4 miles down the beach and got out to pick up a few shells and see come beached jelly fish. The view of the Kerry Peninsula was beautiful and clear from here.
Dingle
Dingle is a beautiful little fishing village. You can read more details about this city at the end of this post. 
We decided to explore the town of Dingle at the end of our trip so we had enough time and energy to do everything we wanted on our road trip. We looked out over the Harbor to see if Fungie (the neighborhood dolphin) was making an appearance.
And then we started our driving tour.
From Dingle, around the peninsula and back to dingle is only 27 miles and 1 hour of driving time. However, calculate in narrow roads and slow no-passing driving. Plus, you will be stopping every few miles for views, historical buildings, and hikes. Realistically, it will take anywhere from 3-6 hours.
Slea Head drive
Once you get to Dingle, you cannot get lost driving the Dingle Peninsula. There is a narrow road called Slea Head Drive. There are plenty of signs, but pretty much only one main road to get around. It will bring you back to Dingle.
The best direction to drive Slead Head will be counterclockwise around the peninsula because the views of the coast will be at your left (and you are driving on the left).
Everything you get out to see will cost money, except the views and beaches are free. Most places are 3-4 Euro up to 8 at the Gallarus Oratory. If you stop at each place, be prepared with cash.
Ventry and Carhoo beach
A nice little town with an ok view. But, with so much beauty coming up, we drove right through just enjoying the view from the car. 
Historic famine cottages & feeding farm animals
The first stop we came to was the Famine cottages. Despite a lot of research, we didn’t get many details about exact places to stop. (This is the whole purpose of writing this blog!).
The famine cottages are old cabins recreated to represent life in the famines. It was interesting to learn about life in the remote area of the Dingle Peninsula. Not to mention the still very bitter feelings the Irish have towards the English.
I loved that we received animal feed with the 4 Euro entry fee. We fed sheep, goats, horses and a donkey on the steep hike up to the cottages. 
Beehive Huts & Beehive Forts
These are not to be confused with the Gallarus Oratory much later in your drive. I thought if we didn’t stop we would miss the beautiful stone church. The beehive huts are ancient and interesting. But if the 3 Euro entry fee at every stop is too much, I’m not sure you are missing much if you drive by.
Hold a baby lamb
This sign sounded intriguing, but we had already stopped 3 times and really wanted to get to our hike, so we passed. But how cute is that? I’m guessing this is only an option in the Spring or Early Summer.
Cross at Slea Head
With a gorgeous Coastline view and a bright white symbol of religious beliefs and conviction, this is worth pulling over for.
Slea Head Viewing Point
Just a few meters from the cross is an even better view of the coast and beach down below. 
Coumeenoole Beach
Wow. You will not miss this amazing beach! The colors and views are to die for. I wanted to sit and stare for days. 
But the best part wasn’t actually the beach here. From the parking lot, instead of walking down to the beach, walk the other direction through a fenced area. There is a small box for a 1-2 Euro donation for those hiking. Start hiking up the hill. You will not be disappointed.
Hike to Blasket Island views
My favorite hike and view anywhere on Ireland were right here in this remote spot on the Dingle Peninsula. It is supposedly the Western-most part of continental Europe. We also saw signs saying that Star Wars was filmed here.
The sheer drop of the cliffs, the neon green of the grass and the jagged rocky coastal edge are the most interesting hiking terrain. Then you have the views of the Blasket Islands just off the coast, the beautiful blue water and the torrential waves of the Wild Atlantic crashing against the cliffs. It is pretty indescribable, but trust me when I say you should hike ALL.THE.WAY to the edge of the earth. Most tourists turned around at the top of the hill with one view, but we kept going toward the water’s edge for maybe another mile and were rewarded with even more (not to mention being all alone out there).
Dunquin Harbor
There is another hike somewhere around here with a paved pathway out to the Wild Atlantic. However, after our hike near Coumeenoole, we were too tired to find another hike. But the view of Dunquin and the Blasket Islands from the road here were still amazing.
If I were doing it again, I would grab lunch in Dunquin, rest and relax and then do another hike out to the Dunquin Harbor and Coast.
Clogher Strand
Pull off at the Clogher Head Car Park for another amazing, but different view of the coastline view. The Clogher Strand Beach is in view along with craggy rocks, rolling hills, and greenery for days. Do you still have the energy to take the trails out to the edge of Europe? This hike is less steep and shorter than the previous 2 I described. If you haven’t stretched your legs for a while, now is the time to do it!
Gallarus Oratory
This ancient building is an early Christian Stone Church made from large cut stone, fit together perfectly to create a rain and windproof building. The outside is smooth, with sloping side walls. Its architecture is pretty impressive.
Budget tip:
We paid $8 Euro to enter and use the facilities. We thought we had to pay it to see the building. However, as we were leaving we turned down a paved path and eventually it leads to the road. A car full of tourists were parked here and entered the Gallarus oratory from this path and didn’t pay the price.
How to save money? Drive past the Gallarus Oratory visitor entrance building with a gift shop and bathrooms. When you see a small paved path on the left, pull over and walk in for free. There were tractors and trucks parked right around the path, so it may be hard to find. But if you have a large group (like the family we saw with 4 kids) it would save you a lot of money! And you still get to see everything.
Eat Dinner in Dingle
A few more miles around the Slea Head loop and you will be done driving the Dingle Peninsula and back in Dingle. Grab dinner at one of the restaurants on the Harbor. Window shop the colorful stores. See if you can spot Fungie, the neighborhood dolphin, in the Harbor. This vibrant and quaint town is sure to steal your heart.
Enjoy a night performance in Tralee at the National Folk Theater
Since we were going to the Cliffs of Moher the next day (See the Ideal Itinerary here.), we drove off the Dingle Peninsula and to Tralee. It is an hour drive but on wider and faster-paced roads. Here you will find an excellent National Folk Theater called Siamsa Tire. For 25 Euro, you can see a world class performance. They usually start at 8:45.
Did you see anything I missed on this itinerary? Please comment on how your driving the Dingle peninsula tour went!
Driving the Dingle Peninsula was my favorite in all of Ireland. You do have to be brave to rent and drive a car, but it is worth every effort! There are a few tour buses that do drive Dingle, but most drive the Ring of Kerry. Seeing the sights less seen is always an adventure for us.
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