I am going to Ireland in late-April to early-May for 17 days. It will be my first time in the country and am hoping (nay, expecting) an amazing experience. My thought is to spend the first 5 days in and around Dublin and then to go by train to either Killarney or Tralee where I will spend the next 9-10 days hiking either the Dingle Way or the Kerry Way. Here is where I need a little bit of help. Can anyone recommend one over the other? They both seem pretty amazing, so I am unclear which to choose. I am 29 years old and in excellent physical shape, so difficulty of the hike is irrelevant.

I ran search of these forums and read a couple of posts extolling the Dingle Peninsula, but not very much on the either the Dingle Way or Kerry Way specifically. Thanks to anyone willing to help a confused first-timer.

Hi dsj and welcome to Slow Travel!

Our family has done a fair amount of hiking in Europe, including several long-distance walks. We walked about 50 miles of the Kerry Way in 2006. We did a "self-guided" trip, where a tour company organized our route and accommodations and moved our luggage.

Of six long distance walks, I have to say that the Kerry Way was our least favorite. (We have also done long distance walks in England, France and Switzerland.) Various things: too short for us, an erratic schedule, poor weather. I will say that the scenery was beautiful and varied, though one of the best days it was so overcast we couldn't see a thing.

I can't compare to the Dingle Way, sorry.

I do have some info and photos about our experience on my blog here.

Kathy

Hi dsj, and welcome to Slow Travel. When we went to Ireland we had to choose between driving the Ring of Kerry or the Dingle peninsula, and chose the former, so I have no personal insights to share (the Ring of Kerry was gorgeous, though!)

I have found a couple of things that will give you a little more information - on our main Slow Travel site there are some travel notes on Ireland that include brief comments on both Kerry & Dingle. Also - if you use the search button at the top of the page and enter a phrase such as hiking Dingle Peninsula or Hiking Ring of Kerry, you will get a list of previous threads on this topic with reader impressions.

Happy planning - and do let us know what you decide.

Judy

I have spent time on both peninsulas, and hiked the Dingle Way, so I'll offer what I can here.

First of all, despite rain, we greatly enjoyed our experiences. The people were wonderful, and it was just beautiful. When you hike you especially connect with people, who will be more than eager to chat and be helpful.

Re: Dingle Way
We did this in 1994, and while any recommendations I might have had about accomodations or food might be dated, the walk is probably largely the same. The trail was pretty well marked, and while there weren't a lot of towns and places for food/drink along the way, we were never too far from what we needed. I kept a pretty good diary if you have any questions about the details of the trail.

In short, we left Tralee (we stayed there in a great hostel) with high hopes and were met with torrential rain and strong winds. What a start! We found a bed and breakfast that was sheltering and helpful - these places called ahead for us and offered lots of advice about the route. We then stayed right off Inch beach above a bar, in Anascaul, and in Dingle. This was all great hiking and well worth our efforts. Our last stop was by Slea Head (I think that's what it was called). Again we dealt with the strong rain and winds, and we gave it up. We took the bus back to Dingle, waiting for a change in weather. It didn't come, and we terminated our walk, as we were tired of being so wet despite our "weather proof" equipment. Even the electronics of my good camera were damaged by water. Would we do it again? Sure!

Re: Iveragh Peninsula
The Ring of Kerry carries a lot of bus and car traffic - people oggling the views, for good reason. You'd need to get off the beaten path to enjoy it. I'm not sure where the trail goes, so I can't offer advice. We rented a little house with a view of Skellig Michael - it was fabulous and we had pretty good weather on this trip - probably 1998.

I'd go with the Dingle peninsula. I read once that it offers the best of Ireland, with a range of attractions, both scenically and historically and archeologically. All over the west coast, the seafood was amazing.

Misc. recommendations:
-The Irish hostels and B&Bs we've stayed in on both trips were great, with lots of comaraderie and kindness.
-Get out to the Aran Islands if you can - you can get there from Galway or from Doolin. Inishmore would be a great place to hike around, and its very unique out there.
-While in Dingle, we took a small archeological tour, in a van holding maybe 6 people and led by an expert. It was well worth it - seek out one of these tours.

http://www.slowphotos.com/phot...gallery.php?cat=3389
Here are some photos - a mix of both experiences, taken in my pre-digital days and scanned.

There is nothing like hiking to experience a place, and I'm sure you'll be greatly rewarded. Kaydee is the expert on the hiking! We gave up hiking and biking travel awhile ago, do to my wonky knees, and now travel by car. That's great too but our fondest memories from years of travel involve the slower pace of hiking and biking. Even the worst experiences become treasured laughs.
I don't think you can go wrong with whatever chooses you make with this.

Linda

I'd second Linda's views. We spent a week in Kerry in 2005. Scenically there's not a lot to choose between the two. Dingle may have the edge on number and quality of ancient remains. There is unlikely to be much difference in weather between the two. Be prepared for lovely soft Irish rain at any time. Be warned however, the Ring of Kerry was very very busy. It is definitely on the tourist beat. Dingle was much quieter.

We did very little walking, so I can't comment on the actual footpath, but I would expect the actual walking to be similar. Take your decision on scenery and your tolerance of crowds and other tourists!

Eleanor

To follow up on Linda and Eleanor's comments about the Ring of Kerry...

We arrived in early June and spent our first night in Killarney. The European Harley HOG was going on, so it was actually quite wild there! I think there were as many Harley motorcycle owners as Killarney residents. But once we were out of Killarney and had walked through the grounds of Muckross House, we did not feel we were in a tourist area at all. Much of the walk was through extremely desolate surroundings... very beautiful and dramatic countryside. We didn't see any tour buses. We did not even meet very many walkers.

We had a transfer back to Killarney at the end of the week. The HOG was over and it was a pleasant town. Killarney is a busy little place, but at that point we enjoyed having a choice of restaurants and some shops to poke into.

Kathy

Wow, thanks for all the great advice. It really sounds as if I can't go wrong choosing either one really. Ultimately it might come down to the crowds then. Although I doubt that I'll be as affected being on a trail most of the time. This might be a coin flip really... although amazing seafood might be a deal clincher for the Dingle Way.

The weather obviously is going to be an issue that I'm prepared to deal with. From what I've read, the driest months are April and May so perhaps I will be better off than some of you. Then again, this is Ireland!

Yep, it's Ireland, and you should bet on some rain, but you might get lucky.
To clarify my recommendation for Dingle-
Both of your choices are beautiful, both have great seafood, both have bus loads of tourists.....and both have hiking paths that are remote and removed from the crowds.
So no, you can't go wrong.
I'm going to assume that you've checked out this website http://www.dingleway.net/ and I bet the other trail options have websites too.
Have a great time.
Linda

Already saw http://www.dingleway.net as well as http://www.kerryway.net. Between those two, I think I have enough information to make my initial plans. I can't even tell you how excited I already am for this trip regardless of the hike I choose.