Ring of Kerry vs Dingle Peninsula?

[hz80408]

We're trying to firm up our Ireland itinerary.

We stay in Blarney/Cork and from there our next hotel is in Limerick. Rather than drive straight there, we're thinking of driving west and seeing either Ring of Kerry or Dingle Peninsula.

Which would you suggest?

Also, any Limerick or Cork suggestions off sites to see besides Blarney Castle/Stone?

(We'll also be visiting Cliffs of Mohr too)

[gtkim]

We had limited time and had to choose one so we picked Dingle Peninsula. I had read that it was more scenic, and it was shorter so it sort of fit our plans better. We followed the Rick Steves suggestions including driving over Conor Pass and we loved it. I don't think you can go wrong with either.

[osumelissa]

We only had time for one and like pp, we chose Dingle Peninsula. However we stayed there two nights and did the bike ride around the peninsula as outlined in the Rick Steves book. It was a great way to do it rather than drive, pull over, and then get back in the car.

[Susie]

We also did Dingle instead of ROK. It was shorter, and fit into our plans better. We actually stayed in the town of Dingle and really enjoyed it.

[Nonny]

We did both because we were based out of Killarney and had easy access. We almost didn't do Dingle because we had done Kerry, and Dingle ended up being a spur of the moment decision that was totally worth it. I also recommend just wandering around Dingle, and if it's a nice day taking a boat ride to see Fungie the Dingle Dolphin. The boat we took out had a money back guarantee if you need see the dolphin (and we saw him) but getting to see the town from the water was amazing too, and it was a great day to be out.

We also drove Connor Pass, which was fun but a little scary because the road is very narrow! We stopped at a look out at the top and that was neat (got some cool sunsetty pictures) and if we'd had more time we would have hiked out to the waterfall.

Also, while Rick Steves and his guidebook did us well for most of the trip, DO NOT go to the waterpark in Tralee. It was a gross disgusting mess.

[hz80408]

Awesome, thanks for all of the insight! Biking sounds right up our alley; although so does the dolphin boat!

[scout8]

I did both and liked Dingle Peninsula better. It was several years ago, so I can't remember why I liked it better, just that I did.

[hz80408]

Sept 6, 2012 10:20:45 GMT -5 scout8 said:

I did both and liked Dingle Peninsula better. It was several years ago, so I can't remember why I liked it better, just that I did.

Lol thanks! The general consensus seems to prefer Dingle; plus from my understanding it's a lot shorter of a drive than ROK!

[Nonny]

Sept 6, 2012 10:38:32 GMT -5 hz80408 said:

The general consensus seems to prefer Dingle; plus from my understanding it's a lot shorter of a drive than ROK!

Yes, it's quite a bit shorter. I remember that when we did the Ring of Kerry we dedicated the whole day to it - and don't get me wrong it was still a ton of fun! I got my favorite picture from the whole trip at one of our stops along the way.

But Dingle was just a couple of hours. I looked up my journal entry for this drive, and the tourist office told us it would take an hour to drive it, and we made a bunch of stops and took about 2.5 hours.