Date: Easter Weekend April 15th – 18th 2022 Cost: €575pps, Hilltoptreks Members: €525pps, SS + €175. Deposit: €75 required at the time of booking.
3 nights BB with breakfast on the Dingle Peninsula.
Walking along the Dingle Way.
Visit towns of Lispole, Dingle, Dunquin and Ballydavid.
Guided walks with qualified guides.
Transport from Dublin.
Tour Description
Walking Weekend on the Dingle Way:
The Dingle Peninsula sits in the very south west of Ireland in county Kerry. The Dingle Way travels around this peninsula following its coastline from Tralee and back. It is a self-guided, long-distance trail with a total distance of 179Km.
On this weekend we will walking some its best trails between Lispole and Ballydavid. The walks are suitable for most abilities and offer excellent views and some of the finest beaches in Ireland.
The Dingle way trail is very popular and thousands of people come to Ireland each year to walk some or all of this trail. The small coastal village of Dingle is a wonderful town full of music with nice pubs and restaurants where you can relax after a long day’s walking. There are plenty of other small towns and coastal villages along the way and on this weekend, we will see plenty of them.
The trail itself travel around the mountains rather than over them and flows the as much is possible the coastline offering some incredible coastal and beach walks. The views from the trails are an incredible mix of countryside, coastlines and the Atlantic Ocean.
On this weekend we will cover some of the best scenic walking locations that the Dingle way has to offer.
Walking Weekend on the Dingle Way Includes:
3 nights BB with breakfast on the Dingle Peninsula.
Staying in the towns of Dingle and Ballyferriter.
Walking along the Dingle Way.
Visit towns of Lispole, Dingle, Dunquin and Ballydavid.
Guided walks with qualified guides.
Transport from Dublin.
Pickup:
From the Molly Malone statue on Suffolk Street (Dublin) at 09:30am
If you are making your own way down we will meet you in Lispole at 2pm.
New Flexible Cancellation Policy:
If the tour is cancelled or you can’t do the tour due to the any COVID19 travel restrictions. You will get a full refund or we can postpone to another more suitable date, otherwise policy is as below.
A cancellation fee of 100% applies for cancellations made less than 7 Days in advance, or in case of no-show.
A cancellation fee of 50% applies for cancellations made less than 14 Days in advance.
No cancellation fee applies for cancellations made 2 weeks or more in advance.
Itinerary
Itinerary: Walking Weekend on the Dingle Way.
Day 1) Pickup from Dublin, travel to Lispole – Walk to Dingle along the Dingle Way.
We will travel to Lispole in County Kerry, with a stop along the way, approx 4hrs travel time in total.
Lispole is a small town in the South west of Kerry, just along the main road towards Dingle. When we reach the town of Lispole as can get organised to start walking the first section of the Dingle Way that we will do over this weekend.
On arriving into Dingle after a few hours of walking we have some time to get into our accommodation and freshen up.
Dingle is a great town to have a wander in, with so many quaint bars and shops. There is plenty to see and do and we can have a bit together before organising ourselves for our walk the following morning.
Day 2) Walk from Dingle to Dunquin on the Dingle Way.
This is definitely one my personal favorite trails along the whole way. After a good breakfast we will start out leaving the town of Dingle and traveling West along the seafront. After we cross the bridge the route turns right away from the shore line and gains height slowly, offering wonderful views behind you of Dingle town and bay. We travel on some small grassy “boreens” (lane ways) through farmland before we start to travel back towards the sea at Ventry Bay.
Then its a lovely beach walk for approx 5Km along the whole length of this head land before we join a small road again. So do pack your swimming shorts. From here we take these winding old farm track and out onto a road. This area is covered with ancient monuments, stone circles, fairy rings, cahirs, dolmens and unique to this area, ancient “bee-hive huts”.
Take your time to enjoy the views across the Atlantic and the Skellig Islands where “Star Wars” was filmed. We leave the road and gain height again onto the side of Eagle Mountain and traverse around the side of Slea head. Giving way to all the sheep and crossing the stone walls and small glens.
Eventually we come around the side of Slea head and the Blasket Islands appear in front of you. Continue on the trail and eventually we come down towards Dunquin. You can a look into Louis Mulcahy pottery centre here.
We will make our way along the road here and the Blasket Island centre or Krugers Pub for a drink.
From here we are transferred to Ballyferriter where we will be staying for the next two nights.
Day 3) Walk from Dunquin to Ballydavid on the Dingle Way.
Walking Details: Dunquin – Ballydavid (baile Na Ngall) 16Km – Ascent 100m – 5 hrs
Leaving Dunquin we take a small road north overlooking Dunquin (Dunquin is very well spread out). Coming over the other side of the hill we start to se more of the headland in front of us. We follow a small road towards An Drom beach before we adjoining the main road and turning left of a few Kilometers along. There are high reeds on eacf side of the road and Mount Brandon sits right in front of you, usually in the clouds.
Keeping on this road for a while with its twists and turns towards another long beach at Dun an Oir (Fort of Gold). We can walk along this beach coming of now and again at large rocks. From the beach you can see the whole trail as it makes its way around the shoreline in front of you. We cross Wine Strand and onto another beach to Mhuireach where we eventually rejoin a small road and into Ballydavid Baille Na nGall).
There will be an option to shorten this walk as we be passing a turn for where we are staying along the way.
Once we are in Ballydavid, we can a bite before returning to Ballyferriter where we are staying.
Day 4) Say goodbye to the West and the Dingle Way and travel back to Dublin.
Today after breakfast we will travel back towards Dublin with some sand in our shoes and fond memories of the Dingle Way. Its quite a drive back to Dublin from here so there will be a few stops along the way.
We would hope to be back in Dublin by 6pm.
What to Bring
What to bring along for this walking weekend on the Dingle Way.
N.B. Ireland’s climate is of a moderate type and suited to walking all year round. Although it is quite changeable so starting a walk on a fine clear morning may not be the case for the afternoon.
Hill walking Boots
Rucksack for walks (25L)
Walking Trousers (Not Jeans)
Waterproof Jacket and leggings
Walking Socks
Thermal top / T-shirt (Not Cotton)
Swimming Shorts / Bikini
Sandals
Sun Cream
FAQ
About the walks and fitness levels:
All the walks are taken at a pace to suit the group.
The groups can have a mixed level of fitness and age usually.
If the weather is to bad on a certain day to do the suggested walk, then the guide will suggest an alternative one.
The Guide will have the final say on the day of the chosen walk for the safety of the group.
The Accommodation: Mix of Hotels and Guesthouses.
• All bedrooms are en-suite with bath & shower, tea & coffee making facilities, iron & ironing board and hairdryer.
• A comfortable lounge area, fine dining restaurant with seasonal & locally sourced food produce..
• There are live music sessions in the bars close by every weekend.
• Fresh breakfast is cooked to order with table service
Food:
There are many places along the way to enjoy an evening meal, We will reserve places so we can eat together.
Breakfasts are included and there is a wide selection to choose from including a Full Irish, fruit, cereals etc.
Lunches for the walks: We will stop in the mornings at Delis or shops to get these.
