Road Tripping Ireland Part 2: From Dingle to Galway

Sunday, June 30th

After doing the Ring of Kerry yesterday, we were pretty spent, so we had a relaxing morning before heading off on our drive to Dingle Town. The Dingle Peninsula a very popular vacation spot for locals and tourists alike because of it’s beautiful scenery and slow beachy feel. We drove into Dingle Town, checked into our AirBnB, and then explored the quaint beach town.

Always and forever wandering into bookshops.

We meandered for awhile before eating at the delicious Fish Box for some of the tastiest and freshest seafood of my life!

We also drove the Conor Pass, said to be extremely dangerous due to it’s very tight windy roads. I didn’t think the drive was terrible and the views were great, even on a cloudy day!

Where we stayed: A massive AirBnB 10 minutes from Dingle Town.

The view from our AirBnB in Dingle.

Monday, July 1st

We drove around a bit today and stopped at Minard Castle. We don’t really know anything about this place except that you can’t actually go up to it due to the lack of structural integrity but it was beautiful to look at. The surrounding beach was also stunning with huge round stones, that were naturally weathered overtime to look this way.

Eask Tower—A tower literally built on the top of a very high hill, currently owned by local sheet farmers. We decided to walk up to see the tower. The tower, however, was the least interesting thing about the walk! You have to walk up through the pasture where tons of sheep are grazing and then we were able to see the farm and the sheepdogs herding the sheep. The views from the top were absolutely stunning!

View from the top!

Where we stayed: The same massive AirBnB 10 minutes from Dingle Town.

Tuesday, July 2nd

Today marks another huge part of our Ireland Roadtrip: driving the Dingle Peninsula/the Slea Head Drive! After doing some research before our trip, I read the the Dingle Peninsula is even better than the Kerry Peninsula, with even more stunning views. I didn’t think this was really possible but I was sorely mistaken! The

We started out by visiting a Fairy Fort (a circular mound and one of the most common archaeological sites found all over Ireland, which were used as homesteads) and farm where we explored the area and were able to hang with some farm animals.

Bye, bye, Lil Sebastian!

We continued on to Dunbeg Fort, a 10th century stone fortress right next to the sea.

After that we checked out some Beehive Huts, rounded and domed homes that could date between the 6th and 10th century. The homes were usually built together and some say they even had a connecting tunnel between them.

We drove for awhile, stopping all along the way to take in the most spectacular views I’ve seen so far!

Also along the Dingle Peninsula we stopped at the Dunquin Pier, a really neat path winding down to the sea and surrounded by stunning views.

Where we stayed: The same massive AirBnB 10 minutes from Dingle Town.

Wednesday, July 3rd

Today we did the number 1 attraction on both Michael’s list and my list! Today we visited the Cliffs of Moher! We woke up ridiculously early to drive from Dingle town to Doolin (a little over three hours) and parked in Doolin. Then we did the Cliffs of Moher Coastal Walk—a 8km walk (one way) from Doolin to the Cliffs and back. The weather for our walk was pretty much perfect—70 degrees, sunny, with a slight breeze. I was worried that we’d have not so great weather or that it would be too cold or too windy when we went to the Cliffs but it was stunning.

The walk winds through the country side and along the cliff edges, through pastures, and around cows and horses grazing in the fields. The walk itself was quite easy, with only a few steep uphill parts. You do have to jump a few fences along the way, but nothing too strenuous.

Once we got to the Cliffs, after taking all the photos and picking my jaw up off the ground, we picked a spot with a great view and ate some sandwiches and apples that we packed.

We kept exploring along the other side of the Cliffs and then made our way back to Doolin.

In total, including the time we spent exploring the Cliffs themselves, eating lunch, taking a nap in the sunshine in the grass while Michael read, and walking, we spent about 6 or so hours here. This was certainly an all day event and by the time we were finished, we were sunburnt, exhausted, and really hungry.

Once we made it back to Doolin, we went straight to the closest pub, ordered some pints and some food. Michael had Irish Beef and Guinness stew and I had Bangers and Mash. This really hit the spot for us after a long day of hiking.

Where we stayed: The loveliest AirBnB 5 minutes from Doolin. This place was by far one of my favorite AirBnB stays on our trip. We only booked a room in the host’s home, but it had it’s own entrance and bathroom, and it was felt so private. After spending all day in the sun, I showered and then crashed into the bed.

Thursday, July 4th

We had breakfast at the lovely Doolin Cafe, where I had the Eggs Benedict and a scone with cream and jam and Michael had waffles with bacon. Delicious!

We made the drive from Doolin to Bunratty (about an hour) to visit Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. Bunratty Castle claims to be the most complete castle in all of Ireland and it’s absolutely beautiful! While visiting, you get to go into the castle and climb up the steep and windy staircases to the different living quarters. The castle is decorated as it would have been back in the day, and it’s really interesting to see the different parts and how things would have looked back then. The castle is fantastic, but the Folk Park was even better! The Folk Park has been designed to look and feel just like 19th century Ireland would have been like. The park has over 30 different buildings. Some of the buildings include homes, furnished like they typically would have been back in the day, village shops, a post office, pubs, and more. You honestly feel like you’re stepping back in time when you’re strolling down the village streets.

I would say Bunratty is a must do while in Ireland! Thanks to my dear friend Jacinta for recommending it!

After Bunratty we drove the hour drive up to Galway!

We drove into the city center of Galway, parked, and set out on foot to start exploring this beautiful city. We walked up and down Quay Street (the main street for food and drink) and Shop Street and visited the Spanish Arch, a part of the original town wall of Galway, built in 1584.

Where we stayed: A beautiful AirBnB about 20 minutes outside the city center of Galway.

Friday, July 5th

After two really full days of walking and being out in the sun, we were exhausted, so we took this day to relax. We stayed in our AirBnB and planned out more of our trip. We’ve been booking our AirBnB’s along the way, so we went ahead and booked our last two AirBnB’s in Northern Ireland. We also did some more planning for our upcoming trip to Scotland!

Later on in the day we met up with some of our dear friends, Jacinta and Damien, who we met three years ago on our G Adventures tour of Southeast Asia. Jacinta and Damien live in Galway, so we went out with them for pints, dinner, and of course more pints. They showed us an amazing Irish time and we loved spending time with them! We love ye guys!

Jacinta, Orla, and me!

Michael and Damien.

Galway Bay

A spectacular time drinking pints and listening to traditional Irish music in O’Connor’s!

Where we stayed: A lovely AirBnB called Jacinta and Damien’s home because of all the pints!

Saturday, July 6th

We woke up not feeling 100% (read: a bit hungover), so we took it really easy today. I caught up on all of my blogging, we read, and drank copious amounts of coffee.

Where we stayed: The same beautiful AirBnB about 20 minutes outside the city center of Galway.

Tomorrow we take the long drive up to Northern Ireland!

Stay tuned for the third installment of our Road Tripping Ireland series!

Safe travels,

Emily