Ireland Day 11, Killarney to Dingle
The city of Killarney is just outside of the Killarney National Park. The park is great for hiking, biking, and horseback riding through the huge forest which surrounds three lakes. From the top lookout point, Ladies View, you can see an unbelievable view of the entire valley and the lakes. Apparently, while traveling through Killarney in the 1800s, Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting were overcome by the view from this spot.
We spent most of the morning on the hiking trails that run all around the Killarney National Park.
We also made a quick stop at Ross Castle in the middle of the park, which dates back to the 1500s.
Our next destination was the city of Dingle, which is known for being a rather quirky small town. Despite the effect of the influx of tourists on many of the town’s we’ve visited, Dingle has managed to maintain its own very genuine and unique culture. Within the few small streets that make up the downtown we found more art galleries, book stores, and record shops stores than most of the places we’ve visited combined. Unlike most of the towns where we had to search out a bar with traditional live music, in this town, it was nearly impossible to find a bar that didn’t have an evening band. We spent the evening listening to more renditions of “Whiskey in the Jar” and “The Galway Girl” at a great pub they ever so cleverly named “The Dingle Pub.”
