This was my favorite part of the trip - the Dingle area of County Kerry is absolutely amazing! I felt like I was in "real Ireland" when we arrived at our gorgeous B&B the "Pax House". It was a perfect location just atop a hill overlooking Dingle and the Kerry Penninsula. Our host couldn't have been friendlier and their adorable dog Rio was excited for us to arrive and start playing a game of fetch. :) The views on the website are exactly how it looks!

 

The town of Dingle is just quintessential adorable Irish village with multi-colored houses nestled against rolling hills and set in a gorgeous harbor. Their is supposedly a very large dolphin that lives in the harbor year round named Funghi but due to the weather we weren't interested in going out on a boat. 

 

After a nice dinner our with some live music and a fair number of pints and whiskey's for my sister's boyfriend we headed back to the B&B for a good night's sleep - it was so quiet and the beds were very comfortable.

 

The next day we spent a full day taking our time around the Slea Head Drive - the gorgeous drive around the Dingle Penninsula and I would definitely recommend it. The driving is not that bad, a few windy roads along cliffs but the other drivers were quite polite and as compared to other drives I've done it wasn't the worst. The views were definitely worth it. Turquoise waters that looked like Hawaii were everywhere!

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View from the B&B  

 

Western View from the B&B

Donkey's at the Irish Famine Cottages and animal park

View along the Slea head drive

Amazing beach - my favorite spot on the whole trip! Daigun I think it was called.

After a peaceful night in Doolin with views of cow pastures from our window and a lovely breakfast we headed out on a blustery morning to catch the ferry to Inish Mor. The parking at the ferry dock was FREE (nice!) and the trip cost us €50 round-trip for 2 people - a bit pricy IMO. We waited in the rain which looking back should have been a forshadowing of the events to come. The boat arrived and we loaded aboard what seemed like a small fishing boat.

 

WARNING - Unless you've got major sea legs DO NOT take the ferry from Doolin to the Aran Islands. It's an hour+ trip to Inish Mor (it's the furthest island) and we later found out that taking the boat from Doolin is known as the bumpiest ride as you hit the Atlantic going against the tide in essentially unprotected waters. I grew up around boats and water but this was the worst ride I've ever had. In our party of 4 3/4 of us were sick - 1 of us lost their breakfast - and the others spent the journey holding off seasickness.

 

Was it worth it? For sure - Inish mor is absolutely gorgeous and it feels like you are stepping back in time with ancient rock walls all over the island and the very cool prehistoric fort Dun Angus.

 

We stayed at the Pier House guest house which was okay - more like a hotel than a B&B but the location was ideal...just a few steps from the harbor.

 

I would recommend renting bikes for sure!! the ride is pretty easy and there is very low car traffic on the island. My sister and her boyfriend did the biking and we took a horse and buggy ride which was fantastic but pricey.

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The B&B