Killarney and dingle
 

I'm trying to decide whether or not to spend three nights in Killarney and one in dingle or two in Killarney and two in dingle. The day leading up and during would be coming from cashel to Killarney for night one. Day two in Bantry and Beara drive with night two in Killarney. Day three in Killarney park at Muckross house and torc waterfall and either stay in Killarney or travel on to dingle to stay. Day four is dingle pen dual and stay in dingle.

Thanks for any advice.

I like the Dingle peninsula, apart from holiday homes springing up all over the place and a huge investment in Barbed wire little has changed over the 40+ years I've been going there. Unfortunately the town has changed from a Fishing port and Market town to a tourist hub, which to be fair it does with a vengeance.

Would I spend 2 nights there? No. Would the hundreds of thousands of tourists who love the place, Yes.

Personally give me two days for Beara (which is the same size peninsula) 2 for the Iveragh, and get onto Valentia Isle and the Skellig ring by Waterville, anywhere off the tour bus routes. And when I do Dingle I use Killorglin or Castlegregory. for 1 night.

I like Tony's advice. Definetely consider Valentia and Skellig. A more generic remark ... weather is unpredictable (big surprise, I know). So for those "must-see" places it is good if you have a bit of flexibility (if it is a rainy / foggy day, do it the next day - option). The Skellig would be such a place for me. You could combine Valentia and Skellig and stay in that area for a day or two ...

This happens a lot on Fodor's: A person asks for a recommendation between A & B, and is advised to choose C.

My personal preference between Killarney and Dingle is the latter. One of the reasons is that Killarney is far more commercial, and I felt that most people were interested in me solely for the money they could extract from me - not that there is anything wrong or dishonourable in that, but I simply didn't feel engaged. In my experience, it is still easy to connect with people in an authentic way in Dingle: you can have "craic" with people even when they are not transacting business with you. And you can find pubs that are not too busy, that have not changed in 40 years, and are good places to have a drink and meet people.

Of course, how long you stay is linked with what tourism you hope to do. Two nights give you one full day to go round the Slea Head drive at the sort of pace where you can stop and get involved with some the many options presented - be it walking on beaches, visiting antiquities, discovering the Blaskets, viewing rugged scenery, visiting craft breweries, whatever takes your fancy.

I haven't forsworn Killarney: it's simply that when we are in that part of Ireland, it doesn't appeal to us as much as the alternatives. We visit Dingle most years, for several days at a time, and still find new things. But we are slow tourism people, and some of the high-paced people who post here might exhaust the possibilities faster. They might not be charmed by sitting at one of the outside tables at TP's bar in Ballydavid, watching children play on the beach, 50 yards away from the fishermen mending their lobster pots on the pier, both with a backdrop of the glistening water of Smerwick Harbour and the Mountains beyond.

I would cast my vote for 2 nights each. Take your time at Muckross and Torc, then head to Dingle in the late afternoon. That will give you a full day to take the Slea Head drive. If you finish early, take a drive to Brandon Bay. The whole peninsula is lovely.

In general we prefer to spend two nights in a location rather than one, and tend to take the scenic route over the direct route whenever possible, so our travel time is often longer.

I'd again choose two nights in each. We found Killarney a bit too touristy for our taste. We were also a bit disappointed by the Ring of Kerry after Beara and Sheep's Head peninsulas although the weather wasn't brilliant for us. We were, however, impressed by Stague, Leacanabuile and Cahergal stone forts. The tip of the Dingle Peninsula is delightful.

Thank you for your thoughts. I'm leaning towards two nights each . I hate doing one night as it is a hassle to drag your things in and barely get comfortable before it's time to check out. Also Dingle seems to be a good spot to relax a bit from being on the go.

I should have mentioned that I Have been to ring of Kerry in the past, stayed in Cahrsiveen, and did gap of Dunloe.