Dingle town, and back over the pass
The good version of this day is a loop rather than an out-and-back. Go east to Camp, pick up the N86 south over the neck of the peninsula to Annascaul, then west along the N86 into Dingle. Spend the afternoon in the town. Come home over the Conor Pass in the last of the light.
Annascaul is worth the stop for Tom Crean. The Kerryman who walked thirty-five miles alone across the Ross Ice Shelf to save Edward Evans, and who served on Discovery, Terra Nova and Endurance, came home, retired from the navy in 1920 and kept a pub here which he named the South Pole Inn. He died in 1938. His bronze stands in the Tom Crean Memorial Garden in the middle of the village, by Eamonn O'Doherty, unveiled in 2003: Crean leaning on a crate with his poles in one hand and two sledge pups in the other. The garden holds benches to Scott, Shackleton, Wilson, Evans and Lashly, and a stone carried back from near Shackleton's grave in South Georgia.
The South Pole Inn itself appears to have closed in October 2025, when it was sold, and the Crean memorabilia left with it. Ring or ask locally before you build the day around it. The statue and the memorial garden are there regardless.
In Dingle, three or four hours is enough for the town. Park by the water, walk the harbour and the marina, work up through Green Street, Main Street and Strand Street, and pick one or two things to go inside rather than trying for all of them. The one most day visitors miss is An Díseart on Green Street, whose chapel holds six two-light windows by Harry Clarke, commissioned in 1922 and finished in 1924. Five euro in, and it is closed on Sundays, which catches people out at weekends.
Fungie, who arrived in the harbour in 1983 and was last confirmed seen on 13 October 2020, is gone. The boats still go out, but they are wildlife and island trips now.
On the menu
Ashe's, Main Street, is the sit-down one: a sixth-generation family business since 1849, seafood-led, lunch from 12.45 and dinner from 17.15, Tuesday to Saturday. Mains run from about twenty-five euro. Book. 066 915 0989.
The Fish Box, Upper Green Street, is casual seafood from the family's own trawler and takes no reservations at all, which makes it the practical choice if you cannot commit to a time.
John Benny's, Strand Street, is the pub with good food and the most useful of the lot for a daytime visit, because it is on the seafront and serves all day from 11.30, Tuesday to Sunday. Mussels, oysters, seafood and steaks, with music at night. 066 915 1215.
Bean in Dingle on Green Street is the coffee, roasted on the premises. Murphy's on Strand Street is the ice cream, made with Kerry milk. Dick Mack's on Green Street is the pint and the atmosphere rather than a meal.
Out of the Blue on the waterside and Global Village on Main Street are both excellent and both dinner only, from half past five, so they are for a night out rather than a day trip.
The facts
- The route out
- Castlegregory to Camp, the N86 to Annascaul, then west to Dingle
- Annascaul
- Tom Crean's statue and memorial garden, in the middle of the village
- An Díseart
- €5, Monday to Friday 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm. Closed Sundays. diseart.ie
- Oceanworld
- Daily from 10am, last entry 4pm. Ring for prices.
- Dingle Distillery
- Tours €25, 75 minutes, over-18s, book ahead. One of you is driving.
- Parking
- Head for the Marina or the Mart car park rather than the shopping streets
- The way home
- The Conor Pass, R560. Read the note below before you take it.
Good to know
The Conor Pass. The summit is at 456 metres and there is a free car park at the top with the whole peninsula laid out either side of it. Vehicles over two tonnes are not permitted north-east of that car park, which rules out coaches, campervans and caravans on the descent to this coast, and a length limit of 7.2 metres is posted as well.
Pedlar's Lake is the corrie lake in the bowl above the road on the northern side, a short way down from the summit. The pull-in is at the waterfall, which comes down within feet of the road. There is no made path to the lake: it is a scramble up the slabs, about a hundred metres of climbing, and it is not worth doing in cloud or after rain.
Coming over the pass at sunset is a real pleasure and a real hazard at once. The northern descent is single track with passing places, cliff on one side and a drop on the other, and cars have to reverse to get past each other. Do it in the light if you can, use your lights in cloud, and if there is anything large in your car, go home the way you came.
How we checked. Crean's life and the memorial garden from History Ireland, the Irish Times and the Historical Marker Database. The closure of the South Pole Inn is reported by several independent visitors from October 2025 onward. Dingle opening hours and prices from An Díseart, Dingle Distillery and Dingle Oceanworld. Pass restrictions from dingle-peninsula.ie. Opening hours and prices on this coast change without notice, so ring before you travel. If anything here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it.