The loop round the Dingle peninsula from Tralee, in the walk committee's eight sections: Inch strand, Dingle, Slea Head and Dunquin, Smerwick Harbour, the saddle of Mount Brandon, Brandon Bay and the Maharees, then back to Tralee.
Best season: All year, except 28 February. Neither the walk committee nor Sport Ireland publishes a walking season. The route is closed for one day every year, on 28 February, by agreement with the landowners; the next closure day is 28 February 2027. Book ahead, especially in summer, the committee says. In midwinter there are under 8 hours of daylight, less than the longest sections take. Before you go
Loading your plan…
Checking the seasons, closures and current conditions for today…
Eight sections, the walk committee's own, of 17 to 29 km and 4 to 9 hours. Each ends in a village or town with beds, though only a few at Dunquin, Feohanagh and Castlegregory. The last two are the longest days. Buses reach most section ends, so the loop also splits into shorter trips. Choose a plan, or pick your own start, finish and nights below.
Changing where you stay suggests a new number of days: the fewest that keep each day under 8 h of walking and in daylight, where a place to stay allows.
Days end where the route has a stay, a camp or a village.
Stage 1: From the Kerry County Museum in Tralee along the canal path to Blennerville, then along the flank of the Slieve Mish mountains to Camp: 18 km, 5 to 7 hours, 200 m of ascent, graded difficult, the committee says; 16.9 km on our line. The section ends at Camp Junction, about 220 m from Camp Junction House; Camp village is about 1.2 km away. This first stretch out of Tralee is walked again, the other way, at the end of the loop.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
The section ends at Camp Junction, about 220 m from Camp Junction House, the first stay on the committee's list for this section. Camp village is about 1.2 km away.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 2: Over the western end of the Slieve Mish and down to Inch strand, then on to Annascaul: 17 km, 4 to 6 hours, 235 m of ascent, graded moderate. Inch has a bus stop on the 276.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
A village on the 276 bus between Killarney and Dingle. The Dingle Gate Hostel is still on the committee's list, but its own site said on 13 October 2026 that it is closed to the public this year: do not count on it.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 3: Mostly on boreens (narrow country lanes) and minor roads by Lispole to Dingle: 23 km, 5 to 7 hours, 150 m of ascent, graded easy. Between Lispole and Dingle you may meet loose dogs at the house before Devane's Guest House, Sport Ireland warns.
Dingle Town or village
The largest town on the loop, with many places to stay and buses to Tralee (275) and Killarney (276). The committee lists several B&Bs on the edge of town; we have not checked them, so book with the host.
Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 4: Round the far west of the peninsula, partly on the Slea Head road, to Dunquin: 20 km, 5 to 7 hours, 370 m of ascent, graded moderate, the committee says; about 23.9 km on our line, nearly 4 km more than the committee's figure. The Slea Head road is busy: the committee asks for extreme caution. Our stage ends on the trail about 450 m from the centre of Dunquin. Beds and food are few in Dunquin: book both ahead.
Dunquin Town or village
Dún Chaoin is spread along the road; the stage ends on the trail about 450 m from the village centre. Beds are few: the committee still lists a hostel here that An Óige no longer lists, so do not count on it, and names a few B&Bs and self-catering cottages. Food is limited: arrange dinner when you book.
Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 5: North from Dunquin by Ballyferriter and along the beach of Smerwick Harbour to Feohanagh: 20 km, 5 to 7 hours, 125 m of ascent, graded easy; 18.9 km on our line.
Overnight
Hotel
Pick a date to check the season.
An Fheothanach, a small hamlet on Smerwick Harbour. An Riasc B&B, on the committee's list, is about 650 m to the east; Local Link's 268 loop links Feohanagh with Dingle.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 6: The hardest section: over the saddle of Mount Brandon and down to Cloghane on Brandon Bay: 24 km, 6 to 7 hours, 655 m of ascent, graded difficult; 25.4 km on our line. Check the forecast before you set out.
Overnight
Hostel or bunkhouse
Pick a date to check the season.
An Clochán, a village on Brandon Bay below Mount Brandon, with Local Link's 273 to Castlegregory, Camp and Tralee. Mount Brandon Hostel is in the village.
Or a room in the village. Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 7: The longest section, along the long beach of Brandon Bay and round the Maharees to Castlegregory: 29 km, 7 to 9 hours, only 50 m of ascent, graded moderate; 26.8 km on our line.
Castlegregory Town or village
A village at the foot of the Maharees, with Local Link's 273 to Camp and Tralee. The committee lists a few B&Bs, a holiday park and a hostel here; we could not place them on the map, so book with the host.
Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 8: Back to Tralee by Camp, on the way you walked out from the loop's junction south of Camp: 27 km, 6.5 to 8.5 hours, 300 m of ascent, graded easy; 29.9 km on our line, about 3 km more than the committee's figure.
Longest day: day 7, 7 h–9 h.
Days end at a stage end with a refuge or a village, or in a village the route passes through. Walking times are the times published by thedingleway.ie where a stage has one, with the time measured on the mapped line beside it; a day that walks part of a stage gets a share of the stage's time by distance and climb.Outside Switzerland our walking times often run short of the times route operators publish; treat them as optimistic. Running times use 7.5 km/h plus one hour per 700 m of climb: a steady reference, not a prediction. Daylight is sunrise to sunset where the day starts; the time left is for breaks, meals and delays.Refuge dates come from the operator's own pages; when they are not published, we say so. For villages we count the places to stay OpenStreetMap lists; we have not checked which are open. A plan is not a booking: reserve every night before you commit to these day lengths.
Where each stage ends, the 2026 and 2027 seasons the operator publishes, and how to book. Read from the operators' pages on 13 October 2026; each stage page shows the sources and the grade profile.
| Stage | Night at | 2026 | 2027 | Booking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Tralee to Camp | Camp Junction House | 2026 dates not published | not published | Book online |
| 2. Camp to Annascaul | The Old Anchor | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 3. Annascaul to Dingle | Dingle · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
| 4. Dingle to Dunquin | Dunquin · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
| 5. Dunquin to Feohanagh | An Riasc B&B | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
| 6. Feohanagh to Cloghane | Mount Brandon Hostel | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking request |
| 7. Cloghane to Castlegregory | Castlegregory · accommodation in town, not checked | Each host has its own season | Book with a host | |
| 8. Castlegregory to Tralee | Brandon Hotel | 2026 dates not published | not published | Booking method not published |
Loading the forecast for low point (sea level) and high point (654 m)…
Typical weather on this trail: at the lowest point (sea level) and the highest point (654 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed |
| Stages rated good on typical weather | 1/8 | 7/8 | 7/8 | 8/8 | 8/8 | 8/8 | 8/8 | 8/8 | 8/8 | 3/8 | 0/8 | 1/8 |
| High point, day / night | 6°/2° | 6°/2° | 7°/2° | 9°/3° | 11°/5° | 13°/8° | 14°/9° | 14°/9° | 13°/8° | 10°/6° | 8°/4° | 7°/3° |
| Low point, day / night | 10°/4° | 10°/4° | 11°/5° | 13°/6° | 16°/8° | 18°/11° | 19°/12° | 19°/12° | 18°/11° | 15°/8° | 12°/6° | 10°/5° |
| Rain, mm | 220 | 165 | 154 | 128 | 128 | 117 | 138 | 156 | 159 | 207 | 245 | 237 |
| Snow at high point | – | – | Frost | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Daylight | 8 h 12 | 9 h 53 | 11 h 46 | 13 h 51 | 15 h 40 | 16 h 45 | 16 h 21 | 14 h 46 | 12 h 46 | 10 h 45 | 8 h 50 | 7 h 45 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Advance booking is wise, especially in summer, the walk committee says, and some hosts offer luggage transfer. Sport Ireland calls overnight places plentiful, but they are not even round the loop: of the stays on the committee's list we could place only one at Feohanagh and one at Cloghane, and none at Dunquin or Castlegregory, so book those nights first. Dogs are not permitted on the Dingle Way.
Much of the Way crosses private land by the landowners' permission. To mark that, the whole route is closed for one day every year, on 28 February; the next closure day is 28 February 2027. No other closure or diversion was published by Sport Ireland, the walk committee or Kerry County Council's road closures, read 13 October 2026.
Sport Ireland: the Dingle WayNearly half the Way, 76 km, follows local roads, Sport Ireland says. On the section from Dingle to Dunquin the Slea Head road is busy, and the committee asks walkers to take extreme caution. Read 13 October 2026.
The Dingle Way: Dingle to DunquinFeohanagh to Cloghane crosses the saddle of Mount Brandon, with 655 m of ascent, graded difficult: check the forecast first. Cloghane to Castlegregory (29 km, 7 to 9 hours) and Castlegregory to Tralee (27 km, 6.5 to 8.5 hours) are the longest days. Figures from the committee's section pages, read 13 October 2026.
The Dingle Way: the sectionsThe committee's accommodation list is not all current. It still names a hostel at Dún Chaoin that An Óige no longer lists; the Dingle Gate Hostel's own site says it is closed to the public this year; and the Inch Beach Guesthouse link now leads to an unrelated site. Check each stay with the host before you book. Read 13 October 2026.
The Dingle Way: accommodationDogs are not permitted on the Dingle Way. Between Lispole and Dingle you may meet loose dogs at the house before Devane's Guest House, Sport Ireland warns. Read 13 October 2026.
Sport Ireland: the Dingle WayClosures and notices last checked 13 October 2026: The Dingle Way: section pages · Kerry County Council: road closures on the peninsula · Local Link Kerry: timetables · Sport Ireland: Dingle Way notices. Check them again before you set out.
Getting there
Choose a stage or journey above to narrow the travel searches.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Trains run to Tralee from Dublin Heuston, and from Cork by Mallow; Tralee also has a bus station. The loop starts by Ashe Memorial Hall and the Kerry County Museum, about 700 m from the station.
Irish RailTFI Local Link Kerry runs the 273 every day from Brandon and Cloghane by Castlegregory and Camp to Blennerville and Tralee, and the 277a and 277b every day from Dingle by Ventry and Ballyferriter to Dunquin, with fewer buses on Sundays and bank holidays; its 268 loops from Dingle by Gallarus to Feohanagh. The 275 links Tralee and Dingle, and the 276 runs from Killarney by Inch and Annascaul to Dingle.
TFI Local Link Kerry: timetablesThe loop ends where it started, in Tralee: trains leave for Dublin and Cork, and buses from the bus station.
Transport for Ireland: Bus Éireann routesTake your trip with you
Prepare every day while you still have a connection, and test it offline before you set out.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
The Dingle Way walk committee gives about 178 km in eight sections, 4 to 9 hours each; Sport Ireland gives 162.9 km for the waymarked line, which counts the stretch from Tralee to the loop once, in 8 sections on our map. The guide's day planner offers an 8-day plan on the overnight stops, and you can choose your own nights.
All year, except 28 February. Neither the walk committee nor Sport Ireland publishes a walking season.
Trains run to Tralee from Dublin Heuston, and from Cork by Mallow; Tralee also has a bus station. The "Connect your journey" section has the travel details, with 2 more travel notes.
Advance booking is wise, especially in summer, the walk committee says, and some hosts offer luggage transfer.
Yes: the whole route and every section, free, for a GPS watch or a phone. The guide also saves your plan for offline use in the app.
Closures we know of are shown on the days and sections they affect, in the day planner and on the stage pages. We watch 4 official notice pages (The Dingle Way: section pages; Kerry County Council: road closures on the peninsula; Local Link Kerry: timetables; Sport Ireland: Dingle Way notices); the date we last read them is shown with the notices on this page. Check them again before you set off.
Route & sources
The Dingle Way walk committee divides the loop into eight sections, from Tralee by Camp, Annascaul, Dingle, Dunquin, Feohanagh, Cloghane and Castlegregory back to Tralee, with an official stage time for each, shown beside ours on every stage. Its sections add up to about 178 km (its own pages also say 176 and 179 km). Sport Ireland gives 162.9 km for the waymarked line itself: from Tralee a single stretch runs 18.5 km out to the loop's junction south of Camp, and the sections walk it out at the start and back at the end. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 21664, from the planet of 11 October 2026), walked in the committee's direction with that stretch out and back: 181.3 km, the whole loop, cut at the eight section ends. Six stages are within about 2 km of the committee's figures; Dingle to Dunquin is about 4 km longer on our line (23.9 km against the committee's 20 km), and Castlegregory to Tralee about 3 km longer (29.9 km against 27 km). Two ends lie a little away from the village: Camp's is at Camp Junction, by Camp Junction House, about 1.2 km from Camp village, and Dunquin's is on the trail about 450 m from the village centre. No closure or diversion was published on 13 October 2026; the whole route closes for one day every year, on 28 February. Our climb is measured on terrain heights, so short steep steps are smoothed out.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
The Dingle Way walk committee: the sectionsMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation
Checking snow-monitoring coverage... Notifications require permission on this device; on iPhone use the installed Home Screen app. No email alerts are sent.