Frequently Asked Questions

The price is $3,600 per person.

The following is included in your trip cost.

• Your guides, Kevin and Christina

• Nine nights double-occupency accommodation

• Eight breakfasts and three dinners

• Coffee, tea, snacks and ammenities at the houses

• Local transportation and gratuity to all sites and activities

• Entrance fees and tickets

• Luggage transfer between accommodations

• A stress-free experience with all the planning and details handled for you. Just get yourself to Dingle and we’ll do the rest!

• Your flight to Ireland (NOTE: currently flights are as cheap as we’ve ever seen them!)

• Transportation to/from the airport to Dingle

• One breakfast at Bean in Dingle

• All lunches and snacks

• Six dinners

• Alcoholic beverages

Fifty percent ($1,800) is due to reserve your space.

The remaining 50% is due by Nov 1.

Your trip deposit is refundable before November 1.

You’ll first want to decide where you’re flying and there are two options: Dublin International Airport and Shannon Airport.

Shannon is 110 miles from Dingle.

Dublin is 230 miles from Dingle.

From either airport, we recommend a bus for the journey into Dingle. Alternatively, there is a train/bus option from Dublin as well as subsidized domenstic air travel from Dublin to Kerry Airport.

Please reach out to us directly so we can advise you based on your individual travel plans and itinerary.

This will be a small, intimate group size with a minimum of six and maximum of 10.

December is off-season in Dingle. We discovered quite by accident that we love being off-season travelers and we’ve never looked back. Especially in recent years, many destinations are overrun with throngs of tourists all crowding to see the same sites. We don’t enjoy this at all. The Dingle Peninsula in the off-season is a delight and a much better experience. We also love to get to know local folks and high-tourist season simply does not allow for this. In the off-season months, we’ve made many friends! Plus Christmastime in Dingle is very festive and we love this.

The weather is glorious! But then, we like drama and change and not being able to predict what it’ll be like in an hour. Welcome to the Wild Atlantic Way.

It’s a bit like the Pacific Northwest with more drama. It’s not at all like San Diego. There are many nice days and some not-so-nice days and a few really crappy days. Temps are usually in the 50’s like the PNW, but often blusterier. Occasionally there are freezing temperatures and snow on the upper reaches of the hills, though this is rare.

We will go out in all weather! We may swap plans some days based on the weather—if it’s a blue bird day we’ll take to the hills and enjoy the views. If it’s a wet soaking rain, it might be a good town-shopping day. You’re always welcome to opt out of the day’s adventure, too.

But the changeable nature is great. We love the sun peeking out and giving you a glorious sky when you least expect it! Getting yourself outside on a nasty day will more than likely have you out when suddenly the day turns gorgeous and is all rainbows! (This is a trademark of the wild Atlantic coast.) If you are prepared to get wet and muddy every day, though, you likely won’t be disappointed. 

As an aside, per the locals, the summer is often not that much nicer! And in the summer the bad weather is disappointing whereas in the winter the nice weather, when it appears, is a delight.

In America, we’re used to well-traveled purpose-built trails on public lands in the woods and parks. When you go out in America, you expect the trail to be reasonably smooth and for steep sections there’ll be switchbacks and steps. We love to hike our American trails! But it’s different in this part of the world. There are no public lands, to speak of, though common grazing lands are treated like public lands with an added bit of respect since the collective owners are allowing you access. There are “tracks” which are really tractor/shepherd roads but are often used as walking trails. Some walks follow along a sheep fence, known locally as a “wire”, e.g. “We’re going to walk up Seamus’ Wire to reach the summit.” For most local outings here, though, you go to a hill and simply walk up it! Hence the local term, hillwalking. Our introduction to this Irish recreation was through the Dingle Hillwalking Club who welcomed us on their hikes from our earliest days here. The go out most Sundays and it might be an alternative to our Sunday plans to join them. They know every hill and every route and who all the landowners are so they can get permission. In our group’s treks we’ll do a bit of hillwalking, too, though we’ll keep to a bit milder terrain for the most part and routes that we know have general permission, like the Dingle Way, or where we can pay a fee for public access, like Eask Tower and Rihinnane Castle. 

A couple more notes about hillwalking: It’s wet! There’s really nothing in America we’ve experienced that compares. All the land is boggy here and you won’t have a walk without going through very wet bog, lots of mud, and skirting brambles, even if it’s a “fine” (as they call it) day. Your feet will be submerged in bog, mud, and rivulets on nearly every walk—it’s unavoidable. Come prepared with good boots, gaiters, sturdy trousers, and poles. We also do lots of fence and wall crossings. On waymarked trails these are usually well-constructed wood or aluminum tripod ladders, but some are older and a tiny bit challenging—we just take our time and it’s easy enough. There are lots of gates, too, which if we need to open, we’re careful to close. Some gates are sheep gates—humans can get through, but sheep cannot. 

A typical day involves 6-10 miles of walking. For the most part we’ll be on waymarked routes that are pretty tame including lots of walking on roads, but some hikes are more like hillwalking (see FAQ on hillwalking) or climbing a track to a summit. Look at the detailed itinerary for each day to see what we’re planning. You can always opt out of a day’s adventure, but we also have easier alternatives or turnback or waiting points so you can still participate but not do it all. 

Yes and no.

Yes, if you want it. But also no…because we’ve designed this trip to give you an immersive and authentic experience in this little corner of Ireland that we know so well. The vibe of the trip will be laid back and fun—but it’ll also be active and busy. There’s a lot to see and do and in nine short days it’s our goal to show you what we love the most!

There is one free day/evening built into the schedule which is the Dingle shopping day on Day 5.

Those who are vegetarians, vegans and gluten-free will have no problem finding a variety of options at most places. Many establishments cater to specialty diets with creative and delicious dishes.