The Dingle peninsula, the northernmost of County Kerry's peninsulas, stretches nearly 50 kilometres into the Atlantic, and is 21 kilometres wide at its broadest. It is a dramatic and varied landscape of coastal plains, sandy beaches, mountains and lakes. The Dingle Way is a circular route beginning and ending in the town of Tralee that takes in all of these wonderments along the route. Leaving Tralee the route climbs onto the flanks of the Slieve Mish and contours westwards before crossing the peninsula to the scenic Inch beach on Dingle Bay. The route then meanders westwards by the villages of Anascaul and Lispole to the famed town of Dingle, where many walkers will want to stay a while and enjoy the good food, good music and craic. West of Dingle is the most dramatic part of the Way, an exciting coastal trek around the westernmost point of Ireland and a return leg over a saddle below Kerry's holy mountain, Brandon, and on to Tralee by the shore. Terrain consists mainly of quiet tarmac roads, mountain, field and cliff paths, and over 20km of good beach walking. The aggregate ascent over the route is 2480m, and although there are some short steep ascents, there are no significant steep climbs. Overnight accommodation is plentiful. The route is steeped in history and scattered with the ruins of ancient dwellings, forts, churches, and castles, and because of its circular layout, can be easily sampled in sections.
