Kerry
in Ireland

Behind its cool grey and yellow facade, this community-focused coffeeshop is a local favourite for its smiling staff, soulful tunes and short but flavour-packed menu, from sausage and black pudding rolls to ‘healthy muffins’ and swirled chocolate babka. Take home a bag of the small-batch house-roasted beans sourced from around the world.

A three-minute walk from Murphy’s, this is glamping with a difference. The 24ft yacht has firmly come aground but the ocean still soundtracks a stay here. Nautical stripes in blue and orange enhance the theme of the neatly stocked two-berth Airbnb, the rainwater shower and tropical plants give it a feel of a Balinese hideaway, and there’s a wooden deck and firepit for stargazing nights under some of Europe’s clearest skies.

Pick up locally made crystal-charged jewellery from Táim, turf-scented beeswax candles or rare-breed Irish sheepskins in this tiny but lovingly curated space. There are also beautifully grained wooden chopping boards, vinegars and dressings made from ingredients foraged in the hedgerows and ceramics by a Kerry potter who digs his own clay nearby.

This is probably the most famous of Dingle’s many pubs, but for good reason. It’s been in the MacDonnell family since 1899 and even has a Walk of Fame outside charting the big names who’ve stopped by for a pint – from Dolly Parton to Tom Cruise. In recent years, the family has added a brewhouse and taproom in the yard with food trucks and live gigs. But the original pub is still the best bit.

It’s not unusual to see a fiddle player and an uilleann piper playing tunes in front of shelves chaotically stocked with boxes of nails and sets of allen keys at this hardware shop that moonlights as a pub. Tools hang from the ceiling and the wooden counter is worn from seven decades of leaning elbows. Get here early on the weekend as it fills up quickly.

The light and the sea are recurring themes in the exhibitions at this large gallery in the centre of town. The ever-changing scenery around Dingle inspires the roster of artists on show: from the soft-blue-toned impressionistic works of Sarah Tormey to the print-like paintings of Brandon-based Niall Naessens.

Dublin-born Conor Holden fell for Dingle on a holiday and, more than 30 years later, he crafts sellout leather bags – from slouchy totes in butterscotch brown to boxy lipstick-red backpacks – in his workshop, which welcomes visitors year round. There are also wallets, belts and dog leads and collars.

This smoothie bar is one of a handful of stockists of handmade Dingle Chocolates, but it’s worth checking out its super-oxidant-packed menu too. Try the Purple Rain, with beetroot and ginger, or the Oompa Loompa, with carrot, apple and lemon. There are also generously filled sandwiches and great coffee.  

In a town of colourful shopfronts, this pub at the top of Main Street manages to stand out with its Willy Wonka-purple paint job. Inside, there’s a golden-ticket glow from the candles dotted around, and the cosy nooks and crannies make it feel like you’re sipping pints in a well-stocked timewarp home. Our favourite spot is by the range in the kitchen.

The late Lisbeth Mulcahy was a Danish-born tapestry artist who was a game-changer on the creative scene in Dingle. Her herringbone designs in deep blue and heather-purple reflect the wind-lashed landscape, while her strokeable lambswool and soft alpaca scarves are essential packing in a place of unpredictable elements.

Set steps from the sea in postcard-worthy Brandon harbour, Murphy’s looks like it’s been magicked up to star in a Guinness ad. There’s an open fire and an old-school wooden interior and Pádraig Murphy, the fifth-generation owner, has put it on the map for its pub grub too: creamy chowder; crab sandwiches with traditional brown bread. If you’ve hiked Mount Brandon, this is the place to warm up over clove-and-lemon hot whiskeys.

Floor-to-ceiling glass and picture-frame windows maximise the Atlantic views at this brilliantly run guesthouse on a hill east of Dingle. Book a Top of the House room to watch the scudding clouds from bed, and order a crisp Sancerre for sundowners on the terrace. Breakfast is a big deal, and might include rhubarb from the garden poached with ginger and orange or potato cakes topped with horseradish and smoked salmon.

With raywing, monkfish and mackerel on the menu alongside crowd-pleasing cod and haddock, this tiny takeaway showcases a more diverse haul of seafood than most. The salt-and-vinegar-soused chips are chunky and the batter is crispy; order mushy peas on the side and extra helpings of tartar sauce. There’s a handy covered picnic table across the road.

Opened in 2018 by Irish chef Nicky Foley, who’d lived in Spain for five years, this cheerily painted tapas spot pulls in punters for its Hibernia-meets-Iberia menu. Confit ‘spuds’ come bravas-style with black truffle aioli; local pork belly is served with morcilla blood sausage; honey from the restaurant’s own beehives is peppered and drizzled on fig tempura and Dingle goat’s cheese. 

Adrienne Heslin started her own brewery because visitors to her rural pub would ask about the local beers – and she had to tell them there were none. Her first batch, made using water from her well, was a red ale named after a beach down the road. Now visitors can not only taste the local tipples (ale, porter, IPA) but see how they’re made at this hard-working microbrewery – the first in Ireland founded by a woman.