When my partner spontaneously got a few days off of work, we looked at Skyscanner, and found last minute cheap flights from Naples into Dublin. We had an absolutely fantastic trip exploring a bit of County Cork and a fair amount of County Kerry with our three year old. Here is how we spent our long weekend. The Dingle Peninsula is now one of our favorite places we have traveled to in all of Europe.

Day 1

Direct 6:30am Ryanair flight to Dublin
Left airport around 10:15 with rental car. We used Avis and rented a car seat through them! It is in great condition and feels incredibly safe for our 40lbs 3 year old. The tolls were all very easy to pay either at the toll booth (card or cash) or online for the M50. We were also told this could be paid at any service station in the country simply with your plate number. It just has to be paid by 8:00pm the day after you drive on the M50.
Drove to Kinsale (~3 hours) and parked right by the main harbor (€1.50/hr)
Grabbed an ice cream and got wiggles out at Gairdín Féileacán agus Clós Súgartha playground right along the harbor
Ate lunch at Jim Edward’s and explored all the local shops. The food was great but it really seems like you can’t go wrong with restaurants here - it’s known as a foodie capital in Ireland. OHK Cafe and Fishy Fishy were also highly recommended.
Spent the rest of the afternoon on the Scilly Walk, a 6km trail/walk through town that ends at a 1600s fort, Charles Fort. Part of it was on roads through town that I was nervous to let my toddler walk on (he isn’t big on holding hands right now 😂) but the majority is a very safe trail he could easily run/walk freely on!
Drove into County Kerry to stay at our Airbnb near Inch Beach, at the beginning of the Dingle Peninsula. If you’re looking to stay in this area and don’t mind being outside of any towns, I highly recommend this stay. https://www.airbnb.com/slink/M46WijAX

Notable nearby:

Blarney Castle (famous Blarney Stone that bestows the gift of gab)
Cobh and the Titanic Museum - town on the coast near Kinsale where the Titanic made her last port call

Petting Baby sheep at the Fairy Fort along Slea Head Drive

Day 2

Drove to Dingle to start the Slea Head Drive
Stops along the drive we loved:
🐑 Fairy Fort + Pet baby sheep: this was €1.50/adult and they had food for us to give the animals. It was a great place to stretch our legs and see the babies.
🌊Dunmore Head/Coumeenoole Beach: This was a filming location in Star Wars: The Last Jedi
🍀Ce Dhun Chaoin (Dunquin Pier): Beautiful views and a steep walk down a paved path to the water
🍺Kruger’s (most Westerly pub in Ireland)
Drove back to Dingle to check out the Aquarium (we planned to do this but 2 min before we got there my son fell asleep so we kept driving)
Drove ~55 min to just outside of Killarney to visit Kennedy Pet Farm. This drive is absolutely beautiful. The farm has both indoor and outdoor playgrounds, putt-putt, a mini trike track, a giant sand box, as well as a large petting farm (alpacas, mini horses, goats, lambs, pigs, bunnies, ducks, chickens, etc). It was fantastic and my son probably could have spent the whole day there.
Drove back into Killarney for shopping and dinner at Bombay Palace (recommended as the best Indian food in the area and neither the food nor service disappointed!)

Day 3

The winds were pretty dangerous and the whole county was under an Orange warning so we drove back to Dingle for the Aquarium. It was fantastic! They even had a touch tank with skates, which my son loved. The staff was super sweet.
We had brunch at My Boy Blue - this was some of the best food we had. The downtown Dingle area is adorable with tons of restaurants and shops. My Boy Blue isn’t very big and is a popular spot, so expect a bit of a wait if you go at a popular time.
Drove to Inch Beach to get some wiggles out. It is huge and the views are stunning. Both this beach and Dingle are popular surf spots. (FYI Sammy’s is on the beach and is highly recommended for breakfast but was closed for the season when we visited. Foley’s Bar is right before the beach and is great!)
Drove ~30 min to Sandy Feet Farms - They have highland cows, lambs, goats, alpacas, chickens, guinea pigs, hedge hogs, etc. The family that runs it is so kind. We were the only guests there (it was cold and windy) and they still showed us around and opened up all of the barns. There is a great playground and you can walk a track around the entire farm. The farm is close to the coast and the landscape is gorgeous.
Drove to Glanteenassig Forest Park and did the scenic drive route. There are also multiple lakes with walking and hiking paths.
Drove to Killarney National Park. Our favorite stops in the park were Muckross Abbey, Troc Waterfall, and Ladies View, which is a lookout point that has some easy paths for walking and playing on.
Dinner at Casita Mexicana in Killarney, which was surprisingly good!! Killarney had several well-reviewed international food options as well as your standard pubs.

Ireland: County Kerry & County Cork

Montenegro: Bay of Kotor

I Say No To Sharenting