Walking in Ireland

In Dingle, in the south-west corner of Ireland, you don’t need to set your alarm clock. The gulls will wake you with their howls of anticipation, as the fishing boats come into harbour to unload their early morning catch. Mackerel, cod, dogfish and flatfish, and wrasse are packed into boxes of ice ready to continue their onward journeys. Just as you’ll be continuing your own journey – after a hearty breakfast in your guest house – pulling on your walking boots and setting off into the hills or along the windswept coast.

The Dingle Way is one of more than 40 National Waymarked Trails in Ireland, that between them immerse you in some of the Emerald Isle’s most spellbinding scenery.

“Walking in Ireland, it’s all about the rural quality, the little villages. That’s what people want to experience,” reflects Sharon Zanni, from our walking tour specialists Headwater. “The food – especially in County Wicklow, which they call the Garden of Ireland – and the friendliness. Local people are so nice. If you ever get lost, you’re never far from someone who can give you directions.”

But you’re not likely to get lost on an Ireland walking holiday, because our trips ensure you’re well-prepared, with OS maps and detailed route notes. And those route notes don’t just give you the essential information like ‘turn left before you get to the village shop’ or ‘look for the marker opposite the pub’. No, they also tell you really useful things. Things like: ‘the couple who run the village shop do a great line in home-made sausage rolls if you’re feeling peckish’ and ‘don’t miss Wednesday nights at the Blue Dragon when musicians pile in for the trad session’.

Whether it’s putting you up in locally owned hotels or recommending independent shops, pubs and restaurants, our walking holidays have significant positive impacts on the economies of rural communities in Ireland. Which in turn ensures that you’ll always get a very warm welcome wherever you go.

“Ireland loves walkers,” agrees Sharon. “Because walking means you experience things at a slower pace.”

This, after all, is not a country to be rushed.

The Kerry Way is a 210km circular route beginning and ending in the town of Killarney, encompassing the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry. Walking the Kerry Way is a breeze, as it is very clearly signposted all the way round, and you’ll bump into plenty of other walkers going in both directions. You can walk it all in one go, but most holidays take in a few sections. As an example, at a fairly easy-going pace you might cover 180km over two weeks.

The walk broadly follows the Ring of Kerry scenic driving route. It takes you through glens and moorland, beneath the shadow of imposing mountains, across fields and hillsides that look as if they’ve been draped in green velvet, and skirts the Atlantic coast with views over to the Skellig islands, once home to an early Christian monastic community. At the centre of the peninsula is a mountain range known as the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks. One of them, Carrauntoohil, is the highest peak in Ireland.

You’re walking through history on the Kerry Way. Your route notes flag up Iron Age forts and ruined abbeys. Waterville, around halfway through, was a favoured fishing haunt of Charlie Chaplin, who was recommended it by one Walt Disney. And at times you’ll walk on ‘butter roads’, which were laid during the 1700s to help dairy farmers quickly get their produce down to the port of Cork. They helped make the Cork Butter Exchange the largest in the world, shipping out thousands of barrels of the stuff every day for over a century.

It typically takes around eight days to finish the Dingle Way, a 162km circular route around the Dingle Peninsula. It starts from the town of Tralee and is regarded as one of the finest long-distance walks in Ireland.

Our self guided Dingle Way walking holidays roam hills, valleys, coast and bogs, where local people still cut slices of peat to burn. Around Fahan, you’ll spy a cluster of clocháin, or beehive huts, built without mortar many centuries ago. Thought to have once been used by hermit monks, the huts are uninhabited nowadays, except for the occasional sheep hiding from the rain.

At night you’ll stay in a succession of traditional old Irish communities such as Annascaul, Cloghane, Castlegregory and Dingle itself. Historically a popular embarkation point for pilgrims on their way to the Camino de Santiago, Dingle today is a flourishing fishing port, with a bustling harbour and colourful housefronts that make it a photogenic spot to wander for an afternoon or so.

“I think the Wicklow Way is a perfect example of what’s great about walking in Ireland,” says Sharon. “It goes from city to coast, with some hills thrown in for a bit of challenge. A lot of people are looking for a shorter walking holiday so I think it’s great that you can get all that in just five days.”

The Wicklow Way is a very popular 131km trail over the Wicklow Mountains from Dublin to Clonegal village, taking you through woodland, heath, bogs and mountains (the northern end of the trail is steeper than the southern).

Our short holidays can offer highlights of the route as you walk from Dublin to Laragh, through the stunning Glencree Valley, past waterfalls, glacial lakes, crumbling monasteries, and picturesque hamlets where walkers are always assured of a friendly greeting. When you push open the door of the local pub a magical tingle goes up your arm as you feel the heat of the fire, smell the beer, and hear bodhrán drums, tin whistles and fiddles warming up, and the laughter around the bar.

The Wild Atlantic Way runs the length of Ireland’s west coast for 2,500km, with a huge range of options for those wanting to walk just a section or two either self guided or as part of an escorted group. Guided small group holidays can take you to one of the most scenic segments – that between Killarney and Doolin. They can include a slate of other activities off the trail, from visiting a seal sanctuary and a whiskey distillery to meeting a seaweed forager and learning about the many health benefits and uses of these slimy strands.