Slea Head Drive - My Favourites
At Slea Head Drive, I’ve seen breathtaking scenery of cliffs, sea and islands, spotted Skellig Michael in the distance, explored beehive huts, ring forts, beautiful beaches, early Christian sites, inscribed stones, miles and miles of ancient stone walls and cuddled a baby lamb.
Sounds amazing? It is!
What I love most is that it looks different anytime you go there, depending on light and weather. The scenery is especially dramatic in shifting mist and in autumn and early spring.
The Slea Head Drive is a 50km loop, starting in Dingle town and taking you all the way through the villages of Ventry, Dunquin, Ballyferriter and Ballydavid. If you’re like me and love taking it all in (you know I’m the slow kind of traveller, right?), it’s at least a half-days’ drive (I recommend a full day) or a two day’s drive by bike.
I’ve listed all of our favourite spots down below - the adventure lovers and history lovers covered separately - and added some of my photos from our trips around Slea Head Drive. It is one of my favourite places in Ireland for sure.
Let’s get started!
If you love adventure …
While I believe the Slea Head Drive itself is an adventure, there’s even more to do and explore!
Walking, cycling, horse riding and swimming are all possible here. I personally love enjoying nature and the beautiful surroundings while walking and I just have to get moving every time we’re there.
Mount Brandon, at 952m, is one of Ireland’s highest summits. It’s named after Saint Brendan and is at the centre of the Brandon Group of mountains. There are many routes to the top, so just look into some of the local walking guides or look them up online. My plan is to create a blog post about our (dog-friendly) walking experiences and I’ll let you know as soon as it’s online!
If you love water and/or you’re into swimming and water sports:
Coumeenoole Beach is very picturesque and you should try Ventry, Clogher and Wine Strand (near Ballyferriter) as well. Ventry is one of the safest beaches in the region and is popular for its water sports.
Blasket Islands
Remember Peer’s video about our Sea Safari? We learned a lot about the islands and got a beautiful glimpse of them from the water. Amazing!
You can watch it >> here << !
Great Blasket is the largest of the islands and probably the most visited. You can access the island by boat and then spent the day on Great Blasket exploring the abandoned settlements, watch the seabirds and wildlife and hike around the island.
Dunquin
You know that one from instagram, don’t you? Dunquin Pier has become very famous on instagram and if you’ve ever been there, you know why. Not only is Dunquin famous as the setting for the epic 1970 drama “Ryan’s Daughter“, but the breathtaking scenery alone is worth a visit.
Dunquin was the place where the Blasket Islanders came ashore to visit the mainland and trade and you can still cross over to Great Blasket from there.
If you love history…
Celtic & Prehistoric Museum - Ventry
Filled with a great collection of Celtic and prehistoric artefacts: the world’s largest woolly mammoth skull and tusks, a 40,000-year-old cave bear skeleton, Viking horse-bone ice skates, battle-axes, jewellery…
Dunbeg Fort
Dunbeg Fort is an Iron Age fort near Ventry. It’s located on a rocky promontory, perched atop a cliff, which have eroded since it was built, giving much of the fort away to the sea. You can find a large beehive hut inside the fort and several smaller beehive huts in the surrounding area. Opposite is the Visitor Centre with a car park.
Fahan Beehive Huts
It is said Fahan once had over 40 beehive huts dating from AD 500. Today, five structures remain of which two are fully intact. The huts are on the southern slope of Mt Eagle, where you can still find several (it is said up to 400) huts (in various states of perseveration though).
Blasket Centre
The Blasket Islands have had a rich cultural life before being left abandoned in the last century. The centre gives a great impression of how life used to be back in the days and you’re going to love the picture window looking directly at the islands. Great Blasket has a huge community of storytellers and musicians and we were amazed by the names that popped up. There are also exhibits on boatbuilding and fishing. The Blasket Islands still remain a strong symbol of an ancient Irish-speaking culture.
Oh and there’s a Café with a beautiful view of the islands and a bookshop - you know where you can find me.
Dingle Peninsula Museum
In this local museum you’ll learn all about history, geology, ecology and archaeology of the peninsula. It’s set in an old schoolhouse in Ballyferriter, a village named after the Feiritéar family - of whom the 17th-century poet and executed soldier who emerged as a local leader in the 1641 rebellion.
Reask Monastic Site
This ruined early Monastic site (5th or 6th century) is one of the peninsula’s great archaeological sites with low stone walls, a cross-slab standing stone and outlines of beehive huts, storehouses and an early Christian oratory. At least 10 stone crosses have been found, including the decorated Ogham Reask Stone.
Gallarus Oratory
Gallarus Oratory is one of Ireland’s most beautiful ancient buildings. The chapel looks like an upturned boat and you wouldn’t believe it’s age when looking at the smoothly constructed stone walls. The oratory overlooks the harbour at Ard na Caithne. There’s a privately owned visitor centre “Gallarus Visitor Centre“ with a car park located next to Gallarus Oratory.
Kilmalkedar Church
Kilmalkedar is a medieval site and National Monument, about 5 miles east of Ballyferriter. The surviving roofless church dates back to the 12th century but Kilmalkedar is traditionally associated with Saint Brendan and with local saint St Maolcethair, who founded a monastery on the site in the 7th century.
You’ll find an Ogham stone and a carved stone sundial in the graveyard and the boring of holes in standing stones suggests remnants of Celtic religion. Kilmalkedar may have been a religious site long before Christianity arrived.
So much for the recommendations and information I can give you. There’s so much out there just waiting to be explored!
When I think of the Slea Head Drive, I think of breathtaking scenery, nature, seagulls, seals, dolphins, beehive huts, history… I can almost feel the wind playing with my hair and I can almost smell and taste the salty air.
Get out there, get out of your car and explore. There’s so much to be seen and experienced.
I bet you’re going to love it.
Etta