After the Great Limerick Run: Dingle and the Kerry Coast

The Route: Limerick → Dingle Logistics: By car via Tralee, 2.5 to 3 hours. Public transport exists but involves at least one change and a considerably longer journey, so a car is the practical choice for this trip. Marathon Month: May Duration: 2 nights

Limerick ──(2.5-3 hrs by car via Tralee)──> Dingle

Dingle sits far enough from Limerick that it only makes sense as a proper two-night stay rather than a day trip, but the distance buys a genuinely different landscape from anything the marathon course itself passes through. May on the Dingle Peninsula: the Slea Head loop's hedgerows and coastal scrub are in full late-spring growth, and the peninsula sits just ahead of its busiest summer months, meaning quieter roads on the narrow, single-track sections. The drive from Limerick takes 2.5 to 3 hours via Tralee.

Nights One and Two: Dingle

Dingle town is a working fishing harbour first and a tourist destination second, and that order still shows in the boats along the quay and the genuine fish co-op alongside the waterfront pubs. The harbourfront itself is flat and paved, a comfortable short walk regardless of how the legs feel two days after a marathon.

The Slea Head Drive, a roughly 50 km loop around the peninsula's western tip, is the area's signature route: beehive huts, Iron Age forts, and some of the most exposed Atlantic coastal scenery in Ireland, best done by car given the distances involved and the narrow, cliff-edge sections of road. This is a driving day, not a walking one, and suits the second day of a two-night stay once legs have had a full day to recover.

Where to stay: Dingle Skellig Hotel, on the edge of town overlooking Dingle Bay, offers a pool and spa alongside harbour views, useful for genuine recovery time. Benners Hotel, in the town centre on Main Street, offers a more traditional, walkable base within steps of the harbour pubs.

Where to eat: Out of the Blue, on the harbourfront, serves whatever the boats brought in that day rather than a fixed menu, the most direct way to eat the town's actual catch. Murphy's Ice Cream, on Strand Street, is a genuinely well-regarded local institution using Kerry dairy, a low-effort treat rather than a full meal.

Getting Home

The return drive to Limerick retraces the same route via Tralee, taking 2.5 to 3 hours. For runners flying out rather than returning to Limerick, Kerry Airport (KIR), roughly 1 hour from Dingle near Farranfore, offers limited seasonal routes; Shannon Airport, closer to Limerick itself at around 3 hours from Dingle, carries a wider range of international connections and is the more reliable choice for most international departures.