Dingle town, set on the Dingle Peninsula in the South-West of Ireland. If County Kerry is the Kingdom, then Dingle is its Crown Jewel.
This quaint town was, for a long time, one of Ireland's best kept secret. However last year, TripAdvisor.com had named Dingle one of top #20 global destinations; and on a global scale that translates into #6 in Europe, just ahead of Paris and Rome. So what make this town so popular?
Maybe this picturesque town owes its fame to Fungi, the bottlenose dolphin that made Dingle Harbour his home almost 25 years ago. As a wild dolphin he could have left at any time, but chose to stay, playing with the boats that visit him every-day as part of the town's intrinsically woven social fabric.
Quintessentially Irish and steeped in heritage, traditional Irish music and the Irish language is a cultural staple in, Located in the West Kerry Gaeltacht, Dingle has a culture stepped in all things Irish, from traditional Irish music to the use of the Irish language.
At night, the town comes to life as the strains of the bodhrán, tin whistle, the fiddle and the accordion fill the night air as the Guinness flows. Its scenery is unsurpassed so much that it caught the eye of the National Geographic who once described Dingle Peninsula as the most beautiful place on Earth.
Dingle is both cosmopolitan and traditional, and home to hoards of wonderful shops that sell wonderful hand-made arts and crafts. Lining every street and corner, they sit happily among the pubs, award-winning seafood restaurants and cafés that the town is also famous for. If the scenery, fantastic night-life and pubs, and the vast array of local festivals don’t wear you out, in the summer activities such as horse-riding on the beaches, sailing, water-sports, climbing is sure to keep everyone entertained.
But above all, it’s the people of Dingle that make the place so special. Almost as unique as the scenery that surrounds them and makes them almost race in their own right. They are welcoming, friendly, wickedly witty, and the banter in town pubs is sure to make the memories of Dingle last.