The Route

The Kerry Camino is a linear route traditionally walked from St. John’s Church, Tralee to St. James’ Church, Dingle. The route primarily follows the North Kerry Way/Dingle Way and, after leaving Tralee, heads west along the northern slopes of the Slieve Mish Mountains. The route then branches south at the tiny village of Camp and crosses the peninsula towards Inch Beach.

From there it reaches the village of Annascaul, where you will find the famous South Pole Inn. The trail then briefly returns to the coast at Minard Castle, before once more making its way along the slopes of the Slieve Mish Mountains, this time on its southern side. This third and last day of the walk finishes in Dingle, the most westerly town in Europe.

Terrain Overview

Most of the Kerry Camino crosses low-lying land and looks up at mountains rather than down from them. The aggregate ascent over the route is approximately 810m and although there are some short steep ascents, there are almost no significant steep climbs.

There is a wide variety of terrain covered by the Kerry Camino and it consists mainly of quiet tarmac roads, mountain, field and moorland walking. Small roads, known locally in Ireland as ‘boreens’, make up part of the trail and help provide a quick walking pace.

Elevation Profile

Sometimes you need a break from all that hiking! Luckily, the Kerry Camino region is full of fun things to do!

Tralee: Learn about the fascinating history of Kerry at the Kerry County Museum. Take a drive to nearby Ardfert Cathedral built on the grounds of a monastery founded in the 6th century by Saint Brendan. Then, catch a show at the Siamsa Tire National Folk Theatre.

Dingle Town: A charming, creative and surprisingly cosmopolitan place where pubs double as shops and you are always sure to find some Irish music. For 37 years Dingle Harbour was also famously home to Fungie, a beloved wild bottle-nosed dolphin.

Dingle Town: Take a step back in time with a short boat trip to the stunning Blasket Islands – a special place steeped in history and literary culture. Please note that we do not book tickets for the Blasket Island tours.

Staying at the very best accommodation during your time in Ireland can transform a “good” hiking tour into a “great” hiking tour.

That’s why, at Hillwalk Tours, we take the quality of our accommodation partners seriously. So much so that you will find we strive to only work with high-quality and well-reviewed accommodation. Additionally, most of our accommodation partners have been personally checked by a member of the Hillwalk Tours team to ensure your comfort.

As keen hikers ourselves we know you’ll want somewhere relaxing to put your feet up in the evening. A place where a warm smile from your hosts makes you feel welcome as soon as you step through the door. If your hiking gear gets wet, it’s nice to know that you can dry it or, if you ask, it may even be taken from you and returned nice and dry the next morning.

Comfy beds, en-suite bathrooms (where available), tasty breakfast menus, and a friendly & cosy atmosphere – these are all the things that we like so you can rest assured that we’ll do our best to find them for you as well.

To find out more about the types of accommodation you can expect to find on a Hillwalk Tours walking holiday, read here: Accommodation on your Walking Tour

In addition, if you’d like to stay an extra night at any location during your hiking tour, just let us know.

Getting to and from your Kerry Camino hiking tour is easy… when you know how!

In your hiking pack, you will receive all the necessary public transport information you need to make your journey as convenient as possible.

In the meantime, if you’d like to do some advance planning yourself, here are our tips:

Departing from the Dingle Peninsula:

Take the public bus to Tralee. From Tralee, use train or public bus services.

Travelling by car?

If you would like to leave your car at the first or last accommodation on your tour, for the duration of the tour, then you can directly contact the accommodation owners before the start of your tour to check that this is possible. We will provide contact details for the accommodation provider.