When we woke up in Doolin at our B&B, we saw the weather had changed overnight to cloudy and drizzle. We were very thankful we had seen the Cliffs in the beautiful weather the day before.

After a great breakfast, we drove to the Doolin caves, but unfortunately, we arrived just after a tour had left and would have to wait an hour for another. We walked around the trail there, but that only took 10 minutes so we decided the cave would have to be a miss as nobody wanted to sit around in the rain for an hour and wait for the next tour.

We set off for the Killimer Ferry terminal as we were advised by our B&B host to take the car ferry route and the Conor Pass to Dingle. You can also take a longer way around via Limerick that actually might take a bit less time, but I was excited to try the car ferry despite the gloomy weather.

Our route took us through a lot of local country roads. At one point, a sign said DO NOT ENTER – YOUR SATNAV IS WRONG or something like that. I advise that you should just follow the signs to the ferry and forget what Waze tells you. Eventually we found the ferry terminal. I bought our ticket online in the car while waiting for the ferry as like many things in Ireland, it was a bit cheaper to buy ahead of time rather than on the ferry.

The ferry ride took about 30 minutes across to Tarbert. Despite the rainy and windy weather, the crossing was smooth. There was a small café on board with what my wife confirmed was the worst hot chocolate in the world. If you plan to take the ferry, time your arrival for 15-20 minutes before it leaves so you can make sure to get a spot on the ferry, especially if it’s peak tourist season. You don’t want to have to sit there for an hour to wait for the next one.

After we were back on dry land, we continued on our journey and stopped in the large town of Tralee for lunch. We found parking fairly easily and stopped into the first pub with a decent menu since it was still raining.

After our pub lunch and a debate between some locals as to whether we should take the Conor Pass into Dingle or go the longer way round on the safer road, we continued on our way. The weather cleared a bit so we decided to go over the Pass. It really wasn’t too bad. There was a very short stretch of one-lane road, but most of it was two lanes.

Because of the clouds, the pictures don’t really do it justice. It was pretty chilly up there at 1500 feet. The descent down into Dingle was pretty as well. We found our B&B and parked in the main lot just across the street. We checked in and explored the town in the rain.

If you don’t mind a little bit of scary driving, the route via the ferry and Conor Pass are worth taking if you are headed from the Cliffs to Dingle. It’s a beautiful drive with a lot of great scenery and the car ferry is a novelty.

That night we had dinner at The Boatyard, which was a nice seafood restaurant on the waterfront. Our daughter’s boyfriend ordered fish and chips, but asked for onion rings instead of chips. I also ordered fish and chips, but they gave me onion rings as well. This is what we got:

We referred to this dinner as “Hey batter batter!” the rest of the trip.

Up Next: Driving the Dingle Peninsula

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