Visit Dingle

I'm on a one-woman Kerry tourist board mission this week. If you want a trip away from it all in the great outdoors but with a buzz of good food and good culture, go to Dingle. You do have to drive to get there, but don't spend all the time in the car watching coaches do scary things on the Slea Head ring. Get a map, park up and go walking, along the steep cliffs and long, long sandy beaches, or up in the hills - but you'll have to be a bit gung ho, there aren't many footpaths and the roads are narrow and windy and fast. Hire bikes from Foxy John's (which triples as a bar and hardware shop) or from Paddy's on Dykegate Street - he'll even lend you a hi-vis top if the weather's dull and misty (ahem). If the Dutch dive guy in the harbour hasn't emigrated to South Africa yet, see if he's fixed his boat engine and thinks the wind's in the right direction for an introductory dive in the clear, clear waters of the bay (he hadn't, when we were there, but I wish he had). Go for a sunset sea kayak with Noel of Irish Adventures, explore amazing caves under the sheer cliffs and spot Fungi the dolphin having his dinner. Eat at some great restaurants and cafes, but search out the cheaper (and just as good ones) - like the Bull's Head, An Canteen and the Goat Street Cafe.  Check out the farmers' market on a Friday morning. Go to Film Club night at the Phoenix. Try Crean's lager, creation of the young Dingle Brewery Company. Find a mammoth and giant cave bears and wondrous eclectic paraphernalia at the Celtic & Prehistoric Museum. Buy nice pottery and knitwear and tatty dolphin souvenirs. Eat gorgeous icecream at Murphy's. Listen to music at just about any pub you wander into; it'll mostly be put on for the tourists but it'll still be quality. Just go. Enjoy.

The edge of Europe