Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [260]
Information
Castle St has banks with ATMs and bureaux de change.
Internet Cafe ( 066-719 1441; 40 Bridge St; per hr €2) For internet access, cheap international calls, Western Union transfers, photocopying and mobile top-up.
Luggage storage (per item €4; 7am-5pm) At the train station.
Polymaths ( 066-712 5035; 1-2 Courthouse Lane) Bookshop with a good selection of books on the region.
Post office (Edward St)
Public toilets (Denny St)
Tourist office ( 066-712 1288; Denny St; 9am-5pm) Below Kerry County Museum.
Tralee General Hospital ( 066-712 6222; Boherbee) Has an accident and emergency unit.
Sights & Activities
An absolute treat, the Kerry County Museum ( 066-712 7777; Denny St; adult/child/family €8/5/22; 9.30am-5.30pm) has excellent interpretive displays on Irish historical events and trends, with an emphasis on County Kerry. The Medieval Experience re-creates life (smells and all) in Tralee in 1450. Check out the deranged nights, a vision of horror right out of Monty Python. Children love strolling the medieval streets and there’s a commentary in various languages. The Tom Crean Room celebrates the local hero, an early-20th-century explorer who accompanied both Scott and Shackleton on epic Antarctic expeditions. It’s housed in the neoclassical Ashe Memorial Hall.
Blennerville, 1km southwest of Tralee on the N86, used to be the city’s chief port, though the harbour has long since silted in. A 19th-century flour windmill there has been restored and is the largest working mill in Ireland and Britain. Its modern visitor centre ( 066-712 1064; adult/child €5/3; 9am-6pm Jun-Aug, 9.30am-5.30pm Apr-May & Sep-Oct) houses an exhibition on grain-milling, and on the thousands of emigrants who boarded ‘coffin ships’ from what was then Kerry’s largest embarkation point. There’s also a database of the Irish émigrés who flocked to America. Admission includes a 30-minute guided tour of the windmill.
Between 1891 and 1953 a narrow-gauge steam railway connected Tralee with Dingle. A 3km Tralee–Blennerville section has been restored but at the time of research it was indefinitely closed for repair.
Sleeping
Denny St has places to stay at all price ranges.
Bayview Caravan & Camping Park ( 066-712 6140; bayviewtralee@eircom.net; Killeen; campsites €14; Apr-Oct) This small park has good facilities and a pleasant tree-lined location. It’s 1.5km north of the centre on the R556.
Finnegan’s Holiday Hostel ( 066-712 7610; www.finneganshostel.com; 17 Denny St; dm/s/d €17/30/50; ) The elegant Georgian facade leads to a hostel and hotel. The grandeur has faded, but there are a sizeable kitchen and lounge. The dorms, named after Irish scribblers, have their own bathrooms as do the private rooms (which have high-speed internet).
Conn Oriel ( 066-712 5359; www.connoriel.com; 6 Pembroke Sq, Pembroke St; s/d €40/70; ) One of a line of B&Bs, this friendly mother-daughter operation has cheery decorative art on pastel walls; if nightlife’s a dud, enjoy the satellite TV in every room.
Grand Hotel ( 066-712 1499; www.grandhoteltralee.com; Denny St; r €85-150; ) Built in 1928, the Grand is just that. At night, it’s lit up like a beckoning refuge, which it is, but it maintains the feel of a proper county-town hotel in its public rooms. The 44 rooms have had a stylish refit.
Eating
For a snack or a meal, Tralee has popularly priced food for the masses.
Denny Lane Café ( 066-719 4319; Denny Lane; meals €4-10; 8am-5pm Mon-Sat) ‘Simple quality food prepared with care’ says the sign, and it’s true. Enjoy Cuban coffees, a plethora of cakes and excellent sandwiches, soups, salads and hot specials at this big, modern lunch spot.
Chopin’s Café ( 066-711 7539; 8 Ashe St; meals €5-12; 8am-6pm) This cute little box of a cafe has cliché-busting breakfasts from chocolate