Experience the best of Tralee

Tralee, the county town of Kerry, lies at the head of Tralee Bay with the Slieve Mish mountains rising behind it. It is best known across Ireland for the Rose of Tralee, a festival held each August and named for a nineteenth-century song, with parades, music and a televised contest. The Kerry County Museum traces the county's history, and Siamsa Tíre, the national folk theatre, is based in the town. The Blennerville Windmill, a restored nineteenth-century grain mill, stands by the old canal basin at the town's edge.

The Tralee Bay Wetlands offer birdwatching on the shore, and Banna Strand, to the north-west, is where Roger Casement landed in 1916. The Dingle Peninsula begins west of town, with the Slea Head Drive and the long sand spits of the Maharees at Castlegregory. Killarney National Park and the start of the Ring of Kerry lie to the south-east.

Local seafood, soda bread and Kerry lamb are on most menus, and many pubs host traditional music sessions. The festival in August is the busiest time of year. The climate is mild and damp, with rain likely in any month.