The Windmill is open till the end of October alright, but sadly the steam train didn't run at all this year. It suffered engine problems and a replacement couldn't be found in time. What a shame.

Before you leave Tralee, don't forget to pay a visit to the Kerry County Museum located in the park close to the Brandon Hotel. It's a great little museum, well worth a visit imho.

lucy, save your euros....the windmill has gone from one euro to 5 euro....and it isn't worth it....takes all of 10 minutes to see it....nothing special at all and now of course they have all of that strip of buildings in front of it.....

I agree, the Windmill is not worth a visit, it's just not very interesting unless of course you are a windmill geek. The train wasn't that interesting either (and I LOVE train travel), it was more like a kiddies short ride at a funpark.

The Kerry County museum is very good as already mentioned, and I love the 'trip back in time' using the little moving seats. The exhibits themselves are also worth a look. The musuem is in the main park at Tralee.

hi i agree the museum is the place to go and i think you are referring to the Geraldine Experience bryno, the little seats dont exist anymore you have to leg it now!!!cut backs i spose..they actually took that ride on part out a long time ago,

while there there is also a graet exhibition called spymaster all about the kerryman who was a head man in the english police force called walter melville and all about jack the ripper as well very interesting.. enjoy

The Geraldine Experience is GONE ? Noooooooooo. And the little moving seats? Noooooooo.

WHY, WHY I asks ya, WHY.

Ok, I'm serious, that was brilliant why did the get rid of it?

Thank you for the feedback - it definitely sounds like we should visit the museum instead of the windmill. I am going to be alone with a three-year old (while the hubby plays Ballybunion) in Tralee, and the museum sounds great.

Thanks again.

Lucycat, your little boy might enjoy a trip with you to the Tralee Aquadome, a large waterworld on the main Tralee to Dingle Road. Here's their website for you to have a look at it:

http://www.discoverkerry.com/aquadome/

The Aquadome has been closed for several weeks for maintenance but will be re-open by the time you arrive. The pool can get busy during school holidays but if you schedule your visit for a schoolday, you should have the facilities to yourself! The schools in Ireland will be closing for their Halloween break on October 27th for a week. If you're travelling to Ireland during that particular week, try to get to the Aquadome first thing in the morning (they open at 10am during the week) when the pool will be at its most quiet.

The changing and shower rooms are of good quality, ie: plenty of privacy, and enough room to take your son into the changing room with you. Under twos are free in, so MAYBE you could persuade them at the door that your little boy is big for his age???

Anyway, just another suggestion for your trip. (You might find the museum more interesting than a 3-yr old would!)

Ooops! Just re-read your last post and see that you made no mention of your child's gender! Boy or girl, they'll love a trip to the Aquadome!

Another interesting train of sorts would be The Lartigue in Listowel on the way to Ballybunion from Tralee. It is a very short run but if you really like trains, this monorail might be worth checking out. More info at http://homepage.eircom.net/~lartiguemonorail/ The website has not been updated for some time and they say they do not run in October but it might be worth contacting them to see if they have a group booking on one of your days?

The Aquadome is actually closed at the moment there was some damage to the roof due to bad weather a few weeks ago and extensive repairs were carried out to the glass dome roof , unfortunately thre problem wasnt solved and they had to start over so there is no date for rwe opening at the moment but fingers crossed by the time you get here...