Ireland was the first trip we planned that was outside of the US (besides Canada, and all-inclusive beach trips). We planned this on our own with a lot of research and recommendations, we did not use a travel agency, and also do not recommend planning this type of trip with an agency.
We booked our flights through Aer Lingus. From Pittsburgh, we had a layover in Boston on both flights. The flights were overnight, but we did have meals provided. If you didn’t read my Amsterdam post yet, read that for details about the food on flights. The seats were fine, they had a little room and reclined the usual amount, we not upgrade our seats to first class. Maybe next time, but is not a must. (This would have been nice, but you will survive just fine without the full lay down seats.) (Actually, if my husband is reading this, yes, I would like first class, please!)
For our lodging, we booked 3 different places through Air B&B, in all 3 cities we traveled. For Dublin, we booked an apartment building right in the city, the name of the apartment was actually called ‘Heart of the city’, this was on Talbot Street. (For Dublin, we were told to stay on the south side of the city and avoid as much as you can the north side of O'Connell St. since it is not a particularly safe or nice area to vacation in… at least in 2016.) In County Cork, we were in a cottage that overlooks the ocean inlet of River Stick. In Galway, we were on Henry street in a duplex. We booked the entire places to ourselves, we didn’t share bathrooms or rooms with anyone. In 2016, these places were all under $100 USD (plus tax/ services fees). If you have never booked through Air B&B, I highly recommend it (and I have trust issues). Some places you communicate directly with the owners, while others, the owners work through a 3rd party. We did not have to worry about a language barrier for Ireland... but you may with other countries. Whoever you are renting from will set up with you on how you will get in/out of the house. We were lucky enough to have some great hosts that provided us details on the area and even had drinks at a local pub. We did not go to Northern Ireland but hoping to visit on my next trip.
OK, now on the trip... well packing for the trip. We went in late April/ Early May timeframe and would recommend this time. We had beautiful weather, but the weeks prior we were told were very wet. It was about 50/60-degree Fahrenheit, and we had umbrellas with us every day. The sun was out mostly with a nice chill in the air. We did have a few rainy days, but nothing that was a washout.
When we planned the trip in 2016, It was during “The Rising”, Irelands celebration of 100 years prior to Independence Day. And the cities were crazy and ‘craic’! (Craic- pronounced Crack- is an Irish word for fun!) There were lots of cheering in the pubs, celebrations, decorations, costumes, chants about the Queen, (just a note that I love the Queen!), bagpipes and pints flowing. The time we went was also during the census, so that was pretty cool to be accounted for, I mean by the end of the trip we were speaking their dialect anyway.
When we arrived in Dublin, we took a taxi to our first stay in the city from the airport. The hosts’ sister met us with the key and reviewed how a few things worked in the house. This is when we found out that the Irish seem to like it colder in temperature, or are rather ‘used’ to it being colder.
There was a button on the outside of the bathroom in the apartment that helped heat the water. Our host asked us jokingly how hot we liked our showers, we didn’t think much of it until we got in the shower. It was pretty chilly. We assumed this was just based on the hot water tank for the house, but then this happened at each of the other 2 places we stayed at too! To top it off, when we arrived in Cork, our host that let us into our cottage made a comment about us not wearing long sleeves or a jacket. When we were in the cottage, we asked how to turn on the heat from the fireplace. She didn’t really know (we eventually found out), but then she commented again with “The Irish don’t walk around in their T-shirts” and that we “should layer up”. Note taken.
After we took our cold showers in Dublin, we actually took a nap (about an hour).
We did some research about this to get used to the time change. After a lot of recommendations and research, we were told to drink a ton of water (more than you are used to) the days leading up and to start a few days prior of getting used to the time change (set your watch and make yourself aware of the time for your destination), and depending on the difference to take a nap so you can stay up later the day of arrival.
After our nap, we headed out for some food and walk the city. We grabbed a bite to eat at a café beside our stay. We were around a lot of shops and restaurants, but it wasn’t touristy. We walked through Trinity College, we know knew we were going to spend time there the next day so it was just in passing. We ended up heading straight to the Pub for a pint.
OF COURSE your first drink has to be a Guinness! We each got a pint and hung out. The best place to do this was of course at The Long Hall bar on South Great George’s St. This is the first introduction to 3 more beverages that became go-to on the trip:
Teeling Whiskey and Bulmers! (Both need to be said with an Irish accent!)
Teeling Whiskey is very good. In 2016, you could not get this in the states, but in recent years, you are now able to purchase. This is no relation to Jameson (keep reading for the pronunciation later, it’s not what you think). Our requests at the bars eventually moved us to Yellow and Green Spot Whiskey (again, in 2016, you could not get this in the states).
Bulmers is not sold in the states, this is a cider. Bulmers is compared to Magners that the states sell and that you can get at bars. In Ireland, this is usually served with a specific Bulmers glass and asked if you want Ice. Delicious! (And yes, it does taste different than Magners!)
It’s worth noting that when we left Dublin, we actually drove past a Heineken distillery, (who knew?!)
We also saw a lot of Harp Larger, Smithwicks, Kilkenny, Murphy’s, and other stouts.
Thoughts?! Let me help you out- The Irish like to drink, and do it well, just as much as they make it.
This leads us into 2 alcoholic tours we did.
The first is of the Guinness Store House. This is a must-see must-do on your visit. Even if you just go to the top for the best 360 View of Dublin since the building is one of the tallest. We took our time walking, but after, we did take a taxi to our next destination for some food. We got our tickets online prior (18 Euro). You are provided a timeslot for your self-guided tour. This was the first self-guided tour we did, and it was abroad so we didn’t know what to expect. (The whole, what am I paying 18 Euro for.) BUT it was great! Before we went in, we got our photo op at St. James’s Gate before the other annoying tourists got there. We walked in and were guided to an area to begin our tour, handed info about what each floor had to offer, and 2 drink tickets. We started on the bottom and worked our way up. This is where some people just take their drink tickets and go all the way to the top for the 360- degree bar to grab a pint and hang out. We went up the escalators, and walked through the walls of history, walked through the interactive brewing process, watched videos, and stayed to listen to audio updates. We did not do the Brewery Tour. This is a separate tour but offered at the same place with additional costs. We did the activity of the Perfect Guinness Pour, another Must Do activity! We were trained, and about 30 min later, had a certificate, and group photo picture for proof that we knew how to Pour a Guinness correctly. (You bet we judged the pour on every Guinness we got on that trip, and still do to this day, seriously.) We ended up at the very top for the view. It was crowded, but we each were able to get 2 drinks each and hang out. Most people are kind and willing to take your pic with the view behind and to move over a bit if they are in your way.
The other tour we did was of the Old Jameson Distillery in Dublin. They no longer distill from the location, but do in Cork. I do not recommend this tour. We had fun but would tell you to do the one in Cork instead. Our guide was someone from the states, that had taken a liking to Whiskey during her stay. She pronounced Jameson as “Gem-in-son” and not “Jame-ea-son”. From her intel, this is how you are to stay the whiskey name. We did the tour of a walk, and were told some stories, then moved to the tasting room. We thought we would get a tasting of all Jameson Whiskeys, but instead were served 2 other well-known competitors Whiskeys (Not from Ireland) (Hey, after you read this, read my Kentucky Bourbon trail Post! I promise it is shorter.) This was to show the difference in taste. After the tasting, we had a drink coupon and grabbed a drink at the bar. We had purchased our tickets online and shoes our time slot (about 21 Euro each). We were later emailed tasting certificates.
We did so many other things in Dublin, it was truly an adventure. Locals told us to go to a few different bars: Stags head, and Mulligans and a friend from the states told us to go to Brazen Head Inn.
Stags head was great, we were in a little room past the bar. Locals surrounded us. We ended up talking with a group of locals the whole night and having a few pints. We ended up getting pictures together and later emailing and hearing about their own adventures. Mulligans was a great bar and had some locals as well. Brazen Head was Great. The oldest bar in Ireland. There were many rooms that you could hang out in, the food was delicious and the company from bartenders and other people having a drink were great. My Husband wanted to go back the next night, but I didn’t let him considering we had so many other places to go!
We had stopped for some good backed and coffee at Queen of Tarts, a cute little coffee shop, and small bite café, prior to going to Trinity College. At Trinity College, we asked for a college student to give us a tour. He was pretty funny and witty. The campus is beautiful. We were able to walk in the Long Hal- this place was magnificent, old and big and really something out of a movie. We saw the Book of Kells and had a mini-history lesson. Speaking of College, we went to the Temple Bar. We were told we Had to go. But it is really OK if you don’t go. You will only be missing out on a packed bar of college kids singing Sweet Caroline.
We rented a car through Hertz in Dublin when we were ready to leave the city. We were offered the slightly larger car, we thought we had a deal but turns out bigger is not better. My husband drove the entire time. There are so many back roads and tight turns. And yes, you have to drive on the other side of the car, with a manual. But it is safe, just be careful. There were a few curbs hit, and we paid for it (literality) when we returned the car at the Shannon airport. (Oh yea, we flew home from Shannon Airport instead of driving back over to Dublin, but from some research, a lot of people actually go back over to the other coast.)
During our drive, castles are everywhere, big, small, old, rebuilt, in use, abandoned, history, and/or just rubble.
We drove from Dublin down to Kinsale. This sleepy little town really doesn’t start waking up until about 10 am. There are many local shops and marts, we even were able to see a Chowder cook-off happening (unfortunately we weren’t able to get tickets, but I can imagine how delicious it would have been).
While we were in the area we did a lot more activities. We went to the Blarney Stone Castle, as we HAD to kiss the Blarney Stone. For this, we got tickets online, about 25 euros. With this, we were able to walk all of the grounds, walk up the winding staircase of the castle, and kiss the stone. When you kiss the stone, someone holds on to you as you kiss upside down over the side of the castle. The view from the top of the castle is amazing. Take time to stop here and learn the history and look for the leprechauns.
We also had the change to go golfing. Well, I didn’t golf, but my husband did. I walked the course and pretended to be a caddy, but really all I did was admire the scenery. We were able to play at Old Head Golf Links. It truly is a breathtaking experience. If you have the opportunity to play there, or the opportunity to walk with someone to play, you must do it. The views are amazing, and you can sit back and laugh at all the balls that are hit into the ocean. (This is also where I had the best Beef and Guinness stew, at the turn. I am still craving it.)
We did some hiking at the Gap of Dunloe. To get your hike started park at Kate Kearney's Cottage. It is a 2.5-hour walk to the halfway point and back. This was great, we didn’t think we were going to make the entire hike, but we did and it was worth it. There were so many sheep, a few other hikers, and a few horse carriage rides, there was a random car here and there.
With so much activity, we just hung out and overlooked the ocean one night. We went to the market for some local food and wine and relaxed.
A few recommendations on the area was also to look for music festivals and entertainment around Clonkilty, Killarney, and Dingle and also Hike Croagh Patrick “ The Reek”
From this area, we made our way to Galway. We first stopped at the Cliffs of Mohr. When you visit, you have to pay to park. It can be overwhelming getting there with the busses and people, but there is a huge area and signs are clear, just take your time. Make sure you park in the parking lot, don’t waste your time parking down the hills to get out of paying, the few euro it costs is well worth the walk. The Cliffs are massive, even on the most crowded day, you will be able to get amazing photos with no people in your way. The sights and views are just something that you can’t describe. Take time to walk around for all of the different views. Unfortunately, we did not see any puffins. Maybe, next time!
We made our way to Galway. This is really a mini-city, there is a new part and an old part of the city. The new part has a city feel with office buildings and new architecture. The old part of the city remains with the Irish feel. Since the city sits on the water and you can walk along the coast and take it all in- this is on the Salthill Promenade. We spent a lot of time wandering around the city and getting lost. Make sure you see the Spanish Arch and take time to visit the local shops and eat local food like fish and chips and stews.
The pubs in Galway were filled with excitement. Our hosts mentioned that there would be live music at one of the smaller pubs, the Crane Bar. We headed out as we were told the music started at 8. Around 8:30 a few people sat down in a booth with instruments and started playing, about 20 min later another 2 people joined them to play. The music was great! You could tell this was how the Friday and Saturday nights usually were in Galway for gatherings. We had the chance to meet our friends from home in Dublin and also ended together in Galway, during our hangouts in the pubs, we ended up seeing another person who was on a solo trip in Ireland, we pulled him into our group and drank our pints, laughed and danced together. We also ran into everyone again in Clifden. Ireland is truly a large but also small world.
While you are in Galway, go to Connemara Park, or Clifden. We went to Clifden and rented bikes from one of the shops to do the loop. We were supplied the bikes, a map and also a reflective vest. We had backpacks full of snacks and stopped on the side of the road to enjoy the views. We got stuck in the rain for about 10 min. but had sunny weather the entire time.
After being in the 3 different areas of Ireland, we realized something on one of our last evenings. The pubs did not have TVs. You had to make sure you were going to a specific bar that had a TV if you wanted to catch a game if needed.
Here are some additional recommendations that we did not take just due to time, and location. These were from a friend who lives in Ireland named Roddy:
Cork City:
· Great for food and walking pub to pub on Oliver Plunkett Street. There is a nice hotel is Hayfield Manor (5 stars), and a legendary pub called the HiBernian. (No phones allowed… at least before). Nice day trips would be Blarney, Cobh, Midleton, and Ballycotton (“Ballycotton is home to the Irish ulna child's and she runs a cookery school and hotel there. really nice if that's your thing)
Outside Cork City are a few legendary towns that should be checked out:
· Kinsale is famous for its fish cuisine. Clonakilty for its quirkiness and craic. It is home to perhaps the best pub in Ireland "de barras". Nearby you have a fancy beach spa at Inchadoney.
Between Clonakilty and Skibbereen you have a little fishing village called Roscarbery and another called Glandore.
If you want a quite Irish little place to watch things go by, Glandore is the place. Especially on the weekends.
As you journey towards Yen West coast and Killarney, it is definitely worth taking the long route via the Beara Peninsula. There are villages like Glengarriff and Achilles that are so beautiful and the craic at the weekends can be unreal.
Ireland is a beautiful and magical area. I can’t wait to go back! We always make a point to watch our video:
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