Ireland – May 2022
Hotel: Holiday Inn Express Dublin City Centre
I was excited to be returning to Ireland for a second time to explore this beautiful country some more. Mostly for one reason and one reason only, though — The Rolling Donut. They have Baileys filled donuts. Baileys. I’ve been dreaming about these donuts since the day I left 6 years ago. It was obviously our first stop once we landed, and, after that, I was just happy to be there along for the ride.
Tip: Uber does operate in the city, but only as taxis i.e. a meter running for the trip. Many taxis don’t accept card payments, so we decided to use Uber still a majority of the time. We found prices to only be a few Euros more than taxi pricing.
Day 1
We landed early afternoon in Dublin, — and then spent an extra 1.5 hours on the plane because they couldn’t find stairs to unboard us… Wild. — so by the late afternoon when we reached the city, we decided to just walk around with no real plan.
In our exploring, we ended up passing by many big tourist spots, including Temple Bar, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin Castle, and Ha’Penny Bridge.
Day 2
The next day, we started at the Guinness Storehouse — which was sure to be extra fun for someone who was pregnant. I’m not sure if tickets can be purchased at the door, but we had prebooked the night before to ensure the tour time we wanted.
With your ticket, you’ll be able to tour the whole brewery and enjoy a free pint in the Gravity Bar on the 7th floor. They even had a non-alcoholic Guinness for me to enjoy and pose with for Instagram since no one knew my secret yet. There are also options to upgrade to tours that include extras like Guinness Academy, where you learn to pour the perfect pint.
After our tour, we headed back into the city where we walked around the gorgeous St. Stephen’s Green park.
Day 3
For our last day, we headed to Galway. There are plenty of tours that will take you from Dublin to Galway, with other stops along the way like the Cliffs of Moher. After weighing all our options, and barely being able to cross the street without looking the wrong way, we opted to take the train over renting a car since we also wanted more time in the city to explore than the tours allowed.
We booked tickets online through Irish Rail. If you choose Dublin Heuston terminal, you’ll be able to find direct trains. There are stations closer in the city also available to depart from, but will require at least one transfer.
Honestly, a half day is more than enough to explore Galway, unless you’re planning to also visit the Cliffs of Moher. In that case, I’d opt for a tour that leaves straight from Dublin and goes to both stops by bus.
Galway was charming and filled with little shops and pubs, but outside of the small central area, there isn’t much more to do, so it can easily be conquered in a few hours. We even ended up changing our train ticket to leave earlier, so we could head back to Dublin for dinner.
Other Things To Do:
Cliffs of Moher – We were really looking forward to visiting here, but weren’t able to make it. The Cliffs of Moher are only an hour and a half from Galway, but unfortunately, the tour schedule was very limited during our visit, so we missed the one time slot for the day. Again, a tour from Dublin would be the best option to visit.
Hill of Tara – So beautiful, but maybe not worth the $130 round trip taxi if your name is not Tara. First time I’ve ever seen so many souvenirs with my name on it, though! If you do visit, ask your taxi to wait since there will be no service to call another for the return trip.
Blarney Castle – We did a day trip from Dublin during my first visit here. We stopped at a couple different towns along the way, and ultimately, Blarney Castle. We did kiss the Blarney Stone, — explains my never ending gift of gab — but this was also prior to COVID and finding out locals always pee on it. So you can decide if that one is worth it.
National Botanical Gardens – A beautiful area about 15 minutes outside the city. Entrance into the gardens is free, and there’s so many things to walk around and see, including all the wrought iron glasshouses where such a huge variety of plants grow.
Dublin was an amazing city with so much to explore and even more to drink! With tons of pubs and tasty treats, you’ll never go hungry. Next time, we’ll spend more time exploring the countryside, but a stop in Dublin, is never a bad idea!
• Everyday Davis • 