Traveling Dublin, Ireland
Since Dublin isn’t part of our Ireland road trip (because literally everyone we’ve talked to says not to drive in Dublin), I figured I’d do this post separately.
We took a bus from Bath to the Bristol Airport and then took a Ryanair flight from Bristol to Dublin. The flight only took us 1 hour and after picking up our bags and going through customs, we made our way to our AirBnB.
Total time spent: 4 days, 4 nights. We arrived really late and left early.
Where we stayed: A small but efficient AirBnB only a 5 minute walk from O’Connell Street and about a 20 minute walk from the city center.
Experiences in Dublin
We did some pretty great things while in Dublin!
One of the first things we did was a Free Walking Tour of Dublin. This tour was rated very highly on TripAdvisor and it certainly did not disappoint. Our tour guide was from Dublin and was so knowledgeable, giving us a look into the history of Ireland, conflicts and all, and the current state of things. I would highly recommend this tour! You know I love free walking tours for many reasons, one of those being that they really help you to get the lay of the land of the new city you’re in.
We also did this same company’s Dublin Pub Tour and I couldn’t recommend this tour any more! For €20 per person, we visited three different traditional Irish pubs where we were able to drink and learn about different craft beers, Irish Whiskey (not Jameson), gin and tonic, and of course traditional Irish Guinness. I loved learning all about how Guinness is made, poured, and why it tastes better here in Ireland compared to back home. This tour ended in a tiny pub where traditional Irish musicians were playing live music, and I’m not going to lie, both Michael and I got teary-eyed over how beautiful the music was. I’m sure the 5 pints of Guinness had nothing to do with this. This tour is an absolute must do in my book.
Another must-do experience we had while in Dublin was a visit (or 2) to the free Chester Beatty Library. I honestly can’t recommend this visit more. This library/museum has a collection of some of the coolest historical artifacts in the world, including the first three books that were bound in our modern day style of book binding and early Christian manuscripts that were discovered in Egypt and date from the second to the fourth centuries! We visited twice because the bottom floor was closed due to the installation of a new exhibit. We loved this place so much and if you’re really into history, religion, books, etc., you’ll love it too!
The oldest known books in the modern day book binding style.
We also visited the very famous Book of Kells and Trinity College. While we did save some money by booking online and after 3PM, we still paid €11 per person to see a very crowded museum. The Book of Kells was interesting but I believe the star of the show is the area at the end of the tour. Known as The Long Room, this ridiculously beautiful library is the main chamber of Trinity College’s Old Library. The room is stacked, literally, from floor to ceiling with old books. The moment you walk into the room your nose is filled with the scent of old books, and if you love books as much as we do, you’re familiar with the joy that accompanies the smell of old books. We wandered around this beautiful library for awhile, marveling at the arch ceiling and taking deep breaths before leaving.
We also spent some time wandering the parks of Dublin, St. Stephen’s Green and Merrion Square, both of which I’d recommend if you’re looking for a place to kick back and relax if the weather is good.
A beautiful statue of Oscar Wilde in Merrion Square.
Other Experiences of Dublin
Wandering O’Connell Street and Grafton Street—full of shopping and street musicians, this is something anyone can do while in Dublin.
The Temple Bar area—We didn’t spend much time here, as it’s super touristy, but it’s a colorful part of town.
Eats of Dublin
To be honest, we didn’t eat out much while in Dublin. I cooked every meal, except for the night we went on the pub tour, when we had dinner at one of the pubs. This meal is nothing to blog about because we were very American and ordered a Caesar salad and wings, which were both very good.
BUT, we did eat breakfast at the same cafe every single day we were in Dublin. We did this because we absolutely loved the Irish Breakfast we had there on our first day in Dublin. We found it by searching Google Maps for restaurants near us and the cafe is literally a 2 minute walk from our AirBnB. The place is called Lovinspoon and they serve traditional Irish breakfasts, scones, salads, sandwiches and more. It’s a tiny little place that always seems to be packed with locals and some tourists. We ordered the “small breakfast,” which, turns out, isn’t very small. Our meal(s) consisted of bacon, sausage, baked beans, a runny egg, and toast. We ate this every day for breakfast while in Dublin and I could go on eating it every day from this point forward.
Yes, please!
There are many other things to do while visiting Dublin that aren’t listed here. These are just the things we decided to give our time to and we certainly weren’t disappointed!
Stay tuned for more of our adventures!
Safe travels,
Emily
