My spring break trip this year was sensational. Before this year, I had never gotten the opportunity to leave the country, and I think that Ireland was a great first experience. I went on this trip with two of my friends, Ruby and Kelsey. We packed so much into this trip, and there were some great activities and some that I might change if I ever get to go back. I am going to break down what we did day by day and state my opinions on things I would or would not recommend.
General recommendations.
- Be prepared for the long flight. It is almost always going to be a redeye traveling from the United States to Ireland, so if you can sleep, that will be your best bet. I couldn’t sleep on this flight and I was so tired when we got there.
- If you ever go to Ireland, get the bus and train visitor pass! The bus pass is super cheap and it takes you all over Dublin. The train pass — while a bit more expensive — is super helpful, especially if you are not old enough to rent a car. This is how we got to Galway, Howth, Cork, Cobh, and Belfast during our trip. Also take the trams around Dublin! It was the quickest way to get around the city if there was not a bus.
- Be prepared for all sorts of weather. While we were there it was sunny, warm, cold, rainy, windy, and cloudy at some point of almost every day. Bring layers that you can take on and off: you won’t regret it!
- Bring a bag that is light and easy to carry. The amount of times that I had to put something in my purse on this trip was insane. I needed a place for my bus and train passes, my sunglasses, my cash and change, or even just a small souvenir. I was so thankful to have a bag that was light and easy to carry, but could still fit all of my necessities.
Day 1.
We landed at the Dublin Airport at around 8 a.m. Irish Standard Time (IST). As I said before, I did not really sleep on the plane so I was incredibly tired. To start our day, we took the bus from the airport to Central Dublin. I would highly recommend the bus: it was not super expensive and it was so much easier than trying to find an Uber or something else.
As three college students, we were on a pretty tight budget for this trip, so a lot of the things we did were either free or a cheaper option. One of our cheaper options was our hotel. We stayed in a nice area of Dublin, but not exactly the central city, at a hotel called the Staycity Aparthotels Dublin, Tivoli. We got a room with two twin beds and a pullout couch and it was perfect. It wasn’t a huge hotel room or anything, but it had what we needed. So, when we first got into the city, we went and dropped off our bags and immediately went to find a coffee shop.
After the coffee shop, we walked to the National Art Gallery of Ireland which was free. As a lover of art, I would 100% recommend doing this. There were so many beautiful paintings and halls. It didn’t require too much energy and was the perfect activity to do while we were recovering from our flight. My personal favorite room was filled with exclusively landscape paintings and every art piece was so incredibly beautiful.
After the art gallery, we got to check into our hotel and — even though people say you shouldn’t — we all took a much needed nap. If you do not sleep on the plane you are going to feel the jet lag like crazy. In order to really adjust you probably don’t want to nap, but we were not going to make it through the day.
After the much needed rest, we got ready and went out to dinner and to be honest, I do not remember the name of this place. However, almost every single restaurant in Dublin is good, so you could go to any one. After dinner, we had tickets to a Rihanna themed night at The Grand Social. That was super fun and the DJ was incredible.
Day 2.
On our second day, we slept in until about 11 a.m. before getting on the train to Howth. Howth is a little peninsula off of Dublin and it was absolutely beautiful. Once we got there, we got some coffee and walked around the little market in town. I highly recommend this: it was so cute and we had a great time walking around.
After the market, we went on a little hike down a path called the Bailey Lighthouse and Nose of Howth Loop. We did not do the entire loop, but we walked down to see the lighthouse and walked back up. As a person who has always kind of hated hiking, I would definitely still recommend this. It was beautiful. We got to see the ocean waves crashing against the cliffs and smell the fresh air. The temperature was perfect: not too hot and not too cold. It was, overall, a pretty easy hike. Post hike, we went back into town to get some food from the same market as before and walked around the coast line before getting back on the train to Dublin.
If you are going to Ireland, you have to go to a pub. When we got back to the city, we went to what became our favorite pub: The Old Storehouse. They had live music and dancing, lots of tables, and a great atmosphere. We played cards and sang along to the songs for hours. This was one of my favorite memories from the trip, and I have often found myself wanting to go back since getting home.
After the pub, we got the renowned Bambino’s Pizza. If you are in Dublin, you have to go to this place. It was truly incredible. The slices are huge, but they are so good. My favorite slice was their “The Vito” pizza. It has a hot honey on it that truly makes the pizza. We actually went back to this place multiple times for a late night snack.
Day 3.
On our third day, we got up early and boarded the train to Galway. I highly recommend making the trip even though it does take a long time to get there. After our daily coffee run, we quickly got on a bus from Galway to see the Cliffs of Moher and that was my favorite scenic view of the entire trip. We were lucky when we went, it was absolutely stunning. It was sunny and bright with just a little bit of wind, and we got an amazing view of the cliffs and the surrounding area. This is a bit of a long haul as far as transportation from Dublin, but I would absolutely do it again. I could have spent the entire day there.
After the Cliffs, we bussed back to Galway and got to walk around and shop in the city. It was so lively and there was live music playing from people on the street. It was so interesting to see how different their culture is than ours in the U.S. In Galway, we got dinner at one of their many restaurants and I had some shepherd’s pie, which was probably one of the best meals I had in Ireland. We walked around a bit more before getting back on the train to head back to Dublin. Now, I haven’t mentioned this yet, but anytime we were on a train, we were playing cards. They have tables with the seats and it really helps to have an activity, especially on the longer rides. Our chosen activity was cards because they easily fit in our bags, but you could really bring anything you wanted. Also, one more tip: reserve your seats on the trains. We did not know we had to do this at first and we ended up having to scramble to find an empty seat the first time. However, you can reserve seats online ahead of time and I highly recommend doing this.
Day 4.
The fourth day, we took the train up to Northern Ireland to see Belfast. This was an unexpected favorite of mine. We got breakfast and coffee once we got there and then just explored the city. We went to the college and its botanical gardens. We went to a museum that ended up being one of my favorite things on the whole trip. They had rooms on history, art, fashion, natural history, and even space. Plus, it was free. Most of the day we just walked around and explored the city without a real plan of what we would do next. The last thing we did in Belfast was a little ridiculous, but ended up being a favorite memory of mine. We went and saw their statue called “Big Fish” and it is exactly what it sounds like. It truly is just a big statue of a fish, but we had such a good time going and seeing it.
Overall, I would definitely recommend going to Belfast. We had a lot of fun and I would highly recommend going to the college area to see their gardens and museum.
When we got back to Dublin that night, we got our other favorite late night snack for the first time: Bunsen Burgers. This truly was one of the best burgers I have ever had. It wasn’t anything super special, and maybe I was just really hungry, but it was so good. We ended up going back to this place on our last night as well. I highly recommend their cheeseburger and chocolate milkshake.
Day 5.
Day five is one of the only days that I would change if I went back. This day kind of had a lack of a real plan and so it was a bit chaotic. We took the train to Cork and Cobh and overall I would say it was fine. We went to a cathedral in Cork that was beautiful. It had some very nice architecture and stained glass. We also went to the fort there which was very fun. In Cobh, we went to another cathedral and again it was very pretty. But other than that, we just kind of walked around trying to figure out what we could do. I feel like we wasted a lot of time that could have been spent doing other things and seeing other parts of the country. If you have an extra day where you really do not have anything else to do, I might go to these places, but I think there are other things you can spend your time doing.
Day 6.
This was the only day where it rained the entire day, which was okay because we spent most of the day indoors. The first thing we did was go on the Guinness Storehouse Tour and if you are in Dublin, I would absolutely do this. It was fun yet educational and we really enjoyed ourselves. You get a free drink ticket and you can buy the extra option to get your photo printed on the top of a Guinness which was an extra bonus for us. There are a lot of photo opportunities and at the end of the tour you get to visit the gravity bar which gives you a panoramic view of the entire city. We had so much fun on this tour and I would do it again if I went back.
Next, we went to a restaurant called Alfie’s for lunch and they had a great lunch deal and good food. We walked to The Book of Kells experience next and that was very cool, although a little overpriced in my opinion. We got to see the historic book and learn about its history as well as seeing the library that was included with our experience. This was very educational and I really enjoyed it overall. After that we got coffee again and called it an early night at our hotel.
Day 7.
Our final day in Ireland, we packed a lot in. We started the day off at Dublin Castle, exploring the rooms full of historic artwork and furniture. Then went to the Chester Beatty museum which ended up being one of my favorite stops. This museum is full of religious, historic artifacts and each one has a story. We spent a lot of time in this place reading about each artifact.
We also went to the Temple Bar area and took pictures on the outside because it was decorated for St. Patrick’s Day. We also stopped in to get our photo booth picture at Nine Crows.
The last big activity we did was a spur of the moment decision but an incredible experience. If you ever get the chance, do the viking tour throughout Dublin. You get on an open-roof truck with a viking hat and get to hear about the history of the city. You also get to yell out of the truck like a viking at people walking by, and that was genuinely so fun. After driving through the city you get launched into the river as the truck turns into a boat and tours you around. This was such an unexpected joy and I highly recommend doing it.
Finally, we went back to the Old Storehouse for a final night of cards and music. We spent hours there trying to soak up every last second of our trip and reminiscing on the memories we had made.
Overall.
There are really not many ways to go wrong in Ireland. Most of the cities are so beautiful and have hundreds of opportunities to do something fun. I would love to go back one day, and highly recommend going on the trip if you can. Other than the couple things I might change, this was a marvelous trip.