Dublin, June 2017 & 2018
June 2017
Dublin - The perfect 1 night escape from England! The amazing thing about flying to Dublin from Leeds is that the flights are so cheap and so quick. It's a great place for a night or a weekend away if you fancy doing and seeing something different, and there really is plenty to see when you get there.
On our first day, we did a half-day tour (with paddy wagon tours) into the Wicklow mountains, which was a great little trip. I always enjoy seeing a bit of the countryside rather than just the cityscape on a trip away and this was the perfect way to fit something in. We saw some beautiful things including a very windy photo stop to overlook the Guinness Lake (as shown above). The highlight for me was walking around Glendalough which is in the Wicklow Mountains National Park, pictures are shown below. The area, named Glendalough due to its two beautiful lakes, also possesses the stone ruins of a monastic site and is an amazing spot for photographs, despite how dark and overcast the sky was!
In the evening we ate out at an amazing restaurant called Yamamori Izakaya which I'm still dreaming of now. We were lucky to stumble across it whilst walking around aimlessly trying (and inevitably failing) to decide on where to eat, and they managed to squeeze us in at the bar as they were fully booked.
The vegetarian options are amazing so I'll definitely be eating here next time I visit Dublin. After we had finished eating we went to the Temple Bar - the area of Dublin known for its nightlife. It is often full of stag and hen do's and although I wouldn't normally say this was my kind of scene the atmosphere here really is second to none. It was just as I imagined with live music playing in the next-door room and, although it is an expensive area to drink in, it's definitely worth the experience one or two times before moving on to somewhere more off the beaten track.
The vegetarian options are amazing so I'll definitely be eating here next time I visit Dublin. After we had finished eating we went to the Temple Bar - the area of Dublin known for its nightlife. It is often full of stag and hen do's and although I wouldn't normally say this was my kind of scene the atmosphere here really is second to none. It was just as I imagined with live music playing in the next-door room and, although it is an expensive area to drink in, it's definitely worth the experience one or two times before moving on to somewhere more off the beaten track.
On our final day in Dublin, we managed to fit in the obligatory Guinness factory tour which surprisingly, as I don't actually like beer, was really good. I even finished my full pint at the end of the tour! I'd love to do the Jameson tour next time as that's a little more up my street!
June 2018
Almost a year on and I've managed to fit in Dublin visit number two, funnily enough for even less time this time - there and back in one day! It is doable, but you'll definitely feel tired for a surprisingly long amount of time after. Flights from Leeds Bradford on a weekend mean you can be on your way at 06:30, and your flight back is just before 21:00. To make sure I wasn't in a rush trying to make the evening flight back, I focussed all the sight seeing in the center of Dublin itself rather than doing any travel outside of the city.
In the morning we did a guided tour around Dublin castle which was interesting and definitely worth the money. The tour is only 10 euros for the 1 hour tour, and every now and then there is a shorter tour for 8 euros. You can do a self-guided tour but that doesn't give you entry into the Chapel Royal which in my opinion is the best part so you definitely don't want to miss that. The Chapel is actually made out of wood and made to look like stone which is pretty impressive, and the intricacy of the details in the ceiling is amazing to see in real life.
We also visited Christ Church Cathedral after which was impressive but if you only have time to see one or the other, I'd vote for seeing the Chapel Royal. The interesting part of the Cathedral for me, however, was the Crypt, which is not something you can always visit in a Cathedral.
In the afternoon, after we had eaten far too much for lunch, we did the guided tour of Trinity College. Similar to the Castle I would recommend a tour as you get a lot more information out of it than you would if you wandered around on your own. In fact, entry to see the Book of Kells and the library of Trinity College costs the same amount with or without the tour, so it really is a no-brainer. (roughly 14 euros) The library was the highlight for me in the College it really did feel like something magical out of Harry Potter, with ladders to reach the top shelves, but it was absolutely packed whilst we were there and it was hard to maneuver around the selfies that were being taken.
Of course, we finished the day off with some live music in Temple bar, with a few Jameson and cokes! Until next time Dublin!
In the morning we did a guided tour around Dublin castle which was interesting and definitely worth the money. The tour is only 10 euros for the 1 hour tour, and every now and then there is a shorter tour for 8 euros. You can do a self-guided tour but that doesn't give you entry into the Chapel Royal which in my opinion is the best part so you definitely don't want to miss that. The Chapel is actually made out of wood and made to look like stone which is pretty impressive, and the intricacy of the details in the ceiling is amazing to see in real life.
We also visited Christ Church Cathedral after which was impressive but if you only have time to see one or the other, I'd vote for seeing the Chapel Royal. The interesting part of the Cathedral for me, however, was the Crypt, which is not something you can always visit in a Cathedral.
In the afternoon, after we had eaten far too much for lunch, we did the guided tour of Trinity College. Similar to the Castle I would recommend a tour as you get a lot more information out of it than you would if you wandered around on your own. In fact, entry to see the Book of Kells and the library of Trinity College costs the same amount with or without the tour, so it really is a no-brainer. (roughly 14 euros) The library was the highlight for me in the College it really did feel like something magical out of Harry Potter, with ladders to reach the top shelves, but it was absolutely packed whilst we were there and it was hard to maneuver around the selfies that were being taken.
Of course, we finished the day off with some live music in Temple bar, with a few Jameson and cokes! Until next time Dublin!
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