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| Temple Bar |
At the end of January my boyfriend Dan and I decided we'd take a mini break away to Dublin before second semester and major uni deadlines set in. It was a wonderful few days away and I thought what better way to document it then sharing a few of my favourite photos, attractions and food places in a blogpost!
If it’s your first time in Dublin, as it was ours, you may feel overwhelmed with where to start to plan a mini break away to this city. Armed with my notepad, trip advisor and a lot of googling, I set myself up to plan the best way to spend our 72 hours in Dublin.
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| Wellington Monument |
Getting to the City
We started, as many headed in the direction of Dublin do, by scoring two sets of return flights for £29.98 with Ryanair. Refusing to pay the extra to pick our seats (it turned out we could move to sit together anyway) and not wanting to pay for hold luggage, we went armed with our hand luggage cases, carefully packed for the 3 nights ahead.
Getting from Dublin Airport to the city centre proved a lot easier and cheaper than you’d think, with us opting for the public transport. Walking outside of the terminal building, we fortunately stumbled across our 41 bus, which was a 10 minute walk from our hotel and only cost us €2.85 each for a single ticket and took just over 40 minutes. Alternatively the 747 will get you to the centre of town, or of course you can book a taxi.
We started, as many headed in the direction of Dublin do, by scoring two sets of return flights for £29.98 with Ryanair. Refusing to pay the extra to pick our seats (it turned out we could move to sit together anyway) and not wanting to pay for hold luggage, we went armed with our hand luggage cases, carefully packed for the 3 nights ahead.
Getting from Dublin Airport to the city centre proved a lot easier and cheaper than you’d think, with us opting for the public transport. Walking outside of the terminal building, we fortunately stumbled across our 41 bus, which was a 10 minute walk from our hotel and only cost us €2.85 each for a single ticket and took just over 40 minutes. Alternatively the 747 will get you to the centre of town, or of course you can book a taxi.
Where we stayed
We stayed in The Castle Hotel, about 20 minutes walk from Temple Bar. Located very centrally, this hotel consists of about 7 rather grand townhouses opposite the memorial garden and very near O'Connell Street. This hotel had traditional decor but was immaculately kept. Service of the staff was friendly and attentive and check in and out was seamless. The option to have breakfast included was an excellent choice as, eaten in the adjacent old music shop cafe, the full english set us up perfectly for the day. The rooms were ample size, maybe a touch too small, but cosy, and the ensuite bathroom fit for purpose - although the shower was a little snug for Dan being 6'2.
We stayed in The Castle Hotel, about 20 minutes walk from Temple Bar. Located very centrally, this hotel consists of about 7 rather grand townhouses opposite the memorial garden and very near O'Connell Street. This hotel had traditional decor but was immaculately kept. Service of the staff was friendly and attentive and check in and out was seamless. The option to have breakfast included was an excellent choice as, eaten in the adjacent old music shop cafe, the full english set us up perfectly for the day. The rooms were ample size, maybe a touch too small, but cosy, and the ensuite bathroom fit for purpose - although the shower was a little snug for Dan being 6'2.
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| The Guinness Storehouse |
ATTRACTIONS
Dublin offers an assortment of attractions, unfortunately for my bank balance, most also involved parting with cash. Nevertheless, we opted to visit a fair few attractions, some better than others…
ATTRACTIONS WE PAID TO VISIT
Guinness Storehouse (€17.50): Of all the attractions I saw during my three days in Dublin, this was certainly my favourite and the best value for money. We’d booked in advance online to save ourselves some €€ (we are students after all) and had booked a time slot that worked out cheaper than others. having arrived earlier than planned, however, we were pleased to hear that as the tour was self guided, you were able to start your tour whenever - so its certainly worth picking the cheaper tickets but then turning up whenever suits you best! Turning up sooner rather than later certainly means you miss the rush, however, you also must remember that theres still a free pint of Guinness ( or HopHouse) to be had, which at 10am isn’t for everyone! The Guinness Storehouse allows you learn about Guinness’s history and even get to try your hand at pouring your own pint (if you choose to cash in your free one). If you’d rather someone poured it for you, however, you can enjoy your pint from the panoramic bar.
Guinness Storehouse (€17.50): Of all the attractions I saw during my three days in Dublin, this was certainly my favourite and the best value for money. We’d booked in advance online to save ourselves some €€ (we are students after all) and had booked a time slot that worked out cheaper than others. having arrived earlier than planned, however, we were pleased to hear that as the tour was self guided, you were able to start your tour whenever - so its certainly worth picking the cheaper tickets but then turning up whenever suits you best! Turning up sooner rather than later certainly means you miss the rush, however, you also must remember that theres still a free pint of Guinness ( or HopHouse) to be had, which at 10am isn’t for everyone! The Guinness Storehouse allows you learn about Guinness’s history and even get to try your hand at pouring your own pint (if you choose to cash in your free one). If you’d rather someone poured it for you, however, you can enjoy your pint from the panoramic bar.
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| The Giants Room @ The Leprechaun Museum |
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| Trinity College Campus |
Trinity College (Book of Kells) (€10 -Students): Trinity College is beautiful and Irelands oldest university campus that is right in the centre. The college campus itself is free to walk around but its was here that we paid to see the Book of Kells. Disappointingly, there wasn’t a lot to see with the Book of Kells, and as it wasn’t particularly my area of interest (although it was my boyfriends) I was a little underwhelmed. The long room library, however, was quite the view to behold.
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| The Long Room @ Trinity College |
General Post Office Witness History (€9 -Student): This is a great exhibition for those wanting to learn more about the history of the Easter Rising, and the political factors surrounding it. I can’t help but feel that an exhibition like this in London would be free, however, if you do have a genuine interest in Irish history its well worth a visit.
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| General Post Office |
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| Garden of Remembrance |
FREE ATTRACTIONS
National Museum of Ireland : One of the few free attractions in Ireland, this is a great place to Irish history and culture. The Archaeology Museum, on Kildare street, was of particular interest for Dan, but the Natural History Museum on Merrion Street was of greater interest to me.
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| Garden of Remembrance |
Garden of Remembrance (Parnell Square): This garden, remembering all those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish Freedom, was a stones throw from our hotel and a peaceful place to sit and reflect.
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| Grand Canal Square |
Grand Canal Square / Docks: Grand Canal Dock, also known as Silicon Docks, is a hub of modern apartments and office towers on the redeveloped River Liffey waterfront. A bit of a walk out from the city centre, we really enjoyed the calmer atmosphere of the docks, albeit windy, and the interesting red stick structure on the edge of the harbour.
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| Grand Canal Square |
Phoenix Park: Phoenix Park is one of the largest enclosed parks in a European capital and if you’re lucky you may spot the many deer that have lived in the park for centuries. We didn’t spot any Deer as we only stayed at the southeast end of the park but we did manage to see the Wellington Monument - how could you not!? - and also the The Irish National War Memorial Gardens.
National Library of Ireland: One of few free 'attractions' in Dublin, this library is of architectural interest and adjacent to the National Gallery of Archaeology museum across the road. Unfortunately, as a tourist, there is limited rooms you are able to visit, the only one being a research exhibition on poet Yeats. The main library room, in use by locals, gives tourists access to research/references but this required you to put all of your belongings into a cloakroom, and photos were not permitted.
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| Grand Canal Square |
Ha’penny Bridge/ Samuel Beckett Bridge: Dublin is host to many a bridge but these two are probably to most spoken about. We had to walk to the docklands to see the Samuel Beckett Bridge, however the Ha’penny bridge is on the outskirts of Temple Bar, spanning the River Liffey.
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| Samuel Beckett Bridge |
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| Dublin Castle |
PAID ATTRACTIONS WE DIDN’T PAY TO SEE
Dublin Castle: Right next to the Beatty Library that happened to be shut on the day we decided to visit, the historic castle, and the gardens behind, are worth a quick visit. Its free to walk around the outside, as we did, but you can also pay to visit inside the walls.
St Patrick’s Cathedral: This medieval cathedral is the tallest in all of Ireland and a gorgeous building. We didn’t pay to go in here, but enjoyed resting our legs and watching the dog walkers go by the garden area beside it.
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| St Patrick's Cathedral |
Christ Church Cathedral: Another beautiful building in Dublin, and a short walk from St Patrick’s cathedral (not to far from food places either!). We didn’t pay to go inside this building, but it’s certainly pretty to look and next door to Dublinia if you fancy a medieval museum.
Kilmainham Gaol: We didn’t have chance to go in here which I am gutted about. Two days before we went on our trip the website went down and we were unable to pre-book tickets. Trying to edge our bets, we set off early on the Sunday morning in hope that we’d be able to buy them on the door. We arrived too late and the next tour was an hour away, which would clash with our Guinness Factory plans. If I were to go to Dublin again, this would certainly be at the top of my to visit list.
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| Temple Bar |
Temple Bar: Temple Bar is the must-visit spot for those visiting Dublin. With its cobblestoned streets are quaint and its extortionately priced pints. Our most expensive pint of our weekend was just over €7 in the Temple Bar pub. That said, visiting the Temple Bar Pub and experiencing the live music there. We were lucky enough to experience proper Irish dancing and singing in the bar The Vaults below our pub.
What to Eat
If you’re looking for some traditional Irish food to sink your teeth into, we decided to try The Hairy Lemon Pub upon recommendation, and encouraged to try Irish coddle - a decision my boyfriend did not regret! We also ate at our hotel restaurant, The Vaults, and had a delicious meal there.
Have you ever been to Dublin?
