So my wife and I are discussing a possible trip over March Break (she's a teacher) and one of the options she suggested was Ireland.
Admittedly, Europe is on my list of places to visit but it's never been in the forefront (I want to do more research into where my grandparents served during WWII, and the origins of my family).
Regardless, a break in the winter would be nice and airfare is reasonable.
What should I do/see in Dublin or elsewhere in Ireland?
What's the travel cost to get over to Great Britain? I'd love to see a game at Old Trafford.
Scotland would be interesting too. Going from New Scotland to Old Scotland would be fun.
It's the ball parking ideas stage. Thoughts?
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A day and two nights in Dublin is all you need, head to the West as soon as possible. I'd recommend working your way from Cork all the way round the coast to Belfast for a complete Irish experience (Dublin-Cork-Kerry-Galway-Donegal-Derry-Belfast). From Belfast you can get pretty much anywhere in the UK for cheap by air or sea really.
I'm on the phone otherwise I'd go into more detail but I can do that later if you wish.
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I was in Dublin for St. Patrick's Day so I didn't really do much of the typical sightseeing (I did a lot more craft beer markets, parades, live music, etc). We did manage a nice walk around Trinity College and St. Stephen's Green, both beautiful. As for outside Dublin, Galway and the Cliffs of Moher were my favorite spots. Renting a car and doing the loop Roughneck suggested would surely be a nice trip.
Flights are available to Manchester with Ryanair (from Dublin) or EasyJet (from Belfast) for practically free (though you will have to pay actual money to check a bag) so Old Trafford should be quite doable.
Edinburgh was one of my favorite cities in all of Europe and is a perfect gateway to the North (Isle of Skye, Loch Ness, Glen Coe, St. Andrews and so on). Flying there is also spectacularly cheap. Another option would be a rental car and to drive all across the UK and Ireland. This would obviously be time dependent and I'm not totally sure of the ferry costs and such.
For our honeymoon we rented a car in Edinburgh, and did a loop through Stirling, Belfast, Kinnity, Cork, Dublin, York and back up to Edinburgh with several day trips from each spot. It's fantastic. I wish we had more time in Scotland and I'd go back in a second.
Highlights in Ireland and N. Ireland were:
Shankhill & Falls roads, Belfast. Crazy to see the remnants of sectarianism in Belfast first hand. The "Peace Walls" alone are mind boggling.
The Giants Causeway (day trip from Belfast) really cool rock formations going out into the sea.
Cliffs of Moher (West side of Ireland, we did it as a day trip from Kinnity). Crazy seaside cliffs.
Kilkenny- nice town
Kinsale- colorful seaside town
Cork- Awesome place, very modern cosmopolitan feeling city with lots of old charm still
Dublin
And agreed with what everyone said about Edinburgh. Find a way there. It's just awesome.
Our days in Scotland were filled with castle site seeing. You can buy a pass for all the national castles and they are all over the place and very cool to check out.
Have fun!
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Go to the Guinness Storehouse and Jameson Distillery. I don't know if they still do this but if they ask for volunteers at the Distillery put your hand up.
I'll second the Giants Causeway.
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If so. A little known gem of event that takes place there is the All-Ireland Hurling and Gaelic Football Finals Club finals at Croke Park. It's a big deal sporting wise and given the size of the stadium you can just walk up and get a ticket. Equivalent would be Calder Cup final. Both games would be 2-5 so it wouldn't interfere with your drinking and imo is a better spectacle than the parades (unless that is your thing). Pubs around the stadium are great and will be filled with match goers pre and post game for good fun.
Otherwise, my advice seriously is go another time. March can be a pretty miserable month there weather wise.
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If so. A little known gem of event that takes place there is the All-Ireland Hurling and Gaelic Football Finals Club finals at Croke Park. It's a big deal sporting wise and given the size of the stadium you can just walk up and get a ticket. Equivalent would be Calder Cup final. Both games would be 2-5 so it wouldn't interfere with your drinking and imo is a better spectacle than the parades (unless that is your thing). Pubs around the stadium are great and will be filled with match goers pre and post game for good fun.
Otherwise, my advice seriously is go another time. March can be a pretty miserable month there weather wise.
Giant causeway, and carrick-a-reed rope bridge area in northern ireland is great, same with the black cab tours in belfast.
The island of innishmore was great, rent bikes there and tour around
Inch had a great beach
Blarney castle was great, so is Boyne Valley, The Burren is neat. Cashel rock is very cool, but you can overdo castles.
Ring of Kerry is a must.
Hurling is amazing if you can catch a game, saw waxford play dublin in kilkenny (playoff games on neutral turf). It was fascinating, Ask the person you see with the most scars how the game is played.
Rent a car and Drive the island. Do bed and breakfasts the whole time
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Last edited by Tiger; 09-15-2014 at 04:54 PM.
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My mum was born in Passage West (just outside of Cork) and I've spent a few years living there as an adult and child.
Cork is a beautiful area and it's only a short three hour drive/bus ride from Dublin. Kinsale is one of the best little secrets of the south west coast. From back packing through Ireland in my youth and living there for a while. My advise would be.
1) If you do get a chance to take in any Hurling or Gaelic Football match, jump at it. Think Ireland's version of the CFL in a sport you'll never really be able to see anywhere on earth.
2) All of the major cities, Cork, Dublin, Gallway, Belfast have one day bus trips to scenic areas that are well worth the money. Yes, it's a little touristy but for the value ($50 bucks) you'll get a get a cheap and quick way to see some cool stuff. (I think in Cork you can do the Ring of Kerry and Blarney and in Belfast you can do the Giants Causeway).
3) If you plan to go to Cork DM me and I can tell you some places to go... including K.C.'s Chipper.
4) As in true stereotypical fashion, pretty much each city has it's own unique Distiller or Brewery. If you're in Dublin do a pub crawl of the Jamieson Factory and Guinness Factory. I think the Jamieson factory opens at about 9:00am.
5) Cork has it's own versions of Guinness called Murphy's and Beamish... As anyone from Cork will tell you Murphy's is far better than Guinness and Beamish is for old folks. The also make fantastic gin in Cork.
6) It could be my cousin's prejudice, but stay away from Limerick. There's a reason they call it stab city.
Hurling is by far my favourite of the GAA sports. I'm not sure if any sports channels cover it there, but if one did, I reckon it would get a cult following beyond just Irish ex-pats.
Who's Been To Ireland?
