RECAP OF OUR TRIP TO IRELAND

Alex and I love to travel whenever we get a chance, so life is always filled with adventure! We recently went to Ireland, the TOP place on our bucket list, and it was an amazing European experience. We traveled around the country over the course of 8 days, and we’re excited to share not only our favorite photos from the tip but our exact itinerary as well!

To preface this post, it’s important to let you know ahead of time that we did get a rental car (or “car hire” as they call it), and we drove around the country. In Ireland, you drive on the left side of the road and most cars are manual, so make sure you’re up to the challenge before planning your trip! We posted some of our favorite photos below. Keep reading if you want to know the details about our trip and itinerary!

 

THINGS TO DO IN IRELAND | OUR TRIP ITINERARY:

Day 1: Houston to NY to Dublin

Total flight time: 10 hours (not including the time difference)

 

We woke up super excited to visit Ireland as our anniversary trip! This was a very long travel day for us, but luckily the Irish airline, Aer Lingus, offered free in-flight movies and fed us a lot. You’ll definitely want to sleep on the plane if you’re going to have a drastic 6 hour time difference like we did!

 

Days 2&3: Dublin

We flew through the night and landed at 9 AM Dublin time. We went straight to the car rental booth where we found out our rental would be double the amount because we are both under 25. (Bummer for all the young travelers out there!) Besides that, we were just happy there was still a car available for us since only 2 of the companies rented cars to young drivers. Alex was our main driver, so he did research beforehand to become more familiar with the traffic laws and road signs. Even with a brief knowledge of what to expect, it was a little scary pulling out of the parking lot for the first time. We encountered a roundabout the second we left the airport, and we had to really think about which direction to go- aka clockwise instead of counter-clockwise! It was definitely a learning experience trying to navigate the roads in kilometers instead of miles, and remembering to stay on the left.

 

We stayed at a super cute hotel called Stauntons on the Green which is located right next to Saint Stephen’s Green, a quaint park. (The hotel was adorable, but in typical European fashion, there was no AC unit. Eek!) It was also within walking distance to a ton of cafes, coffee shops, and restaurants. All of the streets were filled with historic buildings and hanging flowers, so it made for a fun first day of sightseeing! We walked to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral ($8 per person) and Trinity College, both notable places to visit in Dublin. We also walked by Christ Church Cathedral, a church that was built in 1030.

 

We woke up early one morning to order a Full Irish Breakfast at a local cafe called The Beanhive. There were only about 8 tables, so there was a line out the door. We ordered a to-go coffee to sip on while we were in line, and the food was well worth the wait! Then, we went to the highly anticipated Guinness Storehouse! It’s essentially a theme park for beer complete with multiple stories of exhibits about Guinness beer making, tasting classes, and a free pint that you can drink at the rooftop panoramic bar. (I don’t like beer, but it was still a fun experience and had the best view of the city!)

 

Places we ate: The Rolling Donut, Queen of Tarts, 1900 Bar & Restaurant, The Red Bank Wine Tavern (underground bar), The Beanhive

Where we stayed: Stauntons on the Green

Day 4: Dublin to Cork

Drive time: 3 hours

 

Our first stop was in Kilkenny which is home to the Kilkenny Castle and a colorful strand of shops and cafes. We ate another Full Irish Breakfast at The Flaky Tart before doing some window shopping and sitting outside by the castle. It was a beautiful sunny day, which was atypical of the weather so far, so we lingered in the city for a bit soaking up the sun. Kilkenny had a lot of great souvenir shops that had wool accessories and blankets, so we bought most of our souvenirs there. (Alex got a real wool tie that I’m obsessed with!)

 

Our next stop was at the Rock of Cashel where we got a free guided tour. It’s a medieval castle that has an interesting history, and it’s located at the top of a hill. The view from the hill was breathtaking, and we enjoyed walking around and taking photos. Another plus from that stop was that there was ice cream made from sheep’s milk near the gift shop. I was a little hesitant to try it, but it was actually really delicious!

 

We arrived late in Cork, where we were stopping out of convenience, so we only had time for a quick dinner before leaving for Blarney Castle in the morning.

 

Places we ate: The Flaky Tart, Insomnia Coffee, Scoozi’s

Where we stayed: Jury’s Inn

Day 5: Cork to Killarney

Drive time: 1.25 hours

 

We were excited to get an early start to Blarney Castle because that’s one of the places we had heard the most about! It rained all day, but luckily we had handy rain jackets to layer over our normal coats. We were surprised at how narrow the stairwells were leading up to the top of the castle where you kiss the Blarney Stone. It was a fun experience actually kissing the stone. It’s pretty high up, and you have to lay on the ground and bend your neck backwards to reach the stone. (Don’t worry- there’s actually an employee who holds you as you do it!!) We walked around the rest of the grounds for a bit, but because of the gloomy weather, we didn’t stay very long.

 

We stopped at the Blarney Woolen Mill on our way out of the city because it’s the store with the largest selection of wool products in the country! We spoke to a store manager who gave us some recommendations for places to visit in the next few days. He suggested driving the Ring of Kerry (which is a 6 hour drive around a peninsula), but since it was later in the day, we only stopped at one of the cities on the peninsula. The city of Kenmare is a small fishing town that had a scenic bridge overlook and delicious pastries. Then, we checked into our hotel in Killarney. Our hotel, The Malton, is literally my FAVORITE hotel ever!!

 

Places we ate: The Old Blarney Post Office, Cronin’s Restaurant

Places we stayed: The Malton

Day 6: Killarney | Day Trip to Dingle

Drive time: About half a day including stops

 

The BEST day of the trip! We woke up early to get a full day driving along the Dingle Peninsula. The Dingle Peninsula is a part of the “Wild Atlantic Way” which is essentially a super scenic route that takes you all along the coast. All we knew was that we wanted to drive down the coast, but we didn’t know where we were going to stop. We stumbled across an adorable beach, Inch Beach, where we climbed on rocks and walked in the sand with our winter clothes on. Haha! Then, we stopped at Slea Head Beach which had a gorgeous view of the Blasket Islands. We found a sign that said, “Please donate $1 per person. Farm animals ahead.” We happily donated some money and started hiking up the giant hill where we walked alongside some sheep and got the BEST photos!

 

Then, we stopped in the actual city of Dingle for lunch and coffee. We walked around the marina and got Irish Coffee flavored ice cream at Murphy’s. It was a day filled with a lot of driving, but the pit stops we made were well worth it and the prettiest of the whole trip.

 

Places we ate: Costa Coffee, Bombay Palace

Places we stayed: The Malton

Day 7: Killarney to Galway

Drive time: 3 hours

 

Ah, the Cliffs of Moher! Today was the rainiest of all days, but we didn’t let that stop us from visiting this must-see site in Ireland. When we arrived at the cliffs, it was pouring rain with heavy mist rolling up from the sea. We took refuge in the gift shop/cafe area before braving the elements outside. The view of the cliffs was still breathtaking even though it was so foggy, we couldn’t see very far. It ended up being a memorable experience because we were wearing our rain jacket hoods in all of the photos and were soaking wet!

 

We drove to Galway afterwards because we wanted to check into our hotel and put on warm clothes. We stopped at the cutest dessert place, The Pie Maker, for a pick-me-up. (At this point, we were obsessed with a new type of dessert called banoffee which we got again at The Pie Maker!) Then, we drove to Shannon, Ireland, because we had tickets to the Shannon Heritage Traditional Irish Evening that included an authentic Irish dinner, storytelling of the country’s history, and of course, live music and Irish dancing! We almost cancelled our tickets because Shannon was about 1.5 hours from Galway (we made a hiccup in our scheduling!), but I’m so glad we didn’t. Maybe it’s because the food was amazing, but it’s most likely because they pulled Alex up on stage to “learn” how to Irish dance. (Hehe- it was hilarious!!)

 

(And of course, we listened to Ed Sheeran’s song, “Galway Girl” a lot while we were here!)

 

Places we ate: The Pie Maker, Shannon Heritage Dinner

Places we stayed: The Connacht

Day 8: Galway to Dublin

Drive time: 2.25 hours

 

I couldn’t believe the eighth day of the trip snuck up on us so quickly. We wanted to make the most of our drive back to Dublin (where we would later catch our plane), so we decided to go “castle hopping.” We mapped 3 castles on the route from Galway to Dublin and stopped at all of them. The first stop was at Athenry Castle which is a medieval castle that you can tour. We ate lunch at The Old Barracks, a restaurant recommended to us by the receptionist at the castle. Then, we drove to Athlone to visit another castle that ended up being a super modern, interactive museum. We attempted a third castle as our final stop, but it ended up being in someone’s backyard (cue scary barking dogs), so we just looked at it through our car window. Haha!

 

Once we got back to Dublin, we ventured outside of the Dublin Castle and checked out the famous Temple Bar. We stayed closer to downtown this time so we could see a different part of the city. We ate our final meal at The Quays Irish Restaurant where we got traditional “bangers and mash.” We were sad our trip was coming to a close, but by the end of the day, we were way too tired to do anything else!

 

Places we ate: The Old Barracks, The Quays Irish Restaurant

Places we stayed: Blooms (We would only recommend this hotel if you are a night owl who doesn’t mind the pub scene/ music right outside. If that’s your scene, this is a great location!)

Day 9: Dublin to Chicago to Houston | Depart

Total flight time: 10 hours

 

Lastly, we went to the airport to fly home, and we were bombarded by texts from friends and family wondering if we would be able to get back in town due to the hurricane. Luckily, we were able to fly in as one of the LAST planes to come into IAH that night. We made it home just in time to prepare for the hurricane and look after our house. We felt very fortunate that we managed to dodge Hurricane Gert on the way to Ireland (hence a lot of the rain we saw there) and Hurricane Harvey on the way back.

 

OUR FINAL THOUGHTS

Kati: Ireland was beyond gorgeous and scenic, and it was so much fun to experience a different culture through the historic stops we made and the traditional meals we ate. Renting a car was without a doubt the best way to see the country and have flexibility in your schedule, but I wouldn’t recommend driving unless you are super confident in your abilities! My favorite city was Dublin, and my favorite place to visit was Slea Head Beach (with the sheep!). My biggest tip would be to come prepared for any type of weather because it was a mix of incredibly sunny or constant state of drizzle. My $30 rain jacket from Amazon was a lifesaver!!

 

Alex: First of all, don’t let driving in Dublin discourage you from driving in the country! It really is fun to see the country by driving, and it becomes natural to drive on the left side of the road after a little while. I really liked trying to soak up all of the history while we were there; Ireland had a more interesting and turbulent history than I was aware of. I would recommend doing as many guided tours as possible because you feel more immersed in the historic events than reading some plaques. One place that was on my list of things to do that we didn’t have time for was stopping at the Jameson Distillery. Of the places we did see, my favorite was the Dingle Peninsula. I wish we could have spent even more time there because everything was so peaceful and picturesque. If we had an extra day, I would have driven the Ring of Kerry as well!