Overview
Terry & Peg here. We just got back from a two-week trip to Ireland, traveling in late September/early October. Our focus was Dublin on this trip because (a) we really like exploring cities and (b) we are fascinated by Irish history and wanted to hit key museums and sites to delve further into the country’s history, art, literature, and music. We did visit the west side of Ireland, staying in Galway. Because we did not want to drive, we took a train to Galway and joined bus tours from there. We tend to shy away from large bus tours, but without a car this was the best choice for us. We don’t really focus on restaurants when we travel, but we will include a few restaurants we liked (Peg is vegetarian and it was easy to find vegetarian-friendly options). Public transportation is great in Dublin, and getting a Leap card is essential for buses, the Luas tram, and the DART train; you can purchase a card in Dublin, but we ordered ours beforehand. We also recommend the CityMapper app, which provides transportation options and directions. Note that we had some Euros with us, but we did not need much (for driver tips and small purchases mostly) – the places we visited in Ireland were extremely credit-card friendly. Also, Ireland is generally very casual so you can pack light (we use RS packing checklist as a starting point). Just remember to wear layers and always have a waterproof layer handy – the wind is serious and the weather changes quickly.
Day 1: Arrival, Dublin Walk South of Liffey. We arrived late morning and took the Dublin Express into town – Dublin Express was easy (pickup outside Terminal 2) and not pricey; we bought tickets before we left home. It was a short walk to our hotel, Staycity Aparthotels, City Centre, north of the River Liffey. We paid for early check-in at our hotel so we could drop our stuff off, clean up, and then head out to keep moving after the long flight with little sleep. This is a clean and spacious hotel with a kitchen in each room, so we ate some meals there. We visited many of the highlights on the RS walking tour: Grafton Street (extremely talented buskers), St. Stephen’s Green (wonderful place to hang out), Merrion Square (also nice, with cool Oscar Wilde statue), Trinity College Grounds, and Temple Bar. A highlight was our first pint of Guinness at O’Donoghue’s, where the band The Dubliners got their start.
Day 2: O’Connell Street, Glasnevin Cemetery, GPO Museum. We walked about 10 minutes from our hotel to O’Connell Street and checked out the sites there (see RS walking tour). We spent a little time in Parnell Square and the Garden of Remembrance, which was quite nice. From there we took the F1 bus to Glasnevin Cemetery. This is a beautiful locale for a stroll, and it is where many historical figures from Irish history are buried. The museum is small but worth a stop. There is a tour available, although we did not take it. We recommend the documentary “One Million Dubliners” about the cemetery. We had lunch at the cozy pub John Kavanaugh The Gravediggers next to the cemetery (great Irish stew and potato leek soup) and then took the bus back to O’Connell Street. Next, we visited the General Post Office Museum on O’Connell Street, which has an impressive set of exhibits on the Easter Rising, including a 17-minute film imagining what it was like inside the GPO during the rebellion. Later we went to a trad music session at The Cobblestone, a short walk from our hotel; the pub was packed even for the early session, but it was fun.