Hotel -- Drury Court. Great location close to St Stephens Green, Grafton Street, and many sights. We had a very clean and updated room with a nicely appointed bathroom and comfortable bed. Despite the crowds on the street our room was very quiet (we weren't front facing). The staff was fantastic -- every one of them friendly and helpful. We didn't include breakfast in our package as it seemed overpriced and we're okay with pastry and coffee in the morning. There isn't much of a lobby.....but do you really spend much time in a lobby?
Day One -- our flight (out of Newark!!!!!!!!!) was delay a bit, so we arrived mid morning and dropped our luggage at the hotel. Then we walked to the EPIC museum. We had pre-purchased the combo ticket for the EPIC/Jeannie Johnson famine ship. Here's one thing that is incorrect in Rick's book: Rick says that with the combo ticket you must visit the ship first. That is NOT true. Your EPIC ticket also entitles you to one return visit to the museum within 10 days. We started at the EPIC and did about half of the museum, really taking our time and enjoying each room. Then we took a break and did the Jeannie Johnson at our appointed time. Then we sat down and enjoyed a snack and a drink. Then we used our return privileges to go back to the EPIC and enjoy the second half of the museum. I am really glad we did it this way. There's so much to see at EPIC and I think it would be overwhelming to do it all in one go. I highly recommend EPIC. The Jeannie Johnson was interesting, but not a must-see.
Day Two -- we had booked a private walking tour with Dara McCarthy, one of the guides listed in Rick's book. Although we were scheduled to walk with him from 9:00 - 11:30, we actually walked until 12:45. Dara was fantastic. He oriented us to the city, showed us so many hidden gems, shared history from Vikings to U2, and was very personable and fun to be with. We chose to include the Book of Kells on our tour with Dara. The tickets were included in the overall price of our tour. While seeing it this way didn't permit us to read every display, it worked really well for us to have someone narrating what we should be paying attention to. We didn't experience any of the horrendous crowds I'd read about. It was an excellent first morning and I'd definitely recommend Dara.
In the afternoon we visited Killmainham Gaol, which was fantastic. We traveled there by cab and walked back. In hindsight we should have taken a bus or cab back. The walk was longer than we expected and we were almost late for our dinner reservation. We had dinner at Davy Byrnes. After dinner we went to O'Donoghue's for music. It was crazy crowded but so much fun, with locals singing along. We walked 12+ miles on Day 2.
Day Three: We began at the Archeology Museum. The building is beautiful and it was very uncrowded. We followed Rick's guide to the museum highlights, which was about the perfect amount of museum time for us. Next we enjoyed a stroll through St. Stephen's Green, again following Rick's suggested itinerary. After lunch we visited the Whiskey Museum. I'd read great reviews on line, but found it to be hokey and overpriced. I don't recommend. There was a huge literary festival taking place in Dublin, so after the museum we went on a guided walk (Queer Writers) which was fun. A lot of people were surprised to find American tourists joining them on the walk! We had dinner at Gallagher's Boxty House. The spicy boxty fries were amazing; overall it was a good dinner. We popped into some Temple Bar venues but they were much too crowded.
Day Four: Breakfast at Lemon Jelly Cafe was great. I recommend the lemon crepe! Then we toured 14 Henrietta Street. Our guide there was amazing and we really enjoyed it. After that we took the train to Newgrange, which I wrote about in a separate post. I feel like we made the most of our 4 days in Dublin!