We are looking at adding a stopover on our way to London in May. It would mean being able to have 1 day in either Dublin or Reykjavik, arriving in either around 7 am and leaving in the mid afternoon the next day. The cost is not much different and there seem to be things in each city we would enjoy. For those of you who have been to both, which did you prefer? Is there any good reason to choose one over the other? I think I have research overload and the information is clouding my mind. Thanks.
Posted by
Everett, WA
1299 posts
I have been to both and they both are worthwhile. However, I would probably lean towards Dublin. Book of Kells, Killmainham jail, Grafton street (with shopping and street performers)...the list goes on an on. It is all pretty close together and easy to see. In the evening, you could visit different bars for trad and other entertainment. We were in Reykjavik last September. We enjoyed it, but I did not find as much to do there. We loved Iceland because we had time to go out into the countryside and we had one beautiful day where all the mountains were out. (The other 2 days it rained.) BTW, both cities have excellent National Museums. While that would not be my first choice of things to do, it is a good option for if it is raining. I guess the bottom line is that I love both cities...but if you told me I could have one day to re-visit one of them, I would go to Dublin.
Posted by
OP
Kansas City
132 posts
Thank you both for your thoughtful replies. Both places warrant more than a day, so I think we are going to try to do Reykjavik on another trip when we can plan for a longer stop over so we can get out into the landscape. My husband really wants to see the Guinness storehouse, which I realize does not actually produce beer, but he has his mind set. We can at least get that out of the way so we don't have to do it when we are able to visit Ireland for a longer period of time. And everything in Dublin does seem closely located. We can walk to most things we want to check out. I'm a little sad that we will miss out on Iceland, but that gives me more motivation to see more of it when I get a chance to go later.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Guinness Storehouse itself does not produce beer, but the Guinness facility there does. You just don't see it on the tour - just a lot of advertising, basically, and a lot of chances to buy the same Guinness souvenirs that you can buy all over Ireland. The "free" pint ends up being pretty expensive. My choice for your dilemma would have been Iceland over Ireland, since I consider it more "different".