Disclaimer: I wrote this post back in 2013. Although the facts in this blog post have been updated and I do still recommend that you visit these places in Dublin, I have not edited my past feelings, even though I don't necessarily agree with them now. So please excuse my younger, naive, mostly narcissistic, ever-exaggerating, accidentally non-pc, over-usage of the !, meat and dairy eating ass... don't worry, I no longer hate Guinness.
In 2013, I was in my final year of university and having stressed my way into passing with a 1st the first two years, I felt like I could relax a bit in the final years, (in the holidays at least anyway). During the one month Christmas break (perks of uni in the UK) I went to Brest, France to visit my bestie. There, we watched "Before Sunrise", which is only an okay film, but did at least inspire me to go somewhere myself, with my love, even if it was just for a short period of time. (I feel there is an irony in going to France to then be inspired by a film to travel, but that seems to be the sort of person I am.)
In the Easter holiday, my bf and I went to Dublin for 24 hours to see what we could see. I originally wanted to go for 24 hours, stay up all night and pack everything in. My(now ex)bf though was more in love with sleep than adventure and insisted we get a hotel. But what I want to highlight is even if you are strapped for cash and time, you can still travel somewhere just for 24 hours. It's allowed, and it will give you a thirst for more.
This was my 24 hour experience in Dublin, it's naive and it's at times rude, and I hope to update this to be more useful soon.
24 hours in Dublin
Dublin, like Amsterdam, is a much smaller capital than say London or Paris. Thus, it's easy to get a really good feel for the city (and see most of the main attractions) of Dublin in just 24 hours. We flew in from Birmingham and as our carrier was Ryanair, the flight was cheap! From Dublin airport it's just a short bus ride into the centre. (Which costs €6.) The best part of the bus ride was that there was a massive blockage of people and cops:
Tom Cruise was there! He was there for his Oblivion premiere! Now I can't guarantee that you will see Tom Cruise if you go to Dublin, but I can guarantee that you'll have a great time especially if you go to Temple Bar:
Things to do in Dublin at night
We had dinner here and a couple of pints of Guinness. Then we went to the (many) other pubs right next door to Temple Bar, we tried and failed miserably at the 8 pint Guinness challenge, I think I managed three
and Tanbay managed two
before we switched to whisky. I now can't stand Guinness it makes me feel ill.
Best Hostels in Dublin
We booked a room at KGT House. We really enjoyed our stay there and it came with an awesome Full Irish Breakfast:
(This was before I went vegan and before I travelled Ireland as a vegan) Although we already hated Guinness we went to the Guinness factory the next day, which is well worth a visit, if only for the amazing views.
On the way to the Guinness factory (if your way is from Temple Bar) is an amazing market called The Ferocious Mingle Marcade. It's only open Thursday to Sunday but if you're around on those days it's definitely worth a look.
In terms of how different Ireland is from the UK, at first look it didn't feel too different to me (evil english woman): they have the Irish accent, but most people we met there were immigrants. They have Euros instead of pounds, but they still have the British socket. My favourite difference was the postboxes.
Update 2021: highly recommend watching 'Rebellion' on Netflix to learn something about the Irish uprising.
For more on Ireland a friend wrote about a Day Trip to Giant's Causeway highly recommend it :)
Over to you: what are your favourite things about Dublin and Ireland?
ABOUTME
We overland. We eat plants and fungi. We live outside as much as possible. We are all connected. A female travel blogger overlanding and writing about ecotourism, ethical and sustainable travel, socially conscious travel and housesitting. An online travel magazine since 2015.
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