Ireland

St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays, so naturally a trip to Ireland has been a dream of mine forever!

The beautiful countryside, Cliffs of Moher, the old cathedral’s, hundreds of Irish pubs, the cobblestone streets, Irish food & music, all of the Guinness, Jameson & Irish coffee’s you can drink… I could go on & on.

We left out of Chicago in October on Friday the 13th & left Dublin Thursday the 19th. We stayed 3 nights in Dublin & 2 in Galway for 5 total nights in Ireland!!

We like to fly first class on international flights when we can, so we ended up flying from Chicago to New York’s LaGuardia airport on American. Then we took an Uber to John F. Kennedy airport so we could fly Delta One to Dublin. We were being a little extra... Haha. Plus, it was my boyfriend Sam’s 30th birthday trip, so I had to spoil him a little right? Irish you a happy birthday babe!!!

The Uber cost about $30 on a Friday night & it only took about 30 minutes from LGA to JFK… Something to consider if you ever do need to fly in & transfer airports!

Off to Dublin!!

DUBLIN

WHERE TO STAY

We arrived Saturday morning around 10 am & took a cab from the airport to the hotel. We stayed at Fleet Street Hotel, which is in the heart of Temple Square area. The hotel is in a great location, however, it can get really loud. People are out all night partying & there was no air conditioning so we had to leave the window open, which didn’t help things. This is actually more common than not though in European hotels. Overall, I would still recommend the location & hotel.. Walking distance to everything!!

Day 1

Once we were checked in it was a beautiful day, so we wanted to walk around & see the city. We ended up going to O’Neil’s to eat! It was so cool inside with so many different staircases & levels! You order at the counter buffet style.. I got the Wicklow Lamb Shepherds Pie with a Magner’s Cider! First Irish meal of the trip!!

We ended up just bar hopping & walking around the streets of Dublin the rest of the night.

The Temple Bar is one of the most famous pubs, so I knew I wanted to check it out. 

 Day 2

The next day I knew I wanted to check out the Long Room at Trinity College Library. The college campus was gorgeous & the Long Room itself was incredible. I’ve become a bit of a book worm with my job, so I love to visit a beautiful library. This one truly blew me away… My favorite library I have been to so far.

GALWAY

Day 3

The next morning we left for Galway for a few days. We broke up our trip this way because there was actually a hurricane headed towards Ireland at the time & we needed the extra days to make sure we could see the Cliffs of Moher. Freaky!!! It ended up being okay though… it was mostly just a lot of rain.

The train ride from Dublin to Galway took around 2 ½ hours. 

 WHERE TO STAY

Once we were there we booked a hotel that was close to the train stop, which is what I recommend when traveling multiple places! It was a Radisson Blu Hotel.. I love that hotel chain, so I got excited when I saw it as an option. It was of course more modern & it had air conditioning!!! Sold! It also included free breakfast, which is something I try to look for when booking as well. It was about 10 minutes walking distance to the city centre too, which was perfect!

It is now called The Galmont. 

Like I said before it was rainy from the hurricane hitting that day, so after we checked in we were just lazy & napped. Then that night we walked to a pub nearby, An Pucan! It ended up being one of our favorite go-to spots!

I got the Traditional Irish Bacon & Cabbage & Sam got the Jalapeno Bacon Beef Burger. I always thought that Corned Beef & Cabbage was a traditional Irish dish, but it actually isn’t. It’s Irish Bacon & Cabbage!

Then I got my first ever Irish coffee & ohhh my gosh, where has this been all of my life!!! We were both drinking them the rest of the trip after that! 

Then we decided to go explore the city!

We made our way towards the Galway Cathedral. Service was going on at the time, so we didn’t go in.

Finally ended up at The Quays bar, which is another pub that I had heard of that I was excited to check out! The live music was great & the crowd was so fun!

Day 4

The next day we woke up & did The Cliffs of Moher tour. The meeting point for the tour wasn’t far from our hotel, we just had to walk a few blocks to get there. It was in an air-conditioned coach & it was so pretty riding through the Irish countryside! 

Our first stop was at the Dunguaire Castle. We got to walk around for about 15 minutes.

Then they take you to Aillwee Cave for a tour inside it, which was pretty cool to walk through. We had some time after to grab a drink or take pics outside in the countryside!

Then we finally made it to the Cliffs! You get a like an hour & a half there to walk around, which is more than enough time!

Sam wanted to go past where you are supposed to walk, which freaked me out since you are literally walking on the edge of the cliff. But the views are incredible!!! I made him hold my hand walking around it... Haha

* Nerd alert * For those of you that are Harry Potter fans, this is a filming location in Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince where Harry & Dumbledore go look for a Horcrux.

“It does not do to dwell on dreams & forget to live.” -Albus Dumbledore

Goodbye Cliffs of Moher!!! You were unforgettable!

Afterwards, we head back towards Galway through the Irish countryside & stop for lunch in the town of Doolin.

Then we headed to The Burren! It was breathtaking!

Back in Galway & ready for round two of going out! We started at the same place as before An Pucan.. this time there was live music! 

I got the Galway Hooker Beer Battered Lemon Sole... So good!

Then we made our way to back to the Quays! Stayed there for a few hours & then checked out another pub, The Front Door pub. It didn’t have live music like the others, but it was fun!

Galway will forever hold a special spot in my heart! Such a cute little town with so much charm. I love the walkability. Highly recommend!!!

BACK TO DUBLIN

Day 5

The next day we took the train back to Dublin. Once we were there & checked in to the hotel, same hotel as before & we decided to go check out the Guinness Storehouse. The tour itself was pretty cool. When I was a bartender in college I thought Guinness was gross & didn’t understand why anyone would order it, but now I actually enjoy it!

You can’t go to the Guiness Storehouse without visiting The Gravity Bar on the top floor… It has some of the best views of the city! When in Dublin!!

After we left the Guinness Storehouse we walked over to the Christ Church Cathedral! It was beautiful inside & out!

For dinner we went to The Brazen Head.. Ireland’s oldest pub dating back to 1198!!

I got the Honey Mustard Glazed Bacon & Cabbage & Sam got the Beef Chili. It was great food! 

We ended up walking back towards Temple Square & bar hopping for our last night. Here are a few of the pubs we liked.

Buskers - Underground sports bar.

Palace Bar. This was an Irish Pub right beside our hotel that our cab driver actually told us about.

I wanted to do the Jameson tour, but we ran out of time. I have heard that some people actually like this better than the Guinness tour. Next time!

Day 6

The next day we left out really early on United, but got first class to Newark.. There are direct flights to Chicago out of Dublin, but we wanted first class so it was worth it to connect.

Fun fact... Kristian Nairn (Hodor from Game of Thrones) was only a few rows over from us... I got to meet him at the end of the flight. Even crazier is that last month in May I ran into him again at Chicago O’hare!

Exploring both of these cities are so fun… just to walk around & see where you end up! That is the beauty of walkable towns like Dublin & Galway... you really can’t go wrong. The little hole in the wall pubs that you find are the best!

I hope you liked my post & I hope it gives you some ideas of things to do & see in Ireland!

Life is short, book the flight!

xoxo, Tarah