Ireland- 7 days!

Kilkenny

The first time I went to Ireland I was in a study abroad program for six weeks in England. It was a small bunch of us studying Shakespeare in Stratford-Upon-Avon, and the first time I had been abroad as an adult on my own. In an attempt to see as much as we could in our limited time, my classmates and I booked an extremely brief  trip to Dublin! It was a whirlwind 48 hours arriving on a Saturday evening with no luggage--just the clothes on our backs.  If you're looking for a quick visit check out my post 48 hours in Dublin! Our quick trip was incredible and left me with day dreams of eventually returning for a longer visit to see more of the country.  

Fast forward 12 years later.  My good friend Andrea (you'll remember her from my Iceland- 7 days! post) were on the hunt for travel deals to hopefully vacation together again in the coming spring.  It was November when Andrea pointed out that cyber Monday seemed to be offering some fantastic travel packages! We eventually honed in on Groupon and picked our top three travel destinations. In the end we both agreed that the Ireland package was a winner! It was an all inclusive trip, with airfare, rental car, and accommodations at bed and breakfasts.  We liked it since the accommodations were arranged for the first night in Kilkenny but from there we were given a voucher number and a bed and breakfast website which allowed us to choose where we wanted to drive, and stay over the following six nights of our trip. This allowed us the freedom to map out our own itinerary and see more of the country! 

Here is our Ireland road trip! (We returned to Dublin but google maps informed me I had reached the allotted number of destinations so the final drive from Galway to Dublin isn't there-so you'll just have to use your imagination.) 

Driving in Ireland is just as you'd expect it to be-you drive on the other side of the road. It's pretty unnerving at the start. I was lucky that Andrea volunteered to drive. Whether your behind the wheel or someone else, is you need to make sure both folks up front have their eyes on the road for your first day to help each other with the traffic direction. Most importantly take your time! There's no reason to rush, you're on vacation and so riding in the slow lane for the first two hours, or two days, to get a feel for driving on the other side of the road is well worth it. By the end of the second day we were pretty well adjusted but I'll still emphasize the importance of keeping your eyes on the road. 

To get around we used google maps, but in order to ensure we had internet Andrea contacted a kiosk in Dublin's Airport called WiFicandy. They lent us a hot spot we could us for our phones so that we didn't have to turn on our data constantly. We arrived in Ireland on a Sunday morning, which meant the WiFicandy kiosk was closed, however they were very easy to work with and told us they would just drop our devise off at our rental car office. Which they did! The whole thing cost about the same amount as it would have to of turned our phone data on each day but, we found it was much more efficient at holding a signal. The best part about it was you could carry it around with you in your bag while you were in town and into the hotels at night so we were never without internet when we needed it! 

One other thing to be aware of, when you are driving in Ireland are their tolls. They have tolls around Dublin and there's really no way you can avoid them. You will not see any visible sign of tolls either, but believe us they are there! Don't assume you have avoided them. The system is fairly easy as long as you know what to do. Once you have driven in or out of Dublin you have 48 hours to go into a gas station (any gas station will do!) and tell them your license plate number. They will then look up your toll total and you are charged their in the gas station. It was very straightforward and easy to do! Just remember to pay it, if not you're charged a great deal more and since it's a rental car they'll just charge your credit card. So pay your tolls!

Blarney Castle and Grounds

Galway

Cliffs of Moher

The Rock of Cashel

Cliffs of Moher

Tig Coili, Galway

Muckross House, Killkarney National Park

Kilkenny Castle

Willoughby's breakfast, Killkenny

Gap of Dunloe

Blarney Castle, garden and grounds (and caves)

Waterford, Irish Viking History & Waterford Crystal

Gap of Dunloe

Galway

National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin

Ireland is very easy to travel through, and thus offers a freedom of movement and relaxation that you might not find in other foreign countries. For one it's an English speaking country, so there's no language barrier, just very cool accents.  Two, car rentals for tourists are very simple and give you the freedom to experience Ireland through your own eyes, taking in the towns and sights on your list in your own time.  The country side is beautiful to behold and the cities are quaint and charming peeks into a historically rich past and a budding and buzzing present.  

The Irish are extremely welcoming and easy going. All of our hosts were very kind and helpful, giving suggestions and asking after our day. I found I appreciated their use of sorry because it reminded me of myself. You see they used "sorry" instead of pardon, just like I do. However, I'm often criticized for it back home, as if it's acknowledging some sort of fault. Here the locals were all polite and not only did they not misunderstand my use of the word "sorry" but they to use it in the same way. It was refreshing and nice to say the least! 

Additionally, the pub culture is just a lot of fun. You see families out, older friends meeting up, and young ladies and gents all enjoying pints at the same pub without a second thought. It's only polite to partake of rounds to be kind and fair to your company and creates a very generous and delightful atmosphere. Andrea and I really enjoyed our night out with old friends when we were in Dublin, happily staying out later than intended since we were so smitten with how our evening had gone. We can admit we didn't see as much as we might have liked to in Dublin, however it was one of our favorite evenings since it was spent with friends.

As per usual, my Ireland trip was limited by time and money, but it was still a damn good romp! Ireland offers so much to see and do that of couse a week is not enough time to see everything, however we certainly got our fill of lovely Irish castles, history, and food that will offer our imaginations plently to day dream about until we can return again!

  

7 Day Ireland Itinerary

Day One- Drive to Kilkenny

• Arrived in Dublin 
• Picked up rental car
• Drove to Kilkenny
• Checked in at the Hoban hotel (grabbed lunch) 
• Napped 
• Drove into town 
• Ate at Hungry Moose 
• Grabbed a pint, listened to some live music 
• Bed 

Day Two- Drive to Waterford in the morning,  back to Kilkenny for the afternoon and evening! 

• Coffee and breakfast at Costa 
• Drove to Waterford 
• Went to Waterford Crysal (we each bought something small!) 
• Walked to the Viking VR Museum (I'd highly recommend this! It was a lot of fun!)
• Visited Reginald's tower
• Drove back to Kilkenny 
• Toured the castle 
• Enjoyed tea in the castle tea shop
• Walked the castle grounds
• Went shopping! (Andrea bought a cladaugh ring) 
• Fish and Chips for dinner at Kitnarey's (brown sauce is delicious and wonderful on chips!)
• Grabbed an evening pint at a the pub and got to hear live music and we saw a gentleman Irish dancing! 
• Discovered our car was locked in the parking garage!
• Caught taxi back to hotel, and went to bed

Day Three- Rock of Cashel & Blarney Castle

• Took a cab to return to the car garage parking lot
• Willoughby's for an Irish breakfast in town- a very sweet spot
• Drove to the Rock of Cashel 
• Drove to Blarney Castle - This I must note was a much more than I anticipated! The castle it's self is what one expects from Irish castles. Winding staircases, heavy stone walls, tons of history. And the grounds and gardens are just lovely to stroll through, even in the rain!
• Checked in at White House B&B and rested for an hour or so
• Walked into town and had dinner and a pint at Muskaray Arms 
• Walked back and slept

Day Four - Killarney national park & Limerick

• Enjoyed a traditional Irish Breakfast at our B&B 
• Drove to Killarney national park
• Toured the Muskross house 
• Drove across to the other end of the lake and had tea and scones at Heather Restaurant (very sweet)
• walked into the Dunloe Gap (about 20 minutes in down the road where you'll find a lovely stone bridge to take it all in. This was one of the most enjoyable experiences since the country side was so lovely and you're away from the to do of other tourists.) 
• Drove to Limerick
• Arrived at Coonagh Lodge
• Drove into town to Locke Bar for dinner- were able to see Irish dancing again and live music over dinner and pints!) 
• walked back and turned in

Day 5-  Ciffs of Moher & Galway

•  Breakfasted at B&B
• Drove to the Cliffs of Moher! 
• Walked the Cliffs and enjoyed the sights for about two hours- It was beautiful and thank goodness sunny that day! It's certainly worth getting their earlier in the day before it becomes swarmed by tourists, but who can blame them, it's gorgeous! You could easily spend a day hiking the Cilffs all day if you schedule the time for it, but we wanted to make sure we had enough time to enjoy Galway for an evening.
•  Drove to Galway
• Arrived at St. Jude's B&B- a very quaint and kind spot with lovely fresh rooms, easy parking, and walking distance to the thick of Galway's downtown! We loved it! By far my favorite B&B!
• Walked to the Galway Museum 
• Hit up the shops for a bit and books stores
• Dined at Kings Head
• Grabbed a pint and caught some live music at Tig Coili
• Walked back to St. Jude's B&B - we felt very safe in Galway and were able to navigate our way around rather easily

 Day 6- Return to Dublin & Dinner with old friends! 

• Breakfasted at B&B -delightful
• Drove to Dublin 
• Checked in at B&B 
• Rode bus into downtown Dublin (about an hours ride)
• Walked to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells but sadly it was closed to the public that day. I'd certainly suggest you do your research before going to see about hours and tickets. We were a bit bummed but have gotten pretty good at going with the flow when mishaps arise so we realized we  were pretty close to the National Gallery and made our way over!)
• National Gallery of Ireland which was free and had some lovely works
• Met up with my friends Matt (who I met 13 years prior when study abroad and who had traveled with me to Dublin when I first visited) and his wife, and Clare (who Andrea and I met when we worked in Seoul Korea, and who is also the older sister of my close friend John) 
• Dinner at O'Neil's was fantastic! It was right in the center of town by the Molly Malone statue and offered a buffet style carvery of Ireland's most traditional and well loved foods! We each took our turn ordering the rounds while catching each other up on our years apart, while feeling as if no time had passed at all between us. 
• Took the bus back to our B&B
• Tucked in

Day 7- Malahide Castle and Gardens & Flight Home

• quick breakfast at B&B 
• Drove to Malahide Castle and Gardens- it was a beautiful day and great for strolling around just taking in the landscapes
• Drove through the town of Malahide - I wish we had time to stop and walk around, grab a bite or a tea. It was a very charming coastal town.
• Returned out car at the airport 
• Flew home

Malahide Castle and Grounds

Tig Coili Pub, Galway

Blarney Castle Grounds

Blarney Castle