Traveling to Dublin and seeing all it has to offer in 3 short days can be overwhelming. You want to see it all… the icons and the places locals love.
Last June we knew we wanted to add on to our London trip {which was one E.P.I.C wedding.. more to come on that later! But in the meantime, here are a few of our London engagement session with them!}, but could not decide where to go. The beauty of London is there are so many great places that you can easily get to by a quick train or plane ride. Knowing that we were going into wedding week, we knew we did not need to be tired to start, so that eliminated quite a few places, but top of the list were Iceland, Ireland and Amsterdam. {Iceland and Amsterdam, we are coming for ya!} We decided on Ireland… it was a place we always had wanted to go, and hey, with a name like Ian Riley, why not 😉 So we started our Irish adventure with traveling to Dublin for the first few days.
I adjust really well to jet lag. My wife, not the case. So after a ground stop and a frantic run through Newark, we made it. I am sorry but nothing is worse than that feeling of holy shit, I am going to miss my flight. But a few beers for me and a couple of wines for her, we were all set.
We arrived on a Saturday, and knew that we wanted to get out and explore, but it would be an early night. So we dropped off our bags and checked into the Temple Bar Hotel right in the heart of Dublin and the Temple Bar area. We toured Jameson… y’all know I love a good bourbon {or whiskey} in this case. It was super interesting and we would highly recommend going for a visit. Even Nicole who does NOT like whiskey, found herself a Jamie, Ginger and Lime and was just fine. And hey, it made her go to sleep a little easier!
My top travel tip from Dublin? There is one thing I always do the day I arrive in a different time zone. I stay awake as long as I can. It helps me adjust to the time zone, and helps me get adjusted to the area. So after Nicole was asleep, I headed out to experience Dublin at night. Just me and my camera and soaking it all in. It’s one of my favorite things to do.
On Sunday we do the one thing we always try to do in a new area… we take an open air bus tour! This is a great way to start your Dublin travel days. And yes, we are the youngest on the bus. But here’s the deal. You learn so much about a new area, you get the history, and you get your bearings. You know where you want to go back to, especially if you just have a few days. Do it! We toured around the city, drank some great Irish beer, and even saw a leprechaun. #missionaccomplished.
Monday was our last full day traveling in Dublin, and so we went back to some of the areas we saw on the bus tour we wanted to explore a little more. We went to Dublin Castle {pretty, but honestly was not really our jam}, Christ Church Cathedral and the Trinity College area. We wanted to see the Book of Kells, but the line was ridiculous. We also tried to do the jail, but the tickets were all sold out and the Irish Museum of Modern Art was closed. We did find this sweet little garden and I captured a few shots of the wife 😉
It started to rain – which we were kind of shocked this was the first time we saw it rain there! We went in fully expecting rain everyday! We certainly did not let it stop us! We kept touring around {thank you to the hotel that gave us an umbrella to use!} We hit up Guinness, yep, for another Irish beer. I mean… when in Rome, right?! It was WAY bigger than we expected, and you got some great beer at the end. And they even had a light one for Nicole. Oh, and Budweiser. Right?! Who knew. They have the license for Ireland. You’re welcome for that random fact.
Things to know about staying in the Temple Bar area :: You are walking distance to all the city has to offer, which is nothing short of amazing. We did get earplugs at check-in. It is notorious for being loud at night, but honestly, we slept hard and it did not bother us one bit. Our tip? Stay in the city. Worth it. We try and soak in as much of a new culture as we can, and this was the perfect way to do it.
My must do roundup ::
Go to Jameson. Learn about what Sine Metu means for them, and how they lose 30,000 bottles a day. Yes, you read that right.
Take the bus tour!
If there is any touristy place you really want to visit, buy tickets ahead of time.
Don’t let the rain stop you. It is most likely going to rain. Get out. Explore.
And drink a lot of Irish beer.
Nicole and I always try to find a spot for a good mirrored reflection picture in every country and city we travel to. This was the best little bar and we happened to be the only ones in it.
Dublin, we will be traveling back to you soon. More to come on our Irish adventure!
SaveSave
