Ireland Guide

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Written By freckledfoodie

Details:

Dates: Saturday – Wednesday in September

Transportation: we rented a car from Shannon airport and returned at Dublin airport. Highly recommend / needed if following the below itinerary.

Itinerary:

Saturday:

  • Took the red-eye from NYC and landed at 7:00AM in Shannon airport. Had an Irish breakfast at the airport

  • Cliffs of Moher (drove straight from airport ~1hr): definitely worth going to, absolutely beautiful and spent 1.5hrs there walking around from side to side

  • Doolin: small town we stopped in, right near the Cliffs. Crazy small roads getting there and an extremely small town. Not necessary, but had some cute things. Great chocolate/fudge shop

  • Galway: drove from Doolin and stayed here for one night, would recommend going

Galway Notes:

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Accommodations: we stayed at Park House Hotel. Perfect location and had breakfast included, would recommend.Food (lunch):

  • Farmer's Market @ St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church

  • McSwiggans - popular local pub

  • Sheridan Cheesemonger - wine bar with small snacks

Food (dinner):

  • Ard Bia - great seafood, highly recommend

Bars:

  • Walk down Quay street and check out bars

  • Tigh Neachtain Pub - small, cute interior, felt localish

  • O'Connors in Salthill

  • Taaffes

Sunday – Monday:

  • Drove from Galway to Dingle (~3hrs) and explored

  • Drove from Dingle to Kinsale (~2hrs) and slept there

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Dingle Notes:

  • A very cute small town by the water

  • We really enjoyed it, BUT we had bad jetlag and it was a very long drive with another long drive afterwards

  • If we were to do it again, we would drive to Dingle but stay there for a night.

  • The roads getting there are EXTREMELY tiny and windy and up a massive cliff as you approach, just be prepared

  Food (lunch):

  • Out of the Blue Seafood - small, right by the water, definitely recommend

  • Ashes

  • Half Door

  • Chowder Café

  • Murphy's ice cream - homemade in Dingle but found throughout Ireland

  • Dick Mack's pub

Kinsale Notes:

  • Really liked this town a lot

  • Not as big of a city as Galway but had a lot of options and seemed to be very "foodie focused"

  • Tons of cute BnBs, which is what I would recommend staying in

Accomodations: we stayed at the Blindgate House. We really liked it for what it was, bed wasn't insanely comfortable and wasn't a breathtaking hotel but the breakfast was awesome and it was in a good locationFood:

  • The Black Pig - small, kinda wine bar with good food, would recommend but not if only there for one meal

  • Finn's Table - great meal, small place owned by couple, definitely go and make a reservation

  • Lemon Leaf Cafe - small place for breakfast or lunch, kind of healthy options

Bars:

  • Grey Hound - small local ish place with outdoor seating

  • The Spaniard - we didn't go, but were recommended, kinda on the outskirts of town

Activities:

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  • Golf @ Old Head - expensive, but close by and if you are a golfer this is a MUST, it is the most beautiful course in the world. There can often be very bad fog, which we had for the first 7 holes, where you legitimately cannot see more than 50 yards in front of you. If you are golfing we would HIGHLY recommend / insist you get a caddy, regardless of weather. If your caddy is Cian tell him Cammie and Joe said hi!)

  • Fort Castle - ~20 min run that is VERY uphill outside of Kinsale to a massive historical fort that is nice to walk around and gives great views

  • Walk the Prom to Salthill - we did not do this bc we didn't have great weather

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Tuesday:

  • Drove to Dublin from Kinsale (~3hr taking the M8 & N7 highways) and spent the day and night there

    • On this drive, opportunity to go to Blarney Castle or Rock of Cashel but we did not do either

Dublin Notes:

  • We thought it was definitely worthwhile to go if you are in Ireland, but was our least favorite spot of all the cities/towns we visited. Felt much more like a "city" and larger and didn't scream you were in Ireland. Plus, missed out on the beautiful landscape other towns provided.

Accommodations: we stayed at the Westbury hotel. It was extremely nice and a central location, but pretty pricey (we had a good corporate rate)Food:

  • The Winding Stair - good meal but not blown away, would recommend)

  • Tang - great inexpensive breakfast or lunch spot

  • Dollard & Co - new and like an affordable Dean & Deluca, great food market with a ton of options

  • Etto

  • Chapter One

  • Featherblades (local steak place)

Bars:

  • O'Donoghues - small bar with some live music, they have American dollar bills hanging all over the bar that are signed. If you go, look for a $5 signed by joe and I with a Freckled Foodie sticker right behind the bar

  • Doheny Nesbitt - larger pub that seemed pretty local and had good Irish pub food

  • Wheelans - live music with sometimes special musical guests

  • Brazen Head - oldest bar in Dublin that is in Temple Bar

Activities:

  • George's St arcade - smallish flea market

  • Stephen's Greens

  • Trinity College

  • Partick's Cathedral

  • Grafton St

Thursday:

  • Flew home from Dublin airport

freckledfoodie
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