Travel Diaries: Ireland Pt. 1

Hi everyone!

Unfortunately I’ve been slacking a tiny bit on posting. It’s hard to get back into the swing of things when you take a break (ahem thank you Ireland). Speaking of, I thought it was finally time to share my adventures in Ireland with you all!

I went with my family for 4.5 days and 4 nights, which may sound short… but we did SO MUCH. The first couple of days were spent solely in Dublin (where we stayed) so I thought I would break up my posts so that this one is Dublin focused and the next one is everywhere else – including Blarney Castle, Cliffs of Moher, and more :).

So, we landed in Dublin early Friday morning, which gave us the entire day to explore. We got incredibly lucky with weather and the first 3 days where COMPLETELY rain free (#blessed). Dublin is such an awesome city, with so many unique buildings with different color doors. Here are some shots I took of some of the first sights we took in.

Day 1 consisted of mostly exploring the city, having lunch at Bobo’s Gourmet Irish Burgers (SO good), walking around Trinity College, and seeing the Old Library. If you ever happen to find yourself in the area, I highly recommend visiting the college and library. It made me immediately wish I went to school in Ireland.

Trinity College

Old Library at Trinity College

Day 2 started off with getting breakfast at a quaint cafe called Queen of Tarts. Guys – they have the BEST PASTRIES. Go there. Please. Also loved their lattes but that could just be my personal preference :).

Our hotel was in a great location, very close to O’Connell street and a short walk to the Temple Bar area. This is where most of the attractions/bars/restaurants are in Dublin and it was really convenient. On Day 2, we were able to squeeze in seeing Dublin Castle, the infamous Temple Bar, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, AND, the Guinness Storehouse.

Dublin Castle & Grounds

The Temple Bar

St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Part of the reason we were able to do all of this is by getting tickets for a Hop On, Hop Off Bus. If you’re planning on exploring a European city in a short amount of time. I definitely recommend going this route. You don’t necessarily have to do all your traveling on it, but it can be super helpful for getting you to farther locations. There would have been NO WAY we could have fit seeing all those places in one day otherwise. And out of all of those attractions – I think my favorite was the Guinness Storehouse because it was so interactive and you get to see the entire city from the top of the building.

We ended Day 2 with dinner at a restaurant called the Elephant & Castle. The food and drinks were DELICIOUS. I definitely recommend the place. They put an Irish spin on American classics and it was so good. Also a tip – make reservations. If we hadn’t, there would have been no way we would’ve gotten a table at most of these restaurants.

Stay tuned for Days 3 & 4 in Part 2 of my Ireland Travel Diaries!