Two nights in Dublin

At the beginning of August I decided to make a quick trip to Dublin, Ireland for 2 nights. Ireland has been on my list of places to visit for a while and because I had a few days free and with the travel time to Ireland being very short from England, I decided to hit up the capital for some sightseeing. Here's everything I got up to in my short time in Dublin...

Day one

We flew out on the first flight to Dublin on Thursday morning and arrived in Ireland at 9:30am, giving me the whole day to explore the city. We caught the bus to my hotel and dropped off my luggage ready for a day of sightseeing.

We started off by walking around the area and getting a feel for the city. We walked through the Trinity college gardens and booked a tour for the Saturday morning. We then headed into the main shopping streets of Dublin, where we stopped off for an ice cream and did a scope of the restaurants and bars around for later on.

I had pre-booked a tour at the Guinness storehouse for this afternoon, so we made my way there. We arrived early for the tour, so we decided to stop off in a local Irish bar for a drink beforehand.

The Guinness storehouse tour was really fun and interesting and is a must do if you ever find yourself in the area. I learnt all about the process of how Guinness is made and got to sample some along the way (sorry to all the Irish people, but I am not a fan!). The tour included a drink in the rooftop sky bar which provided views of the city and it was a great way to finish off the afternoon.

Afterwards, we made the long walk back to the hotel to get ready for the evening. We made our way back to the busy streets of Dublin for some food and then headed to a bar for drinks afterwards. We stumbled upon a cocktail bar called Alfie's, which was really cute and reasonably priced for Dublin! The bar started to get quite busy later on and the drinks were nice and generous, definitely recommend if your looking for somewhere more budget friendly. We had a few drinks before heading back to the hotel to get some much needed rest!

At the tour of the Guinness factory

Day two

We headed out early as we wanted to make the most of our short time here. We walked over the Ha'penny bridge, across the river liffey and headed to brunch. I'd been recommended the Lemon jelly cafe and it didn't dissapoint! The place was busy, but we were seated quickly and we didn't feel rushed to leave, despite them being busy. The food was good and coffee were good and there was a massive selection on the menu to choose from.

After brunch we had a little bit of time to kill before our next activity, so we popped into a nearby shopping centre to do a little bit of shopping.

We then started the long walk to the next tour I had booked for us, The Jameson whiskey distillery. This tour was also really fun and interesting and is definitely a must do on your next visit! I learnt all about the process of how the whiskey was made and got to sample different versions along the way (again, I'm sorry to say that I am not a fan!). The tour guides were really informative and made the tour really interactive. This tour also included a drink in the bar afterwards which was nice!

Afterwards, we made the short walk to Ireland's oldest pub, The Brazen head, for a drink. Despite it being early in the afternoon, the pub was packed, but we managed to squeeze onto a table outside. The pub was much bigger than expected, but the atmosphere was good.

We then made our way back down the river liffey as we wanted to fit in another museum tour before the end of the day. On the way we stopped off at The Rolling doughnut shop for a snack as I had seen this place recommended everywhere and it did not disappoint! There was SO much choice and the flavour combinations were different to what you normally see and they taste SO good!

The next stop on our jam packed schedule was a trip to the Little museum of Dublin. We hadn't pre-booked this, but when we arrived there was a tour starting in 20 minutes that we could wait for. We had a look around the self guided areas and learnt all about the history of Dublin. When the guided tour started it was not what I was expecting it to be. You have to go here if you are ever in Dublin as it is a lot of fun and is really informative, taking you through the history of Dublin up until now. The tour guides tell the story through acting and performing, whilst getting the audience involved, making it very interactive and unique to any other museum tour you expect.

We headed back to the hotel to get ready for the evening and a quick rest before immersing ourselves in the night life of Dublin. We headed out for food and then did a mini bar crawl around the temple bar area of Dublin. We stopped off in a bar that had a live band playing for a drink, before heading to the next venue. We came across Badbobs, which seemed really busy and had a good atmosphere so we decided to go in here for a few drinks. This bar was so fun and had a live musician throughout the whole night. All the crowd were getting involved and we made friends with an American couple and a mother and her two daughters who were also from England.

We walked past the infamous Temple bar, but didn't go in there as it was rammed and we'd seen other places with a just as good if not better atmosphere. We headed to the next place and found Fitzsimons. This bar also had the live musician and a great atmosphere where the whole crowd was getting involved. We made some more friends in this bar and had a few more drinks here before heading back for the night. Fitzsimons was a little bit more expensive than Badbobs, but I'd recommend both places for a good night out!

Trying out a Guinness

Day three

We were up bright and early for our last day as we had booked a tour of the Book of Kells and the Long room at trinity college. We stopped off for some much needed coffee and a pastry at Bread41, which I couldn't recommend enough! What I will say is that it's best to get there early though as the queues get rally long later in the morning.

The book of Kells and the Long room tour were interesting and the library is really pretty to see. The library is currently under a renovation at the moment though, so they are in the process of removing all the books for cleaning and fire proofing the room, so you don't get the full effect of the room as you would if the shelves were full. It was still good to look around though and see the room in person. We then stopped off in the gift shop where I picked myself up a necklace and then we headed to our next destination.

We walked through the busy shopping streets and saw Dublin Castle, which we didn't go in as we were short on time, but I will definitely come back to see it! We walked to St Patrick's cathedral and went inside for a self guided tour. It was very busy inside, but it was good to learn a little bit about the cathedral itself and see all of the pretty architecture inside.

After the cathedral, we headed for a late lunch before going to the hotel to pick up our luggage and start our journey back home.

My short trip to Ireland was great fun! We crammed so much into the few days we were there and I admit it was very touristy, but it was a good way to learn about the city. I can't wait to come back to Ireland to explore other areas outside the capital. I walked so much during these three days, but I feel like I managed to tick off most things on my list during my stay and I fell more in love with the Irish accent! The locals are really friendly and good fun and all the main attractions are close to each other to walk to which is handy. Now onto the next adventure...

Trinity college