A Place to Stay
Being a Uni (university) student, looking for a good deal is a must so staying in hostels is the cheapest place to stay while traveling. But it is also important that you find a quality hostel, one with good reviews, and includes some amenities without huge fees. A hostel provides a bed for you (usually in bunk bed form) in rooms of 4 up to 15 people in mixed or single sex rooms. Some hostels have an ensuite while others have a bathroom/shower room at the end of the hall per floor. A good source to find reviews of hostels is HostelWorld.com. The hostel I stayed at with my friends was called Jacob's Inn. It was in good proximity to the City Centre (about a 15 minute walk and on the other side of the River Liffey.) It was very clean; there was an ensuite in the room (my friends and I were in a mixed 10 person room.) We had access to a luggage room where we could rent a locker for the day to put our bags in. One thing I wished I had known was to bring a towel. While you can rent towels, they are a little small and sometimes it is just nice to have your own towel. Also, when hostels say that they provide a free breakfast, it is not at all like the free continental breakfasts that hotels provide back in the states. You can get toast or cereal, juice, coffee, or tea. So you might want to pack granola bars or plan on stopping for a mid-morning snack during your exploring of the city. When traveling around the city, most of the time you will be walking or using the bus system. You can find information about that when you get off your plane in the airport and it will be good to hold onto that while you are traveling.
Things To Do And See
Museums. It doesn't matter where you are traveling to, find at least one museum to visit while you are there. Museums provide an insight to the culture of the country you are visiting and to events in time that are important to them. It can also give you a comparison on how your country's history is viewed compared to the visiting country you are at. I was able to go to the National Museum of Ireland, The Natural History Museum of Ireland and the National Library. Both were beautiful old buildings, with astonishing architecture.
The outside of the Natural History Museum.
Butler's Chocolate Factory. This is a chocolate factory and the only working Butler's chocolate factory in the world. We took the Ultimate Chocolate Experience tour all decked out in hair nets and lab coats, which allowed us entry into the museum, free chocolate samples, a tour of the factory (we went on a Sunday so we couldn't actually see anyone working there. Had we known that we probably would have switched our schedule around so that we could have gone during the work week.) more free samples of chocolate, and then we were able to decorate our own Butler's Chocolate Bear. It was a lot of fun...and a lot of chocolate!
Here we are outside Butler's Chocolate Factory!
Here we are with our chocolate bears.
Tour of Cliffs of Moher. Devote a full day to see these beautiful cliffs. My friends and I took a tour (that included stopping at a family owned working farm that was located at the foot of some beautiful hills. The family opens up their home and takes you on a hike up the hill (more like a small mountain.) They provided rain gear, which was very helpful since it rains off and on all day. It was really cold, windy, and rainy when I went, but the view was worth every moment. I am not fond of heights and getting back down was a little tricky, but with all that rain we saw several rainbows and the view really was spectacular. The family also provides you with a warm fire inside and treats and coffee and tea after the hike. If you don't want to do the hike you can also just sit by the fire. The actual Cliffs of Moher are beautiful. we happened to go on a very, very windy day. There were actual warnings going out about the wind levels (up to 50 mph) and people were actually falling down the steps because the wind was so strong. But the view was really lovely and there was part of a castle at the top that we were able to see called O'Brian's Tower. The road getting to the Cliffs of Moher was very narrow and twisty and had very sharp turns which is information that would be nice to have before going on the trip. There are lots of tour buses that go to the Cliffs of Moher and other extra stops along the way for sightseeing, just look around and pick the best one for you.
Here we are in our rain gear after climbing to the top of the Barren on our Tour.
The Cliffs of Moher.
The O'Brian's Tower at the top of the Cliffs of Moher.
Guinness Factory. There is a fee to get in but your ticket allows you to have a free pint of Guinness at the end of the tour. There really is not much here for families with young children, but the museum is very well done. There are multiple floors and the exhibits range from how the beer is made to how Guinness was advertised over the years. We were also able to do a little demonstration where we learned the proper way to drink and taste test Guinness Beer. There is a gift shop as well as two restaurants and then on the top floor is a bar with a 360 degree view of Dublin.
The most iconic tourist picture taken at Guinness Factory!
Celtic Dance Show. A must see when you are in Ireland. I love Celtic dancing and luckily my friends and I were able to buy tickets the night of, for a dinner and show deal. It was held in The Temple Bar at the Arlington Hotel. (and if you have seen pictures of Ireland where there is a bright red tavern building, that is what The Temple Bars look like and they are all over Ireland.) We were given a 3 course dinner, a live Celtic band and live Celtic dancing. There are a lot of options to see Celtic dancing, some include dinner and a show while others are just the show. So check with the front desk where you are staying. There will be plenty of brochures and they will be able to recommend something to you.
At the Celtic dinner and show at The Temple Bar.
Travel: Going to Ireland for the first time!
Adventure: Staying in a hostel and navigating through the city on our own. It was bit nerve racking at times, but that's part of the adventure.
Discover: I don't really like staying in hostels very much, but it is much nicer to stay in them when traveling with a group of friends.
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