Travel Tips – Ireland

by Jeanne Hernandez, Travel Concierge

When I was told that our European vacation had to start in Dublin because of a soccer game, I was not a happy camper. I’ve booked many clients and students to Dublin often no one sounded excited about it. So when I made our travel plans, I made sure that the Ireland portion of the trip was short. I found very inexpensive round trip consolidator (bulk fare) flights from Orlando to Dublin and booked an AirBnB in the city center. 

My Surprise - I Loved Dublin

I discovered that Dublin was actually a very nice, beautiful, cosmopolitan city. We stayed for 2 ½ days and visited the main tourist attractions - Trinity college, the Guinness Storehouse, etc. (buy your tickets ahead of time so you don’t have to stand in line). I don’t think you need to stay longer than 2 or 3 days in Dublin – because almost everything can be seen/done within that time frame – but we had an amazing time.

Outside of Dublin

Since we wanted to visit locations outside of Dublin, we decided to rent a car. A train would have definitely been more relaxing, but we wanted to see Clonmacnoise (a beautiful historic monastery with a wealth of historic interest) on our way to the Cliffs of Moher. After visiting Clonmacnoise, we stumbled upon a Thai restaurant called Kin Khao in Athlone and decided that to give it a try since we wanted something different. We were lucky to get a table because little did we know, it was a Michelin Star restaurant and was usually booked months in advance. Luckily, they fit us in and we ate the best Thai food we have ever had.  

Traveling Across Ireland

Driving in Ireland is not for the faint of heart, especially if you’re not used to driving on the left hand side of the road, which we weren’t. Since I was the passenger, I saw old stone walls flying by within inches of my window because the roads were so narrow. We had to stop a few times because a sheep or a cow  decided to cross. My advice is to rent a car if you’re planning on stopping on your way to take pictures or going to another point of interest.  If you don’t plan on stopping anywhere on the way to the Cliff’s of Moher, by all means – take a train or a bus! You’ll still see the beautiful scenery and you’ll arrive at your destination completely relaxed. I had to have two glasses of wine after I got out of the car.  

Cliffs of Moher

We took a ferry ride to see the Cliffs of Moher and captured some fantastic photographs but then the clouds started rolling in. If I ever get a chance to go back, I will spend more time there – so I can wait for the clouds to leave and see more of the majestic views. 

Galway

After the Cliffs of Moher, we drove to Galway and stayed in the Abbeyglen Castle hotel for the night. I highly recommend this place. The price was approximately $100.00 per person and it included a fantastic breakfast. The price for the castle was a bit higher than what we usually like to spend - but we’ll definitely remember our stay. We toured Galway during the day and in the evening we returned to the castle, had a fantastic dinner, drank beer and sang Irish songs in the bar with the other guests.  

In hind-sight, I realize my opinion about Ireland was misguided. We fell in love with the beautiful countryside, the culture and the people with their sense of humor, generosity and kindness. We can’t wait to return. I tell all my clients to visit Ireland – it’s magnificent!