If you have a weekend or a couple of days free and no immediate plans, go to Dublin. It's a fantastic city of Irish heritage, traditional folk music and plenty of beer! I took my boyfriend as a 21st birthday present, we went for four days and three nights which we found the perfect amount of time to do everything! I booked the flights with Ryanair for £9.99 and £7.99 return which is a cinema ticket... so even if you're on a budget there are no excuses not to go!
Ireland is a country extremely proud of it's culture and you'll find reminders of everything associated with the Emerald Isles as you pass along the cobbled pavements; bustling pubs full of thriving musicians, street corners showcasing talented buskers and 'Auld time' architecture on O'Connell Street. We bought a 2 day hop-on hop-off sight seeing bus ticket each which basically served as our transport for the weekend, meaning we could stop off at all the tourist destinations we had on our bucket list!
The hotel we stayed at, The Blooms Hotel, was situated bang in the middle of Temple Bar (the third highest rating attraction from TripAdvisor), with its bohemian vibes and lively entertainment it's the perfect place to spend the evening. Blooms was great, among one of the nicest and cheapest hotels in the usually highly priced area - with a an all you can eat continental breakfast fit for a king!
On our first day there we decided to do the full two hour city sightseeing tour using the hop-on hop-off buses, with hilariously entertaining and informative commentary from the lovely drivers. This way we got the full tour and could then venture round again hopping off at the places we wanted to visit. We then spent the next couple of days visiting some of the more time consuming venues including the Guinness Factory, Kilmainham Gaol (there's a decent tour of the jail I would recommend), a tour of the city docks and Dublin Zoo; where I spent hours filming the elephants and giggling at the penguins!
There's lots to see and do but I believe all the typical tourist attractions could be done in two days, however to get the full benefit 3/4 days will allow you time to relax and enjoy what the city has to offer as there were a few museums and shows we would have liked to have visited. My favourite activity however was the Dublin Ghost Bus Tour - an evening aboard an impressively decorated double Decker, hosted by a comical tour guide who used a sound board and props to enhance his terrifying tales! With historical facts and gruesome stories slotted in between graveyard visits this trip was definitely the highlight of our holiday. Me and Sam got picked on several times to step first into the abandoned church and answer quiz questions on horror trivia which made the evening interactive and brilliantly funny. The tour was a bit pricey at £24 per person, but we saved it until the last night so that if we had any Euros left we could treat ourselves - it was completely worth the laughs and the scares so if you're a supernatural fanatic like I am, it should definitely be on your top 10 list!
And in case you were wondering...yes I did manage a whole pint of Guinness at the Guinness Factory.
Our Itinerary
DAY 1:
Trinity College visit
Hop-on hop-off bus tour for the full 2 hours (click HERE)
Evening in Temple Bar
DAY 2:
Cathedrals and park visits
Guinness Factory
Kilmainham Gaol
DAY 3:
Dublin Zoo
City dock Tour
Ghost Tour Bus (in the evening)
DAY 4:
Last minute souvenir shopping in the city centre
Trinity College
The Guinness Factory
Kilmainham Gaol
The Christ Church
Dublin Zoo
The River Liffey
