Best ways to spend great time in Ireland!

December 15, 2019 by nikirath 4 Comments

Ireland is one of the most beautiful country I have visited not just in terms of landscape and natural beauty but also the people there are just one of a kind, the most friendliest and happiest people I have met. When I went to Ireland for two weeks in the beginning of October, I did not really research a lot and just asked the locals around for recommendations. Everyone was so nice and helpful, it felt amazing to be on my own for the first time travelling solo. I thought it would be nice to share my experiences and recommendations for anyone who is visiting Ireland. Depending on how many days you have in Ireland you can plan a trip around it. Here are a few things I loved the most during my trip!

Walk till you drop in Dublin

Dublin is a super busy city , mostly can be explored by walking around the city. It does have lots of touristy things to do just like any other city. My favorite things to do while I was there was enjoying Butler’s Hot Choclate, watching scenic sunsets by the leafy river, relishing the healthy vegetarian meals at Tang, exploring Phoenix park with the beautiful deer and the lush green St Stephen’s park where I would sit for hours together. At night I loved hanging at bars with live music such as the Brazen Head and Church bar. The city seems overwhelming and bustling with tourists but once you start getting the hang of it, its enjoyable and all worth it.

Experience Irish countryside at Wicklow National Park

They say the real beauty of Ireland lies in the countryside. The best part is its accessible from Dublin by tour buses that take you out to the countryside if you don’t have a car there. I used the services from the Wild Rover tour and they were very entertaining. The bus travels to the small city of Killkenny which is a small cobbled stone town and then takes you all the way to Glendalough in Wicklow mountains which is landmark to early monastic settlement remains naturally preserved in a valley.

Priest’s home

Graveyard

Monastic Ruins

Glendelough Lake

Church ruins

 

Visit a sheep farm at Glendalough

The last part of the wild rover tour was something I was most excited about.  It was the visit to the sheep farm and interaction with the shepherd about the sheep dog demonstration.  It was amazing to see the dog follow the whistles of the shepherd , run and herd the sheep. I also got a chance to get so close to the sheep and pet them. My day exploring the countryside left me wonder struck that Ireland is so beautiful.

Sheep hug

Sheep Dog Demontration

All kinds of sheep

Relish the live music and great food at Galway

The Hueston train station was the hub to hop on the train and travel to the different little cities. One of the weekends I traveled to Galway, which is the cultural heart of Ireland. It is in slow paced cities such as Galway, you experience the real Irish culture. Bustling with tourists, Galway was a hub for great food and music. The Kitchen, Pasta Factory and Dough Pizza were some of my favorite spots in the city for food. The street music was very lively and enjoyable too.

River Corrib

Latin Quarter

Visit the local coastal towns of Mahalide, Howth, Dun Laire and Bray

Just about less than an hour away by train, Dublin is sorrounded by various beautiful coastal towns. I visited Mahalide and Dun Laire, both pretty towns surrounded by the ocean. Moderately cold fall weather and the leaves changing colors made it even more beautiful.

Explore the Killarney National Park

My favorite out of everything that I explored during my two weeks in Ireland was exploring the Gap of Dunloe in Killarney. Everything was just so magical about this place including castles, horse carraige rides, colorful sheeps and just the most stunning landscape ever. It was two trains away from Dublin and took about 3 hours to reach there but was a totally worth it visit and my absolute favorite part of the trip.

I also have individual posts on each of the above places if you are specifically interested in any one of them .Please share if there was a part of Ireland I missed! I would love to read.