DUBLIN
As we continue our quest to see as much of the world as we can, we thought Ireland would be a fitting destination for us because it was close enough to home yet far enough to make a week-long trip worthwhile. We caught a red-eye from LAX to Dublin and got into the city at around 4pm. I wonder how many red-eyes I’ll have to take before it really hits home that I just absolutely despise them. Things never go as I expect. No matter how many times I convince myself that I’ll sleep on the flight and be fully rested and ready to explore when I touch down, it just never seems to go that way.
This was my second time visiting Ireland; I was here once before, in June of 2018. That trip was only about three days long as I was using it as an extended layover on my way to Iceland. However, the days in June are significantly longer than the days in December, something I should have taken into consideration this time around. I also spent more time in Dublin on my first visit, a fun city with shopping, cool restaurants, tons of pubs, and fun streets to explore. This time, however, one evening in Dublin is all we had.
Normally when I travel, I like to set the itinerary for where we go; what we do, where we stay, etc. This time we partnered with Noken (hellonoken.com) and they took the liberty of booking our accommodations, rental car, and created a loose itinerary for us to follow while we explored Ireland. It was nice to be able to sit back and not worry about finding activities to fill the day with because I knew that someone already did that for us.
First up, we took a cab from the airport to downtown Dublin ($40) and checked into our hotel, the Conrad Dublin ($242/night). The Conrad was a great place for us to sleep, it’s close enough to Drury Street, the lively section of Dublin that you won’t want to miss, yet far enough away for us to sleep comfortably and quietly.
We settled in and set off to the first stop on our itinerary; the Irish Whiskey Museum ($34/person) in downtown Dublin. This isn’t something I’d normally book on a trip like this but it was a fun experience to get a better understanding of the history of whiskey in Ireland. We were a bit tired from our long flight and lack of quality sleep to the point where we considered bailing on this altogether but afterward we were grateful we went.
KILLARNEY ROAD TRIP
There wasn’t much time to rest or hang around Dublin because we had a lot to see and do. We picked up the rental car ($48/day) early on the second day and set off west toward Killarney. My first time visiting Ireland I didn’t get the chance to stop along this route to check out any of the must sees but this time we had a bit more time to stop and enjoy the sights.
I will say that the one thing I wish we had done differently this time around was drive less. Every day we had at least a two and a half hour drive which meant we didn’t have much time to relax and enjoy whichever area we were in. Being in Ireland in December meant the days were short; the sun would rise 8:30am and set around 4:00pm which left us with only about six hours of sunlight to explore once breakfast was finished.
That said, we were sure to stop by the Rock of Cashel on the way to Killarney to feast our eyes on the first bit of old time Ireland that we’ve heard so much about. Unfortunately for us, we got there just 15 minutes too late and weren’t allowed inside so we walked around the perimeter and took pictures of the castle with the sunset as our backdrop.
We grabbed dinner at a random pub in Killarney near our hotel and checked in around 9:00pm and settled in for the night. Our hotel, The Killarney Park ($280/night), was in a great location, beautiful lobby, and had a delicious continental breakfast. However, again, I felt like we didn’t have much time to enjoy the amenities because we felt the need to be continuously on the move.
RING OF KERRY
In my opinion, this was the highlight of our trip. In its entirety, the Ring of Kerry is 179km circular route along cliffs and through towns in Southwest Ireland. We were only able to make a few stops along the way but they were definitely worth the time to pull over and explore a bit.
First, we hit Cahergall Stone Fort to get out of the car stretch our legs while enjoying some unique Irish architecture from the 7th century. This stop yielded two forts for the price of one because Leacanabuaile Stone Fort is just a short walk away. We had fun exploring the crevices and climbing as high as we could on these cool looking stone structures.
Next up we high-tailed it to Kerry Cliffs. Last time I was in Ireland the hands-down highlight was the Cliffs of Moher but this time, perhaps because we weren’t able to see the cliffs of Moher, Kerry Cliffs took the cake. We were there mid-week and some unpredictable weather meant we had the area almost entirely to ourselves. The West coast of Ireland is so fascinating with its cliffs. They are definitely something worth seeing, even if it means going out of your way. I can’t recommend enough that these cliffs (or Cliffs of Moher) need to be on your Ireland itinerary.
From there, we were starting to lose sunlight so we kicked it into overdrive and drove straight to Ballinskelligs Castle for one last bit of history before the sun fully set on us. The tiny castle itself is quite unique and set out on a small peninsula just off the shoreline. If it’s along your route I definitely encourage you to stop by and pay it a visit but by no means should you go out of your way for it.
We spent the night at Dromoland Castle ($252/night) and it was an amazing property. But again, we didn’t have much time to dilly dally around because our itinerary was too full. The grounds and castle itself are beautiful and worth visiting and staying there for a few days. We woke up early the next morning to partake in the falconry experience Noken set up for us. It wasn’t something we were terribly stoked on but after an hour of spending time around amazing birds of prey, and a couple owls, we walked away from the experience having thoroughly enjoyed it.
Giants Causeway
The weather wasn’t cooperating with us during the second half of the trip so unfortunately we were forced to miss the Cliffs of Moher, a place I really wanted Caelynn to be able to see firsthand because it struck so much awe in me the last time I visited. We decided to drive out there and give it a chance anyway but we were met with gale force wind and very limited visibility. The drive, however, allowed us to stop by the world famous Unglert’s Bakery (ok, perhaps not world famous but it’s the only other time I’ve seen my last name outside of my family members).
Noken encouraged us to drive back to Dublin this day but we decided to make the extra long journey to Northern Ireland (5.5 hours) to take a look at Giants Causeway. It’s times like this that I’m truly grateful for how much I enjoy driving. We stuck around Galway until just after dinner time before we set off which got us to the Causeway Hotel ($110/night) by right around midnight. There were a few short moments along the drive that I questioned whether or not it was worth going so far out of our way just to see Giants Causeway but in the end I’m glad we dedicated the extra time to get there.
Our flight left Dublin at 3:00pm and it was a three hour drive for us to return so we had to wake up early, got to spend about an hour at the causeway, and had to set off. We gained free access to the causeway through our hotel booking, an added bonus to its already perfect proximity to the UNESCO World Heritage Sight. As was the tone for the entire trip, we didn’t have much time but we got to spend about an hour at the causeway, suffering through the pouring rain and windy conditions. Still, it was certainly worth the drive in my opinion.
Final Thoughts
This was a very quick trip to Ireland, certainly too quick in my opinion. Ireland is a relatively small country and can be seen, almost in its entirety, in about a week. We unfortunately chose a bad time to visit given the poor weather and super short days.
It felt like we spent at least five hours in the car every single day. In total, we drove probably right about 18 hours over 4 days. That’s just shy of 5 hours every single day! I’ll be sure to spread it out over a bit more days next time we have something like this in mind.
Traveling with Noken was a unique experience in its own right. Normally I enjoy being responsible for the good, bad, and unexpected when it comes to traveling so, for once, it was nice to be able to sit back and let someone else plan our trip for us. That said, there were a few things I would have planned differently on the trip but all in all it was a great experience and I encourage anyway that’s traveling to Ireland, perhaps those who haven’t been before, check out Noken to help you plan your itinerary!
Caelynn’s Corner
I’ve dreamt about going to Ireland since 2007 when I saw ‘P.S. I Love You’ in theaters. Twelve years later those dreams came true. I’m happy we got to go during Christmas time because it was decorated so beautifully. However, if you are to go to Ireland, I would suggest going in the spring or summer. I am terrible in cold climates and Ireland was no exception. I looked up the temperatures before we left and it said highs of 50°F and lows of 40-35°F, which seemed manageable, but that did not account for the wind chill, which was strong. If you don’t mind cold weather, going in the colder months is great because there aren’t very many tourists. For the most part, we were the only people there at each place we went.
Our time in Dublin was relatively short considering how much there is to do there. I wanted to spend more time in each place we went, but looking back, I’m happy we went to a different city each day because it allowed us to see so much. My favorite thing we did while we were there was the Ring of Kerry. We only made three stops, there’s about ten stops you can make, and I felt like that was perfect. We got to see a three abounded forts and the Cliffs of Kerry. This was by far the best part of the trip for me, the weather was perfect this day so we were able to see everything we wanted to. The only other downside to going to Ireland in the winter is that you have very limited sunlight, the sun rises around 8 or 9am and sets around 4:30pm. This made it difficult to fit a lot into a short amount of time, but we did it. We owe a lot of our planning and scheduling to Noken as well. They were great at planning our trip out for us, it was nice not to worry about what we were going to do each day, we just looked at that app and went where they suggested. They provided us with multiple options as well in case they was something we weren’t too interested in seeing.
All in all, Ireland is as beautiful as it seems. I remember telling Dean that the trees and grass seemed so much greener in Ireland. I loved that there were so many castles and forts to see. It’s a small country, you can drive from end to end in about four hours (as we did) but there are so many places to visit, and it’s hard to cover everything in less than a week. It’s definitely a country I will come back to at some point.