Our trip to Dublin contained an number of milestone '1st times' including:
- 1st time 'overseas' to another European (EU) country and having to buy Euros.
- 1st time travelling on the infamous Ryanair
The latter turned out to be an experience that exceeded the expectations formed from chatting to our expat friends. However this may be because of our size as we don't exactly need a lot of legroom and therefore flying budget is not too much of an unbearable experience.
Pre-trip preparation
- 1st time 'overseas' to another European (EU) country and having to buy Euros.
- 1st time travelling on the infamous Ryanair
The latter turned out to be an experience that exceeded the expectations formed from chatting to our expat friends. However this may be because of our size as we don't exactly need a lot of legroom and therefore flying budget is not too much of an unbearable experience.
Pre-trip preparation
We booked our flights to Dublin direct with Ryanair but used the handy website Skyscanner to review pricing across different carriers and times. By planning our trips several months in advance, we are able to take advantage of lower pricing and a simple Google check for school term breaks and local festivals can help you avoid the peak seasons such as St Patrick's Day. Travelling to Dublin during Summer had its advantage as a cheap destination for the time of year, as most other Europeans are more interested in flying south to enjoy the Mediterranean sunshine.
As we were new to 'weekend travelling' we needed a good resource to find all the top tourist sites in the city that could be covered within 48 hours. The 'Things to See and Do' section of TripAdvisor turned out to be the key reference point. The forum also helped us to evaluate neighbourhoods to stay in or avoid; and also to get a frank insight into key sightseeing places, transport, food and the culture.
One of the pure joys about flying a budget airline, is the number of restrictions or additional costs that you need to navigate through to avoid nasty surprises at the departure gate. For example the small hand-luggage measuring devices and Ryanair's requirement that non-UK/EU passengers need to have their boarding pass stamped and visa checked at the counter can easily be overlooked - of which we heard means that if you don't realise until the point you need to board the plane, you will be marched back through security to get it done, possibly resulting in you missing the flight.As we were new to 'weekend travelling' we needed a good resource to find all the top tourist sites in the city that could be covered within 48 hours. The 'Things to See and Do' section of TripAdvisor turned out to be the key reference point. The forum also helped us to evaluate neighbourhoods to stay in or avoid; and also to get a frank insight into key sightseeing places, transport, food and the culture.
Airport Transport
Our trip to Dublin coincided with the start of school summer holidays in the UK. This made us anxious that airport queues would be lengthy and we would need plenty of extra time to avoid missing our flight. We learnt had learnt our lesson earlier in the year when we underestimated Sydney traffic and arrived just as the boarding gates were closing.
Taking an early flight in London gives you limited options for getting to the airport as the Underground does not offer a regular service until past 6am. We decided to use a mini cab, booked at 5:30am with the contact details found from a local mailbox flyer for a company operating in South-East London. We had asked the cab to wait at the nearest cross-street to our house and when we received the message that it had arrived, we expected to find a run-down, grotty old mini-van. However, we were surprised when a professional dressed driver stepped out in a brand new black Audi to confirm our booking. We were definitely impressed and will use their services again.
At Stansted Airport we learnt that just because the car looks upmarket, it doesn't mean that it holds the payment facilities of a regular black cab. We had overlooked the small detail that our payment had to be in cash with exact money preferred. This meant that Olie had to quickly dash to the ATM at the airport whilst Mei waited with the driver at the drop-off zone, pretending to have an in-depth conversation so that the airport parking inspectors didn't give the car a ticket.
Priority Queue
At the departure gate, the golden piece of advice from other expat friends soon paid off and we were thankful for paying more money for the priority queue ticket. The regular queue to board the plane was stretched around the departure lounge with people sitting on the walkway floor to hold their position. Ryanair does not have an allocated seating arrangement. This means a fight for cabin luggage space above the seats and sometimes a limited ability to sit with the people you are travelling with. Lucky for us, the fight for cabin luggage space wasn't required, with our backpacks fitting comfortably underneath the seat in front - one of the benefits of having short legs!
Dublin Bus City Tour
As soon as we arrived in Dublin, we purchased a 2-day Hop On / Hop Off bus pass and a return airport shuttle ticket for the packaged price of 22 euro. This tour was very useful in terms of helping us get a feel of what the city had to offer. The green (as a shamrock) open top Dublin Bus consisted of an hour long lap of the central business district, with drivers that were quite entertaining although both of us struggled to understand the words underneath the thick Irish accents.
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| On the bus tour |
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| Christchurch Cathedral |
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| Appropriately named coffee chain store |
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| Monument of Light |
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| General Post Office |
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| Temple Bar, Dublin |
Guinness Factory
After our city bus tour, we headed to the Guinness Factory for a tour of the facilities - a trip we would definitely recommend. With 'free tastings' and a pint of stout included in the entry fee, we followed the history of Guinness from the signing of a 9000 year old lease for the factory site, an overview of the key ingredients - water / hops / barley / yeast, the marketing campaigns and the link to the Guinness Book of Records.
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| Olie doing his 'Guinness for strength' pose |
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| Guinness for strength marketing campaign poster |
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| Outside the oak barrel exhibition |
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| Gravity Bar, Guinness Factory Dublin |
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| Blue sky and view of the local mountain range from the Gravity Bar |
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| Imagine drinking hundred plus year old Guinness |
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Dinner that night was at the Porterhouse in Temple Bar. With a live act playing, we relived some karaoke moments singing along to the songs of Ireland's great musical export - U2. Dinner was made up of some traditional Irish fare - caramelised pork chop with cider and lamb shank with root vegetables. As the night progressed, we got a feel of how rowdy Dublin streets could get.
Kilmainham Prison (Heritage Ireland site)
The next morning, we took the opportunity to try the traditional big Irish breakfast - egg, bacon, toast, sausage, baked beans, white pudding and black pudding. This gave us enough energy to complete the tour of Kilmainham Prison. During this tour we saw the cramped cells and stark conditions used by political prisoners that rebelled against the British and where Irish convicts were held prior to transportation to Australia.
The Prison is also famous for being used in many Hollywood movies and by U2 who recorded 'A Celebration' there. After our tour, we headed back into the city for another meal at the Porterhouse - oxtail and oyster pie with oyster stout and seafood chowder with delicious strawberry beer.
Easybus Transfers - London Airports
After less than 36 hours in Dublin, we were flying back to London. We decided to use the Easybus service from Stansted Airport to Baker St as it was a bargain at £2 per person (although not as comfortable as the £50 ride in the Audi). The bus dropped us in front of the Jubilee Line where we used our Oyster travel cards to get back home. Once we were home we realized how much the weekend travel session had tired us out, but it was well worth the effort and a great way to get our 'to do list' ticked off.
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Kilmainham Prison (Heritage Ireland site)
The next morning, we took the opportunity to try the traditional big Irish breakfast - egg, bacon, toast, sausage, baked beans, white pudding and black pudding. This gave us enough energy to complete the tour of Kilmainham Prison. During this tour we saw the cramped cells and stark conditions used by political prisoners that rebelled against the British and where Irish convicts were held prior to transportation to Australia.
The Prison is also famous for being used in many Hollywood movies and by U2 who recorded 'A Celebration' there. After our tour, we headed back into the city for another meal at the Porterhouse - oxtail and oyster pie with oyster stout and seafood chowder with delicious strawberry beer.
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| Kilmainham Prison |
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| Peering out of the tiny cells |
Easybus Transfers - London Airports
After less than 36 hours in Dublin, we were flying back to London. We decided to use the Easybus service from Stansted Airport to Baker St as it was a bargain at £2 per person (although not as comfortable as the £50 ride in the Audi). The bus dropped us in front of the Jubilee Line where we used our Oyster travel cards to get back home. Once we were home we realized how much the weekend travel session had tired us out, but it was well worth the effort and a great way to get our 'to do list' ticked off.
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