2 weeks ago I boarded my flight from Ireland back to Munich. On the plane back I only had one thought in my head: “Wow, how did you manage do this! What a relaxed but adventurous trip!”. In addition to the breathtaking sceneries and the towns I was fortunate enough to visit, the Irish gave me such a warm welcome that it was hard to dislike this country. I had exactly 5 days in Ireland, wanted to see as much as possible, but didn’t want rush through a packed itinerary. I did it. How? You will find out in this post.
Preparing the trip
When I plan a trip I normally only plan two things in advance. The flight and at least the first two nights of accomodation (most of them in hostels). I booked my flights 1 month before departure directly on the Ryanair website for an unbeatable price of 60€ roundtrip. I booked the hostel through Hostelworld. One night at Kinlay House Dublin costed me only 16€. Comparatively cheap for Dublin and Irish standards but also here I booked early in advance. When I looked again before the start of my trip, the price for the same room was listed at 62€. After these two things were organized, I did not do any planning for 2-3 weeks and just chilled.
I also always like to use other blogs and referrals from friends to get more inspiration. It helps me to see what I could do during a trip, no matter how long it may be. I noticed that this trip and my high goals require a bit more planning than I had done already. I knew that I would definitely visit the following cities / attractions: Dublin, Galway, Aran Islands, Belfast, Giant’s Causeway. With the page Transport for Ireland I was able to write down my plans. I got an impression of how long I will be traveling and also how much it will cost me. After I compiled my route and a rough timetable, I was able to enjoy the excitement about the upcoming trip.
Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.
Ibn Battuta
Let the journey to Ireland begin
My journey from Munich to Ireland, Dublin begins with a medium sized backpack and a jute bag. As I always say, I just love traveling alone. On the one hand because I can decide what I want to do when and where. I have the experienced that I am much more open to foreign people when I travel alone.
It just makes you intentionally wanting to interact with new people. I met an incredibly nice girl from Munich, who happened to be sitting in the seat next to mine. We started talking and found out that both of us are in Ireland for a long weekend and traveling alone. Each of us had their must-sees that we had in mind. I told her about my plan to go to Galway and in the end we decided to go there together. Before that we want to explore Ireland, Dublin.
Day 1: Dublin
With my recent solo trips to European cities, I have discovered my love for free walking tours. So here in Dublin my day started with such a tour and it really was worth every minute! Exciting stories, funny insights and a few breaks. I could not have imagined a better way to start this trip. Also, even if it’s a free tour I am always happy to leave a tip for the guide. After that, and I do that very often and gladly, I just started walking. Maps.me and Google Maps, gave me very good access to the world of offline maps. I am walking through the city of Guiness beer and I’m just thrilled about everything I see.
The weather is awesome and the people are incredibly friendly to me, which has given me even more peace. I really pushed myself to jump over my shadow and approach strangers more often and take pictures of them if they let me. In my opinion it worked pretty good.
Day 2: Galway
If you walk through the streets of Galway, you know exactly why Ed Sheeran dedicated a song to this city. On the almost 1 km long shopping street, talented street performers are playing instruments, step dancing and showcasing their talents. For breakfast I had a delicious traditional soda bread with butter and jam (try it!). My absolute recommendation to go and eat soda bread is the Griffins Bakery in the heart of the city. Ask for soda bread and if they can cut off 2 slices and serve with butter and jam. Afterwards (about 2PM) I wanted to start with a free walking tour, but unfortunately I was the only one who appeared to participate.
The tour guide told me that he would’ve started the tour if we would’ve been a minimum of 4 people. He also told me that this is due to the good weather and the time, because people prefer to relax by the river. In the evening, I was able to witness a really cool scenery: I walk through the streets again and suddenly see many of the bands that I saw during the day performing as a big band together! Really cool! So cool that I just could not leave and just stood there for 30 minutes.
Day 3: Galway -> Aran Islands -> Cliffs of Moher -> Galway
Following recommendations of my friend, I definitely wanted to visit the Aran Islands and the Cliffs of Moher. You may have looked at my Ireland travel plan and noticed that I was planning on doing a lot of traveling in Ireland. I’ve done a lot of research and I’m sure that I would’ve been able to wing it somehow and fit all my plans in that one day but I just thought I would give myself a break for a day that I do,’t care about catching a bus or train so I booked a full day tour of Get Your Guide.
For 50€ everything was taken care of except food. From 9:00 to 19:00 in the evening the tour leads you to Doolin from where you then go to the Aran Islands by ferry. There you can just walk around or borrow a bike for 10 €, which I have done, and be able to see most of the island. There are various sights in Ireland such as a shipwreck, a lighthouse, old castles and the famous stone walls that can be seen in this area (by the way, all stones are handplaced without any cement or any additional material!)
After about 2 hours on the island (completely sufficient to go to the main spots) you go back to Doolin on a ferry but take the way via the Cliffs of Moher. The magic rises on this journey as we come closer and closer to the famous cliffs. The guide told me that inside one of the caves an important scene of the film Harry Potter and the half-blood prince was filmed. Also, thousands of birds call these cliffs their home and fly around the stones that rise gracefully out of the water. It is just amazing
And because I can not get enough of these cliffs, after arriving in Doolin, I went to the top of the cliffs to enjoy the ocean view. Like the whole day, the sun shines down on us, which just makes me happy. After spending about an hour there, we went back to the hostel in Galway making short stops in smaller villages.
Day 4: Galway -> Dublin -> Belfast -> Giants Causeway -> Belfast -> Dublin Airport
I know it sounds like a lot, but it was not really. On the night of the third to the fourth day, the great journey to the other side of the island began. I drove to Belfast via Dublin and arrived in Belfast after 7 hours of layovers and bus rides. I inform myself directly about free-walking tour offers and while participating in it I learn a lot about the architecture but also the political rumors and circumstances which are part of Belfasts past and present. Unfortunately, I had to leave the tour earlier because the train to the Giants Causeway awaited me.
Of course, I could have taken a train later (an hour later), but I recommend you to plan on visiting the Giants Causeway for 2 hours, and for me that was only possible if I take that train. If you want to know how exactly I made my way to the Giants Causeway you can check out my travel plan. The entrance to UNESCO World Heritage is free. But if you want more information about the legends of the Giants Causeway you can buy an audio guide for 10€. Although I usually travel low budget, I have bought myself an audio guide for that time due to recommendations of locals and other tourists I met during my trip and – I highly recommend it! The legends are exciting, funny and work well with the incredible landscape.
Back in Belfast – between battle and beauty
Back in Belfast, the sun had not set yet so that I contrary to my expectations, still had a lot of time to see the city and other attractions. Belfast is a really interesting and diverse city. In one moment I was in a hip city with street-art and a harbor, which reminded me a little bit of Hamburg. 20 minutes later I arrived to a more critical district, because I wanted to see the so-called peace wall, as this also belongs to the story Belfast.
The wall is open during the day, but is closes every day at 6PM, to avoid problems between the Republicans and Unionists, between which there still are disputes. I notice right away that there are completely different police cars driving around this area. I am overtaken by a man walking with his dog and a baton. In addition, a man my age approaches me. He kindly advises me to hide my camera for security reasons, so that I wouldn’t be robbed. I was not even close to the wall. This feeling of fear and battle does not only to dominate the vibes directly around the wall … I walk faster and faster, so that I reach the wall before the onset of darkness.
It is already dawning. I’m there … but do I take pictures now? Can I get my camera out? I dare to and quickly shoot 2-3 photos. The paintings on the wall remind me of the Berlin Wall, but the fact that there are people still living in the tin houses behind the fence, locked up at night makes the difference. I do not understand why anyone would want to put themselves in a housing situation like that but maybe they also didn’t want to. No more exploring, because it is getting darker. I move on quickly and arrive at the bus station 20 minutes later from which I take the bus to go to Dublin airport to catch my flight the next morning.
Somehow my stress levels decreases rapidly when I finally sit on the bus to the airport. The last 2 hours were a bit scary but also very important as I think. You can not and should not always look at cities in on their splendor and glory side but also occasionally drive yourself to discover the other. All in all it was a short trip for me, where I learned a lot about the country and also about myself.
Dear Ireland, I will gladly come again.
