We have kicked off this month-long journey by spending a couple of days in Dublin, but we are primarily interested in wandering around the country checking out other interesting locales. We are also planning on spending some time in Northern Ireland and potentially Scotland as well. Our first little adventure outside of the nation’s capital was a quick day trip out to the scenic Village of Howth.
Howth
We had heard all about Howth the last time we were in Dublin and put it on our list of places to visit the next time we were here. It is so close to Dublin that it can really be considered to be an outer suburb of the city. It is about a half hour ride from Central Dublin on the DART commuter train.
It is a great place for a day trip with lots to see and do. A myriad of restaurants and pubs for the hungry and thirsty are readily available. There are also a number of seafood markets out on the West pier (interspersed with the several seafood restaurants) if you are looking to enjoy some seafood at home.
For the more adventurous, several great hiking trails can be found in the area. And if beaches are your thing, there are a few of those to kick back on. It draws many visitors on weekends to its weekly market, and a few interesting historic sites and small museums can be checked out as well. Put it on your list of places to visit the next time you are in Dublin.
Here is a collection of photos from our visit.
“Photo Carousel” – Once again, I am using the “Carousel” format to present some of the photos in topics that have multiple photos in the best possible manner. You click on the first photo (top-left) in a grouping to start the Carousel.
Kilkenny
Our first destination as we headed south of Dublin was the town of Kilkenny. We really didn’t know anything about it, or have any expectations, but quickly discovered it to be a delightful surprise. It is a lovely, charming Irish town with a very dense and walkable core, centered on the Medieval Mile.
It is crock-a-jock full of shops, restaurants, and historical sites. The most famous historic site probably is the restored and very interesting Kilkenny Castle. For lovers of beer, you will probably want to check out the Smithwick’s Experience Kilkenny… And sample some of their product lines, of course. Although beer is no longer made in the town, Kilkenny is the site of the original Smithwick’s brewery.
Our Kilkenny photo collection begins at the train station in Dublin and ends with night settling in on our hotel. There are three main train stations in Dublin, Connolly, Heuston and Pearse. We left from Heuston station.
A video of the race’s Peloton flying by.
Our Accommodation
We stayed at the Kilkenny River Court Hotel. I would definitely stay there again. It was VERY busy, so clearly a preferred option.
Live Music
This is the one thing we have been most looking forward to on this trip. Sitting in bars listening to live Irish tunes. And what a better place to kick that off than Kilkenny’s Kyteler’s Inn
Give the trio a listen.
The Day Ends
I love taking photos at night. The juxtaposition of light and dark always creates a very special effect. Especially when reflected by water.
The Irish Train System – “How To” Tips
We will be getting around on this trip primarily by train on the Irish rail system (Iarnród Éirean), occasionally supplemented by bus travel. We have travelled all over Europe by train and were thrilled to discover that the Irish system was extensive enough to take us where we wanted to go most of the time.
We would normally buy a Eurail pass for a trip like this, but when comparing the direct cost, it did not seem to be any more expensive to just pay as we go.
It took one trip to figure out how to reserve seats and buy tickets online. The system is different than most we have encountered in Europe, but easy enough once you work your way through one trip. I’m going to attempt to explain the process through a series of individual photos.
1. When travelling by train, travelling light is the way to go. We are all travelling with carry-ons. Mine is also a backpack. The trains we have travelled on so far all had generous overhead luggage racks that are spacious enough for larger carry-on bags. Some of the coaches have storage bins where you can throw larger bags as well.
2. A typical Iarnród Éirean train.
3. You need to download the Irish rail app in order to book and pay online. You begin the process by entering where you were travelling from, where you were travelling to and on what date and approximate time you wish to travel.
4. Once you put in the required information, up will pop all the available departure times for that day.
5. Once you have chosen your departure time, you can select whatever number of specific seats you need in any one of a variety of different coaches. Or the system will automatically assign you seats if you don’t really care where you sit.
6. After you select your seats and pay, you get an email that has a “ticket collection number”. This is where the Irish system varies from others I have encountered. You have to go to a train station and print out your tickets..
7. Printing out the tickets is easy You take this number to the train station that you’ll be departing from and key in the number into one of the ticket purchasing machines… It is very clear on how to do this when you look at the machine.
8. The machine will print out your tickets with your name and seat assignment on them. If you buy a ticket in the moment with a charge card it would spit out exactly the same type of ticket… Without a name and seat selection of course. If you don’t pre-book, you just sit in any vacant seat.
9. And how do you know if someone has pre-booked a seat? Names appear over the window like mine here indicating who has reserved that seat. Having only been on two trains so far it does appear that people don’t sit where a name appears. So, it doesn’t look like you have to constantly chase people out of your pre-booked seats.
10. Once on board the only other task to complete is to enjoy the Irish scenery rolling by. 🙂 Photo by Patty F.
11. Until you get to your next destination. In this case Waterford.
