Though my Irish friends may stone me for saying such a thing, I must preface this post with the following: I have never had a desire to visit Ireland. Well, perhaps in my high school years it sounded appealing, but since I made the big move to London, Ireland has never really been on my must-see list and – quite honestly – I never really thought I’d actually end up heading over that way. Well, while my cousin, S., and I started talking about our Eurotrip, Ireland was on the top of her list. At the very tippy top, in fact. Though it wasn’t on the top of mine, I am a firm believer in compromise and cooperation. Considering we’re going to Greece and loads of other places on the top of my list, I figured Ireland was something I could accept.
Well, now that we’ve actually started planning the Irish leg of our adventure, I am getting really excited! I definitely didn’t foresee this madness. I’m pumped. We’ve been considering renting a car (though it’s asininely expensive…) after our two-day stint in Dublin and heading over to Galway (where we could take a ferry to the Aran Islands), and then down around through Shannon (to see the Cliffs of Moher), Tipperary and Kilkenny by way of Cashel (to check out the famous Rock of Cashel) before coming back up to Dublin. Needless to say, it would be a super packed 5 day stint, but I think seeing other parts of Ireland (outside of Dublin) is important! Though I’m sure Dublin is an awesome city, it seems quite international which, in a sense, takes away a bit of the Irish quality; it seems that the smaller towns would be a bit more culturally rich. In any case, we’re still trying to solidify an itinerary. Since neither of us have been there, we’re going off what we’ve heard and our research to help us pick places.
Right now, our top spots are:
- Dublin
- Galway
- Aran Islands
- Blarney
- Cliffs of Moher
- Cashel
- Tipperary
- Kilkenny
We obviously won’t be able to fit all of those in, but they’re places that we’ve been considering. The more I talk to people from Ireland, though, the more confused I get! Some people stress Tipperary over Cashel or Waterford above Kilkenny. I’ve heard of all of these places, but I don’t know which places would best be part of a fun-filled road trip.
For anyone who’s lived in or visited Ireland — what cities do you recommend?
Are we leaving anything out?
How would you spend 5 days in Ireland?
Love from London,
