Vacations in the Playground

[DaMidget]

So, I will be going on vacation to Dublin, Ireland around mid-May. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for places to go, things to do, people to meet.

Also I figured it would be a good idea for others to share their favorite places they have traveled and fun things they did there!

[KuReshtin]

I never seem to go anywhere exciting on my holidays.
I usually just travel back to Sweden to see my family for a week or two.

Last major trip I did was when I went to the US back in 1998 to meet up with a bunch of friends.

[DaMidget]

Yea when I was stationed in the US I would only travel back to visit my parents in Michigan, so when I got to Germany I told myself I was going to take a real vacation and go somewhere interesting! This is my first attempt at a vacation for my own purposes rather than satisfying my parents need to verify that I'm still alive once a year :smallbiggrin: .

[KenderWizard]

So, I will be going on vacation to Dublin, Ireland around mid-May. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for places to go, things to do, people to meet.


Yay! :smallbiggrin:

There's a new initiative that sounds really fun where a Dub (Dublin person) will meet you when you arrive and take you for a pint or cup of tea, and answer your questions. I don't really know how you sign up for it, but I think it'd definitely worth looking into!

What kind of things do you like doing? I'll try give some good suggestions.

[DaMidget]

Hmmm, I enjoy just relaxing and talking with people over coffee/tea/guinness. I figure I should probably see some historical sites, the guinness brewery is a must see :smallbiggrin:. I'm also partial to just wandering around until I'm so hopelessly lost I have to ask for directions repeatedly.

Yea now that I think of it, I should have probably thought up more of a plan. Well at this point unless something crazy comes up I will be hitting Dublin May 11-12th ready to shovel out cash like its going out of style.

[rakkoon]

The Guinness brewery took up half of my day there :smallsmile:
Bring extra socks.
Bring a rain coat.

[KenderWizard]

You should go around some pubs and talk to barmen. The trick is to find the old-man pubs, with bar staff who are a feature of the place. I really like Mulligans, on Poolbeg St, which is just off Tara St. My favourite pub is probably The Bull And Castle, which is at the far end of Dame St from Trinity College, opposite Christchurch. The Porterhouse is good, but busy. It's a microbrewery, there are a couple around the place. Another good microbrewery is The Gingerman, which is near Merrion Square. A nice, friendly mainly whiskey shop that's very popular with visitors is the Celtic Whiskey Shop, which is down Dawson St, kind of between the side of Stephen's Green and the side of Trinity College. The Jameson Distillery is supposed to be very good, I'd like to go visit it myself someday soon!

Things that are nice that aren't alcohol-related:
Visit Trinity College. You can get tours, or just wander around. The Book of Kells is there, but I think the Old Library itself is the real star attraction. I study in the Museum Building. Visitors aren't allowed up the stairs, but the ground floor has some awesome fossils and mineral specimens, and the building itself is like the beautiful love-child of a geologist and an architect.

Grafton St is the big, famous, expensive-ish shopping street. It's worth a stroll down, but if you want an exciting place to get lost, walk down Grafton St from Trinity towards Stephen's Green, and turn right down one of the more winding streets.

Dame St is another good place to get lost off, walk from Trinity again except straight on from Front Arch and turn left. (It's a small city, you could easily end up in exactly the same place from either of those sets of instructions).

Temple Bar is great for a stroll during the day. At night, it's the young, expensive party place. Not really my scene. It has lots of quirky shops, though, and some nice places to eat. Pubs there cost a lot.

On the Northside, O'Connell St is the main street. It has the GPO on it, you should definitely go in, it's a big piece of history and also, a really cool looking post office.

Along the North quays are some nice shops and stuff. The Winding Stair is a really cute bookshop.

Take the Red Line Luas (the one that crosses O'Connell St) out towards the Point. Sometimes there's a weekend market out along there somewhere.

Generally it's a good city to get lost in, but keep an eye out. There are dodgy areas. Mostly in the city centre, the dodgy areas are on the Northside. There are pickpockets on Luas platforms, and homeless people hang around beside the ticket machines and ATMs. If they're bothering you, say you'll call the guards (the police are called the Gardai: gar-dee, or guards for short). People tend to be friendly and helpful, but obviously, you'll always get the occasional jerk! If someone's mocking you, especially if they're smiling, and you're in a pub or they're a bus driver, that usually means you're friends now and you should engage in some friendly banter, ie, mock them back.
Disclaimer: Don't follow this advice if they also have a glint in their eye, a knife, and are twice your size.

I hope you have a really good time! It's during my exams, or I'd offer to go for a drink with you.

[Tyndmyr]

So, I will be going on vacation to Dublin, Ireland around mid-May. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for places to go, things to do, people to meet.

Also I figured it would be a good idea for others to share their favorite places they have traveled and fun things they did there!

Guinness brewery. Yes. There's a pour your own pint exhibit on...some floor. I forget. It was unattended the day we visited. It was the best exhibit ever.

[DaMidget]

Guinness brewery. Yes. There's a pour your own pint exhibit on...some floor. I forget. It was unattended the day we visited. It was the best exhibit ever.

Ohhhhh! I do like this idea, will definitely check it out.



*lots of good advice and fun stuff to do*


Wow! That should keep me busy for the duration of my trip. My flight comes in late on May 11th, and then I will be returning on May 16th. I figure that gives me enough time to explore at my own pace.


I hope you have a really good time! It's during my exams, or I'd offer to go for a drink with you.

Well if between the 11th and 16th you do suddenly find a spare 30 minutes or an hour we should do coffee/tea/lunch :smallsmile:.

Also for anyone else living in Dublin, if you happen to be walking down the street and recognize me from the You! thread archives, make sure to stop me and say hi! (I should really add a picture of my "I'm lost and confused" look for easy recognition)

[THAC0]

IMO, Guiness is a bit lame. Go for the Jameson place and when they ask for volunteers at the beginning of the tour, PUT YOUR HAND IN THE AIR!!!!

Gogarty's pub is great for food and music, too.

If you can get out to Newgrange, it's worth it!

[Lyleachu]

I loved the Irish country side and shores. I stayed away from the big cities while i was there, spent most of my time in the old castles and in fields.

[Trog]

My favorite place to travel to has got to be to the meetup in TN. I've gone twice, by myself, 18 hour drive each time. Only times I have ever gotten lost (once each time, actually >>; ) was on those trips and I just absolutely love the hills down there. They fascinate me. I grew up around bluffs and such but these are much more huge and have this... mystique about them. Both times I had wished that I had had someone along for the ride to share my amazement with. That was the only downside. On the other hand it made it feel more like an adventure to be driving all alone through areas like the Cumberland Gap and all.

Not to mention the actual meetup. And Hippie and MountainFaerie and family are easily the kindest and most fun and just... down to earth family it has been my privilege to know and I love 'em all to death.

I have no vacation plans this summer except to probably take the kids to the Wisconsin Dells and Noah's Ark waterpark again since it's close by and has become a bit of a yearly tradition. Anything more than that would require me getting off of work and since I'm the only one there now who can do my job the place would basically close down without me there so until come up with another back-up plan I'm sort of screwed. :smallyuk:

[DaMidget]

Yay! :smallbiggrin:

There's a new initiative that sounds really fun where a Dub (Dublin person) will meet you when you arrive and take you for a pint or cup of tea, and answer your questions. I don't really know how you sign up for it, but I think it'd definitely worth looking into!

What kind of things do you like doing? I'll try give some good suggestions.

Actually after re-reading this it kind of reminds me of the idea of couchsurfing.org which I signed up for awhile ago, but still haven't made use of. The fact that I do not have a couch to share to travelers makes me not use it, as I feel I could not return the favor.