7 days in Ireland:
There I was…desperate to travel but completely overwhelmed by the idea of international travel…you can see my post about learning to travel here. Globus sent me an email that would change everything. They have off-season trips called “Escapes” and they were doing one for a week in Ireland for like $700. It might have been the fastest purchase I’ve ever made. Haha… Tour companies may not be everyone’s cup of tea though, you could also plan your own roadtrip through Ireland instead of going with a group.
Of course, like any travel-obsessed person not traveling, I had been collecting miles via American Air’s credit card that were burning a hole in my pocket and now I had somewhere to go!
Planning a 7 day trip to Ireland:
I started doing some research and it looked like I could get two one-way tickets home from Ireland for my boyfriend and I with my miles. I found a “great deal” on Norwegian (cue narrator voice: It turned out to not be such a great deal…) that let’s just say I learned a lot from.
Long story short, our luggage was overweight but the completely bewildered look on our faces made the lady at the counter have mercy on us and she graciously let us go without the extra charge. I’m sweating at this point because I had NO idea what I was doing.
Also, let’s not talk about how I bawled my eyes out the whole way to the airport after saying goodbye to Basil (my dog for those of you new around here). Spoiler: Six years later and I still have a hard time saying goodbye to the little guy when I leave for a trip.
Ok so SURELY the worst is past now right? Nope…we boarded and found ourselves strapped into what turned out to basically be metal folding chairs bolted to the floor. No food, no entertainment…it was Indiana Jones with the chickens on the plane in Temple of Doom…I had no idea that that’s pretty standard on a budget airline… oops…
Thankfully, it was a non-stop flight which is relatively short all things considered. When we arrived we waited forever in passport control land but as promised our Globus guide was waiting to pick us up thank goodness.
I can’t even tell you what it was like riding into Dublin from the airport. It was not only amazing to be IN IRELAND but also the sense of accomplishment from ACTUALLY getting there was HUGE! I had finally done it and not just talked about it…I WAS IN ANOTHER COUNTRY!!
Some things that I considered when planning this trip was maybe trying to get there during the holidays. At the time, I had a job that was very seasonal specific so sadly I wasn’t able to go during Halloween in Ireland BUT we were there just as they were getting ready for Christmas which was pretty great.
A Day in Dublin:
We had flown overnight so it was still pretty early in the morning when they picked us up. They took our luggage to the hotel and set us loose for the day. Thankfully, I had known that this was what our first day was going to look like so I had booked a hop on/off bus tour for us to get an overview of the city which was awesome.
We also made a stop at Ireland’s National Museum of Archeology to see the “bog people”. Bog people or bog bodies are found buried and basically mummified in peat bogs. The whole museum was incredible. I would highly recommend a stop.
By the end of the day we were WHOOPED but we had the welcome dinner with the rest of our tour mates with Globus before bed. That first dinner we ended up finding a couple people who we ended up hanging out with the whole rest of the trip. We’re still connected via social media today.
The next day the tour actually started with our guide and driver taking us through Dublin before giving us a little more free time. We went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and the long room before walking around some more. That evening we went to the Guinness Storehouse for their tour and a special dinner. It was SUCH a fun experience. You have to do their tour when you’re in Dublin and if you have time you should definitely stop for a bite at one of their restaurants. The food is SO good.
Galway to the Cliffs of Moher:
After Dublin we headed across the country through the Burren to Galway. I know this will be a controversial statement but I like Galway better than Dublin. There’s probably no real comparison but it had such a great feel to it and having grown up going to NYC during my summers, Dublin just reminded me of any major city I had ever been too.
We got to wander around down to Galway Bay and see the Spanish Arches before grabbing lunch. It was a fun day in just the kind of weather that you expect in Ireland.
However, when we ventured to the Cliffs of Moher it was so BLINDINGLY sunny that all my pictures are totally washed out. You just have to laugh because everyone and their mother told me that we were crazy for going so late in the year…it was ‘just going to rain constantly’ and we ‘wouldn’t get to see anything’. Just goes to show ya, don’t let anyone talk you out of doing anything that you want to do!
Off to Ennis for the night. This little town was SO cute, I wish we could have stayed longer. We had an AWESOME pub dinner near our hotel and walked around all evening. Ireland was just starting to put out all their Christmas decorations which was lovely.
Ring of Kerry Highlights:
Ennis was the start of our drive along the Ring of Kerry. Incredible landscape…I mean INCREDIBLE. It got to the point, honestly, where we were just overloaded by the scenery. There was SO much to look at and take pictures of…just crazy!
We stopped at the Kerry Bog Village along the way for Irish coffees and got a chance to walk around the historical recreation village they have set up. They had a couple of Irish Wolfhounds who just loved Ian. It was very cute.
Our driving tour through the Ring of Kerry ended in Killarney and as someone who grew up listening to ”Christmas in Killarney” every year…it was SO fun. I hadn’t thought about it till we got there and it was all lit up for Christmas! Gorgeous. Our tour guide had overheard a couple of us talking about how we love Indian food so he pulled us aside as we got off the bus and recommended a place to get dinner in Killarney and it was the BEST Indian food EVER.
Tour of Blarney Castle:
Let me just start this next section with an honest-to-goodness confession. Blarney Castle was the one thing on our 7 days in Ireland tour that I was like “meh” about…it seemed totally touristy and vaguely tacky and there was no way I was going to kiss some nasty stone.
This was legitimately one of the coolest stops on the tour. I didn’t know that you’d get to walk through the WHOLE castle to get to the top where the stone is and Blarney Castle is just a gorgeous ruin. (I still wouldn’t kiss some nasty stone but Ian did so here’s a pic! Haha…)
In addition to the actual castle, there are extensive gardens to walk through which was very fun even in the dead of winter. The moral of the story…don’t write something off for being dumb until you actually know all the info.
After Blarney Castle, we headed on through Cork to Waterford and toured the Waterford Crystal workshop. UNREAL. The detail that goes into these pieces is just incredible. Very informative tour and then we stayed the night in Waterford. As the name would suggest it was right on the water and gorgeous.
We did one of Globus’ excursions that night out to a pub in a thatched cottage. There was live music and we had the BEST time. It wasn’t some crazy extravagant night…just a couple pints with our new friends listening to a very funny musician. That’s the kind of stuff that sticks with you, ya know?
Avoca Shop:
This trip started my tradition of researching something special that I’d like to bring home to remind me of my time wherever I’m going. For my trip to Ireland, it was SOMETHING from Avoca. I found out about them because we were going to tour their weaving mill on the last day of our trip and had never heard of them. One spin around their website and I was sold.
Founded in 1723, they are Ireland’s oldest weaving mill and they have a wonderful experience set up in Avoca, County Wicklow. You get to watch them weave the most gorgeous colors you’ve ever seen into all types of blankets, scarves, shawls…you name it.
After a very difficult decision-making process, I chose a shawl with pockets to keep my hands warm. It’s still a piece I absolutely love today and brings back all those Irish memories.
Glendalough Monastery:
Our last stop of the trip was to the stunning Glendalough Monastery. A medieval settlement founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century (you heard me…SIXTH CENTURY…crazy).
We took a walking tour through the ruins and the cemeteries. Absolutely stunning. It was one of those days where it was so clear and so cold that it just made everything sharper and somehow more epic.
There was a restaurant a short walk away that we all went to and grabbed lunch at before we headed back to Dublin. Once back in the city, we had a farewell dinner which was very bittersweet as we had definitely become a close-knit little group.
I would not hesitate to go on another Globus trip and, in fact, I went with them to Italy in 2019 and loved that trip just as much as this one! Globus’ tour guides are the absolute top-of-the-line. You’ll learn so much and make some amazing memories.
Belfast Day Trip:
We decided to stay an extra day to officially make it 7 days in Ireland and take a day trip to Belfast before heading back home. Dublin is very walkable so we easily found our way to the pickup location in the wee (obviously very Irish haha) hours of the morning.
About two hours after we left Dublin, we arrived in Belfast. It was an interesting transition as we headed through the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland (the UK). All week we noticed all the signs are in Gaelic and in English. When crossed over to Northern Ireland…no more Gaelic.
Our tour guide from Globus was thrilled we were going because we had gotten his perspective on “the troubles” in Ireland throughout the week and now we were going to get to hear about them from the other side while we were in Northern Ireland.
It was an enlightening and heartbreaking education for sure. It’s not all leprechauns and pots of gold in Ireland and I appreciated seeing that side.
Belfast’s The Titanic Experience:
As a teenager, I had been fascinated with the Titanic so much so that despite being SO excited for the movie…I ended up walking out because it wasn’t a “historical retelling”. I was a very strange child.
Obviously, with all that in mind, I HAD to go to The Titanic Experience while we were there. It. Is. PHENOMENAL. The Titanic Experience is a multimedia museum and no expense was spared. The Titanic was built and shipped out from Belfast and they’re VERY proud despite how things ended. To quote, “She was fine when she left us!”. So good.
So many artifacts and recreations and pictures…it was amazing. At the end, you walk out to where the Titanic stood before she slid into the water.
Carrick a Rede Rope Bridge:
After The Titanic Experience, we headed to the Carrick a Rede Rope Bridge. Full disclosure, I don’t like heights. Like jelly legs…instant belly quivers…don’t like heights. I don’t know what I was thinking but I was seduced by the pictures and the fact that I knew Ian would love to do this.
I googled it while writing this post to make sure I didn’t misspell it and like the second result on Google was “Carrick a Rede Bridge Deaths”. Even now I feel sick to my stomach thinking about it. Haha…
Once across the bridge, I was euphoric with the realization that I had SURVIVED! I didn’t die! Yay! But then…you guessed it…we had to go back. Nightmare.
Giant Causeway Tour:
This was one of those moments where you just look around and think “nature is EPIC”. Made up of interlocking basalt columns, it LOOKS man-made. So bizarre!
We got to explore all over the place and I finally got my cliffs picture after being blinded at the Cliffs of Moher.
There was time for dinner in the cutest little pub we’d seen all week where they had peat on the fire and I ordered the most incredible seafood soup. It was a perfect way to end our week in Ireland.
Concluding 7 days in Ireland:
A quick nod to my first experience using Dublin PreClearance (which you can get more details about here). We took the Airlink bus to the airport on the morning of our departure and went through the nicest security process I’ve seen. After that, we headed down to Dublin PreClearance where we went through TSA security and US customs.
Once through, we were considered to be on US soil so when we arrived back in Philly…we arrived as domestic passengers so we just got our luggage and headed out. So good.
Our flight home if you remember from the beginning of this adventure was miles redeemed on American Airlines. You have never seen two more grateful little country mice than the two of us after our experience on Norwegian. What? There are movies? Wait? You’re feeding me for free? It’s hilarious to look back at now but we were so appreciative.
So 7 days in Ireland, this was the trip that started it all. Going for the first time on a guided tour was exactly what I needed to get the lay of the land and get the confidence that I could, in fact, totally do this. There was no stopping me after this!
