How a long weekend looked like in Dublin before COVID

It all begin during the Pre-COVID era when we were freely allowed to travel across the globe without medical reports, face masks, or face shields. I along with one of my office colleagues went to Ireland back in February 2020 on a 10-day office training to learn some consulting skills. For a traveler like me, this was a perfect opportunity and I made sure to utilize each day before and after training to roam around the unexplored Island nation.

The trip started on 20th Feb, when I took my flight from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi Internation Airport. Since there is no direct flight to Dublin, I booked Etihad which was via Abu Dhabi. After almost 14 hours of air travel, I reached Dublin at around 7AM.

I could easily sense the change in air quality as soon as I walked out of the airport after successfully dodging immigration questions and presenting my purpose of visit.  

2-days in Dublin

Transport

Like any other European city, Dublin also has one of the best Transport networks consisting of Trams, local buses, metro, and cabs. One can easily get a bus (747) from the airport itself to reach the city center. The tickets can be bought near the exit gate from one of the kiosks which cost around €6.

The great thing about Dublin is that the city is very compact making it a nice place to walk around from one attraction to the next. Dublin also has a good public transport system that will help you get to those trickery locations that you can’t walk to. Make sure that you take full advantage of the hop-on and off buses as it will help make traveling easier.

Also, a helpful tip would be to invest in a Dublin Pass or Leap Visitor Card as you can get money off travel. As well as a discount on many other amazing things that you’ll not want to pass up. Dublin can be quite an expensive city so these passes with be quite beneficial.

Weather

The Irish weather can be very unpredictable so you can never be sure of what you’ll get from one day to the next. Spring through to the Summer months are when you’ll get the best of the Irish weather. Just make sure whenever you are visiting you come prepared with the right clothes and do carry a raincoat or an umbrella.

Stay

There is no dearth of options for stay in Dublin and you can easily get a variety of accommodation options in your budget. Since these two initial days were self-funded and we were mostly out on street, we chose a rather cheaper option (~INR 2500 per night) and booked Abbey Court Hostel across river Liffey. One thing to remember here is that the hostel is pretty strict in terms of check-in and check-out time. We had to literally spend 3-4 hours on the street as we reached in the morning and our check-in time was at 2PM.

One can also get a decent two-room Airbnb at ~7k/night.

Day-1

Our first day was a little relaxing as we were quite tired of our long journey and chose to keep it light by just roaming around the temple bar area and getting ourselves acquainted with bustling city center streets.

 

Dublin is a fun city (probably helped by the fact the Guinness and Jameson factories are located here) with a lot of remarkable pubs, energetic nightlife, live music, and dancing. And this is clearly visible at the temple bar street after 6PM, where people from all walks of life, young and middle-aged can be seen enjoying their life with a glass full of Guinness. 

Now, you must be wondering that what is Guinness, is it something to do with awards? Actually, no! Guinness is one of the most refined beers I ever had which is local to Ireland. It is a must-try if you are here.

Apart from the beer and its pub culture, Dublin is famous for its live music which you’ll find in nearly all the pubs. There is just something special about sitting in an Irish pub, enjoying a drink, and listening to some great live acts. We also enjoyed our first day evening in Temple bar and called off the day to this live traditional music.

Day-2

The next day, we decided to walk over to some of the nearby attractions. I started my morning with a beautiful walk at St. Stephens Green which is an amazing lush green park at around 10 mins walk from Temple bar street. 

Next, we walked over to Dublin Castle, which has a beautiful exterior. Right behind Dublin Castle, you will find the Chester Beatty Library, which has free admission and a fascinating collection of European and Chinese cultural artifacts.

Another fascinating area to visit is Trinity college which lies in the heart of the city. The college hosts one of the largest libraries in Ireland and will surely remind you of Harry Potter films. We didn't visit the library in particular as we both are not that much into books and wanted to get some food before we could actually move an inch.

In the evening, we decided to hit the temple bar area again, listen to some traditional Irish music, have a pint of Guinness, and relax. We met one of my friend's friend there in the bar who told us how it actually feels living permanently in Dublin He shared his views on the cost of living, benefits, education system, health system, and finally how different this place is from India. 

As we were discussing and making plans to finally shift to this beautiful city we were approached by some of the foreigners who were from the neighboring countries and were there for the weekend. The guy who approached us was actually from London who was there with his sister and his female friend who was from Spain. He was so drunk that he actually offered me to go and ask her sister out on a date. The moment though was quite fascinating as both the girls were actually really pretty and only a fool would have left such an opportunity. After gaining some courage I went ahead and called both of them to join our group. My friends' eyes were gleaming that the meeting may actually lead to "something" but I rather decided to exchange some interesting conversations, connect on social media, and call it a day.

Day-3

This was our last day in Dublin before we could head straight to our action-packed 10-day training. We had kept the first half of our day for the Guinness storehouse tour which was at walking distance from our hostel. During the tour of the factory, we learned about the Guinness family and the incredible Irish brewing history. As well as how the beloved beer is perfectly made. The tour finishes off at the Gravity Bar where can enjoy a complimentary pint of Guinness and take in the amazing panoramic views of Dublin from the seventh floor.

After lunch, we checked out from our hostel and collected a few souvenirs before heading straight to the airport from where our shuttle took us to Powerscourt Estate.

Best part

The best part of these 2.5 days in Dublin was the overall feel of a European city which was the perfect amalgamation of history, culture, food, and Guinness. Ireland was never on my bucket list but after spending a few days in the city I can easily say that I'd love to come back to Dublin again soon.

We also did a road-trip across Ireland and covered other major cities, which I'll cover in another blog-post. 

Till then!!