Three Day Weekend to Ireland

I promised my son that I would take him to Ireland so over Easter weekend that became a reality.  

When I booked the tickets, I noticed that it was only 80$ more to fly out of Sarina instead of Toronto (our “home” airport for Detroit) saving us three hours of driving both ways. So we booked from Sarnia. 

I booked the tickets eight months in advance for $605 each.  The price never really went down much. 

We rented a car with Sixt and paid $260 for a three days’ rental plus insurance.  Make sure you check with your credit card if you use your credit card auto insurance.  Most policies are not valid in Ireland.  Overall car expenses with rental, insurance, gas, tolls, and parking came to $350.

From the airport we drove out to Newgrange and Knowth.  Newgrange, in my opinion, is a must see.  This passage tomb is 1000 years older than the pyramids in Egypt.

We had 3:45 pm tickets to Kilmainham Goal (absolutely book online in advance) so we drove back to Dublin for the tour. 

Here are a few items from the museum.

We drove two hours up to Belfast where we stayed at the AC Marriott with points costing us nothing.  The hotel was located with a perfect view of the Titanic Museum and shipyard. 

We enjoyed some traditional Irish music at Madden’s pub before calling it a night.  

Saturday morning we drove out to Giant’s Causeway about an hour’s drive from Belfast. 

 

After a brief lunch, we went out to Glencoe Falls on our way back to Dublin.

 

We were hoping to be able to see Carrickfergus Castle. Unfortunately, we arrived just as the castle closed, but we made the best of it and took shots from the outside.  

We stopped for a wonderful dinner at The Central Pub then drove on to Dublin. 

We found our hotel straight away in the Temple Bar area, but parking proved to be an issue. We had to find a car park that would be open early enough to allow us to get to the airport.   Save yourself the hassle. If you’re looking to stay in Temple Bar, Jervis Parking Garage, just across the bridge, is open 24 hours and only charges eight Euro a day.  

We stayed at RiverHouse Hotel.  The location was great and I guess you get what you pay for.  The elevator was broken and the place was in need of an update. In addition, my bed was very saggy.  I think the price  of $193 a room was outrageous for being so outdated.

We end our weekend trip by having a great time in the Temple Bar area.