3 Days in Dublin, Ireland

We recently spent New Year’s Eve in Dublin. We booked our tickets on September 9th for a December 28th departure and paid $610 each. I booked hotels on December 3 through booking.com. Since it was New Years, hotels close to the city were well outside our our price range. We ended up staying at the Maldron Hotel Tallaght. I shared a room for the three nights and paid $159. Being outside the downtown area was not much of an issue because we rented a car. The cost of the rental and gas was $262 and we split it three ways. Parking in Dublin’s downtown area was expensive and we paid a total of $36 for the four times we had to pay to park. We scored free parking only twice.

This was our third trip to Dublin and we had our hearts set on visiting the Kilmainham Gaol finally. Much to our disappointment, the tickets were sold out for a week. Sadly, were were unable to go. Guess I have a reason to go back.

We found a place near the Kilmainham Gaol for lunch called The Riddler Restaurant where I spent $24 for lunch.

After lunch, we toured the Jameson Distillery. Cost of a basic tour is $24.

By dinner time, I was craving a good steak and that craving was satisfied at FX Buckley on Crow Street. I spent $49 for a ribeye steak and two glasses of wine.

The rest of the evening was spent in the pubs in the Temple Bar area.

We set out sight seeing the next morning stopping at the Seven Churches area and Glendolough. A few sights from that area are below.

We had lunch at Lynhams in Glendalough. I had stew and mashed potatoes and gray and pint for $20. After lunch we drove on to Wicklow.

When we got back to Dublin, we found a nice Italian restaurant named Nico’s. I enjoyed two glasses of wine and lasagne and paid $34.

Our last day of sight seeing was delayed by two hours. The car lights had been left on all night which drained the car battery. We had reservations at 9:30 a.m. to tour the Guiness Brewery and were afraid that we would lose the value of our pre-purchased tickets. Buying the tickets online in advance saves one about seven dollars (we paid around $17 each) so it’s well worth it. Luckily, I called ahead and informed them what happened to our car and they told me that it wouldn’t be a problem; they would accommodate us when we arrived. This was my second time touring Guiness so I only took a few photos.

 

 

Since we were running late due to the car battery issue, we had lunch at the Seasons Restaurant in the Guiness building. I thought it would be overpriced, but I was pleased that my meal only came to $18 for crab cakes and a bowl of soup.

From the Guiness Brewery, we drove out to the town of Howth. This seaside town is quite picturesque with the lighthouse serving as its backdrop. It was very windy and cold when we were there so I opted NOT to walk out to the lighthouse.

When we left Howth, it was getting dark, but we drove on to another town named Dún Laoghaire. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, it was too dark to see anything. I captured the picture, but it’s not very good.

By this time we wanted to find a pub in which to ring in the new year so we went back to Dublin. We went to the Ha Penny Bridge Inn, had dinner, and waited for the live entertainment that would play until the new year. I paid $20 for a sandwich, a bowl of soup, and three pints of Harp.

This was not the most budget friendly trip I’ve taken. Total cost for all of the expenses are below.

Although it was a bit pricey, I did enjoy this quick getaway to the Emerald Isle.

~Bella