Ms Hook and I will be spending a couple of months in Europe next summer. No tour involved, we want to do it all ourselves. Wanting to make the most of our time we’re already planning on what to see and do.
We will be in Dublin May 20 - 25. We thought a train ride to some nearby (no more than 2 hours) town would make a good day. So, knowing nothing of Ireland ourselves but knowing The Dope is all knowing, we come to you.
What would make an interesting and fun filled day trip from Dublin.
The Dublin-Wexford railway line is pretty scenic, especially the first half. Dublin-Wexford is about 2 hrs 20 minutes or a bit longer, depending on which train you take. This is over your limit, but Wexford is a pleasant town to wander in, and the food and wine festival should be running at the time you intend to visit. If you want to stick firmly to your two-hour max then you don’t need to go all the way to Wexford; you could get off at Enniscorthy or Arklow.
Belfast’s a smaller, newer and generally less interesting city than Dublin. Not that it doesn’t have it’s charms, but if you have four days in Dublin and want to spend one of those not in Dublin, I would think somewhere more different from Dublin than Belfast is would be a better choice. Somewhere less urban.
Seconding Wexford Town sojourn. Also recommend a Glendalough tour but that is done by bus. Be worth enquiring if you can get a bus tour to Carlingford about 1hr 10minutes drive north of Dublin, it’s a picturesque seaside village with good sea food, castles, mountains and a lovely lough. Really nice for a day out, especially when it is sunny. The nearest train to Carlingford would leave you in Dundalk and not sure what transport links are like from there.
Different strokes I guess, but I found Wexford boring compared to the rest of Ireland. Brooks Hotel is a great and affordable place to stay in Dublin. You also have the Hairy Lemon and Peters Pub close by.
You could probably do a bus trip to Blarney Castle - hardly exciting- but Bunratty Castle should also be reachable.
As an aside/hijack, for a tourist, I’m guessing that UDS’ comparison could be generalised for all tourist attractions up north. Hills, lakes, settlements, all smaller and less interesting. Bushmills distillery is the oldest in Ireland, but I think you’d have a better time making your way to the Jameson distillery, even if it doesn’t taste as nice.
As far as closest to Dublin while least like Dublin I think Glendalough wins. A tour encompassing Glendalough, the Sally, and Powerscourt Gardens is probably available and you could be back in Dublin for dinner time, maybe.
This sounds good. I couldn’t turn up anything in Ireland for the Sally, what is it? Glendalough and Powerscourt sound like about what we had in mind. Thanks.
