My husband and I traveled to Ireland for a couples getaway in late March, early April of 2022. We had an amazing time reconnecting and just enjoying each other’s company.
I’d like to give a brief itinerary. I will count day 1 as the day of arrival in Ireland.
DAY 1 (1st day in Ireland) – Dublin, sleep in Dublin
DAY 2 – explore Dublin, sleep in Kilkenny
DAY 3 – explore Kilkenny, Rock of Cashel, Cahir Castle, sleep in Cobh
DAY 4 – explore Cobh, Gap of Dunloe, sleep in Killarney
DAY 5 – explore Dingle, Slea Head Drive, sleep in Killarney
DAY 6 – explore Killarney, Torc Waterfall, Ladies View, sleep in Galway
DAY 7 – explore Galway, The Burren, Cliffs of Moher, sleep in Galway
DAY 8 – explore Galway, Clonmacnoise, Athlone, sleep in Dublin
DAY 9 – leave Dublin
We flew in and out of Newark, NJ via Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). We left Newark, NJ at 6:55 pm on Sunday, March 27th.
We had a quick layover in Oslo and arrived in Dublin, Ireland at 9:35 am on Monday, March 28th.
After we got out of the airport, we grabbed a taxi to get to our hotel (Harding Hotel). We dropped our luggage off, changed our clothes, and flopped on the bed for a few minutes while we called the kids to check in.
Then we hit the streets and walked to Kilmainham Gaol Museum, Guiness Storehouse, Dublin, ate a delicious panini from a convenience store, grabbed dessert mid-day from The Natural Bakery, had an amazing meal in an Irish pub (Darkey Kelly’s) connected to the hotel, and enjoyed live music!
Day 2
We had pictures taken around Dublin this morning, had breakfast at Copper Alley Bistro (connected to the Harding Hotel), picked up our rental car from My Irish Cousin, learned to drive on the wrong side of the road from the wrong side of the car, cursed the 20+ roundabouts we encountered on an hour and a half of driving, stopped in Kildare for a bit, saw the last remains of Kildare Castle (a single tower), visited St. Brigid’s Garden Well, checked into Kilkenny River Court Hotel, wandered around the Medieval Mile, grabbed a few necessities at Dunnes, saw Talbot Tower, had some beer and cider at Sullivan’s Taproom, had dinner at Paris Texas Bar & Restaurant, heard some great music, and made our way back to the hotel to see everything lit up at night, and ordered some room service cheesecake.
Day 3
We woke up to a beautiful morning in Kilkenny and started our day with a full Irish breakfast at Kilkenny River Court Hotel with a castle view. After that… we toured Kilkenny Castle, checked out Kilkenny Design Centre, wandered the Medieval Mile some more, visited St Canice’s Cathedral where Tom climbed the round tower, drove to Cashel and parked in the wrong spot making the walk to Rock of Cashel even longer and steeper, drove to Cahir for Cahir Castle, had a late lunch at River House, made our way to Cobh during a crazy busy time and I may have sideswiped a mirror, finally parked the car, checked into The Commodore Hotel, Tom napped for almost 2 hours, we wandered around the main streets of Cobh, finally found a restaurant still open because apparently Wednesday is not a good night for dinner here, ate at Titanic Bar and Grill, settled in our room for the night by 10 pm.
Day 4
We slept in a bit today and woke up to the sun slowly rising outside our window overlooking the water. Then… we grabbed a quick breakfast from a bagel shop, hiked a crazy steep hill to see St Colman’s Cathedral to find it still closed and parking spaces right there 
, walked back down the streets of Cobh, did the Titanic Experience Cobh, checked out of our hotel, drove back to St Colman’s Cathedral and explored the beauty of the inside, toured Jameson Distillery in Midleton, drove about 2 hours to our cute little Airbnb for the next two nights in the Gap of Dunloe area, walked about 2 miles to explore, saw some sheep and horses, and grabbed dinner at Kate Kearney’s Cottage.
Day 5
We woke up this morning and threw in another load of clothes at our Airbnb. Then we… stopped at a beach on our drive to Dingle, grabbed a quick bite to eat from SuperValu, got dressed in warm gear and hit the sea with Dingle Sea Safari, saw caves and 
and cliffs and 
, wandered Dingle, had lunch from a food truck, ate a delicious crepe, enjoyed ice cream from Murphys Ice Cream, drove the Slea Head Drive, drove up to Connors Pass, encountered 
in the road, popped into Killarney town but didn’t end up doing anything other than walking it, stopped into Lidl to get something to make for dinner, had drinks at Kate Kearney’s Cottage, and made our short walk back to the airbnb cottage to make dinner and settle in for the night.
Day 6
Today we slept in a bit before packing up to head out again. Then we… ate some cake and a tarte for breakfast from The Coffee Pot Cafe at the Gap, took a jaunting car out into the Gap, went for a ride along a chunk of the Ring of Kerry, toured (no picture taking inside) Ross Castle, toured (no picture taking inside) Muckross House, hiked a ridiculous length at a steep decline to see Torc Waterfall, cried on the 2 mile steep incline back up to the car, found where we should have parked for a 5 min leisurely walk to the waterfall, drove to Ladies View, ate a quick lunch at cafe there, took the Tarbert ferry across to Kilrush on our way to Galway, drove around the block 3 times trying to find the parking entrance, found the parking and no way could we park but valet took care of it 
, checked into The Park House Hotel, walked into a An Pucan and found great live music from Catalpa but no food, we chugged a beer/cider and moved on because we’re just not those fun people any more, found fast food at Supermac’s 
, went into Darcy’s Bar and found more live music but surrounded by again a bunch of fun young people 
, chugged another beer/cider, and made our way back to our hotel.
Day 7
Today we started our day with a full Irish breakfast. I’m not a fan of the black or white pudding or the sausage really. Then we… wandered around a very quiet Galway city, watched pubs start the cleanup from last night, popped into the few open shops, did the Corrib Walk, grabbed some snacks from Centra (local grocery/deli), picked our car up from valet to head out for the day, stopped at Dungaire Castle, drove through some crazy roads to get to The Burren, saw Poulnabrone, passed a few neat things on the road, made our way to the Cliffs of Moher, took advice from others and parked at Guerin’s Path to Cliff Walk for an easier walk, ate a little snacks lunch sitting at the cliffs, took a bunch of pictures and just enjoyed the view, saw a wedding party taking pictures at Doonagore Castle, got a little fuel, turned our car back into valet, ventured out to find an extra bag to bring home, had an amazing dinner at The Kings Head (the beef & Guinness stew is 
), ran into Gino’s Gelato to get dessert, found our census papers (Ireland’s census was April 3 at 9pm) in our hotel room when we got back 
, and finished the night watching a movie and relaxing.
Day 8
We had our included breakfast at The Park House Hotel Galway again this morning – this time I got bacon and eggs while Tom got the catch of the day. Then we… did a little shopping in Galway before grabbing our car for the drive back towards Dublin, finally found iced tea for Tom, played a scratch-off, explored Clonmacnoise, had drinks at Sean’s Bar – Ireland’s Oldest Pub, struggled again with the toll, grabbed some BK, returned our rental car, checked into The Arlington Hotel O’ Connell Bridge for the night, walked over to Temple Bar, ate pizza and had drinks at Fitzsimons Temple Bar, had a little more to eat and drink at Bad Ass Cafe while listening to live music, and packed our bags up for a flight to Copenhagen tomorrow.
Day 9
We got up this morning and made sure all our bags were ready to go. Then we… walked around the corner to drop postcards in the mail for the boys, grabbed donuts at The Rolling Donut, checked out of The Arlington Hotel O’ Connell Bridge, took a taxi to the airport, got Covid tested, waited for our results to check in, breezed through the required security to fly to Copenhagen, had a beer and a hot dog while waiting at Tap + Brew, said goodbye to Ireland, said hello to Copenhagen, took a taxi to Zleep Hotel Copenhagen Airport from a rude driver that was mad about our short trip , checked into our super cute little modern hotel, took a taxi into the main area of Copenhagen and wandered around for 2 hours before eating dinner at Restaurant La Siréne, picked up dessert next door at Vaffelbageren Nyhavn, taxi’d back to our hotel in a super cool Tesla, and finished the night off with a drink at our hotel before heading to bed.
Day 10
We were up at 3:45 am today to head to the airport in Copenhagen, which we breezed right through. Then we… checked out the LEGO stuff at the airport, sat around for 2+ hours before boarding our flight to Stockholm, speed walked through Stockholm’s airport, waited in line at passport control there, were confronted by four officers immediately after going through the passport control that asked us a bunch of questions while staring us down, Tom was selected for a random search, boarded our flight which was now stopping in Oslo to pick people up there because of technical problems with their plane (we assume that’s why our original flight was canceled), sat on the plane for 2 hours in Oslo, eventually landed in Newark after about 12 hours on two different planes today, and waited an hour for our luggage but so glad it made it after those last minute changes!
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