Itinerary Overview

Exactly what did we do in Ireland you ask? Buckle up, this is going to be a long one.

Ireland may be considered a small island, but there is still a lot of distance to cover; however, I think we did a pretty darn good job in our two weeks. From costal castles to southern cities, we packed in as much as we could. To give you a visual, here is Ireland:

Image from Ireland-information.com. Red Xs show our stops (more or less).

As you can see, we were able to travel fairly far down south, however brief. So, what did the trip itinerary look like? 

Saturday, March 31st: We flew into Dublin and were picked up by our wonderful friend, Judith and made our way towards Armagh; however, not without stopping at the cutest coffee/flower shop in Strandfield for our first latte and pastry in Ireland before heading the rest of the way. We stopped by Judith’s house in Richhill before heading into Armagh City (about 15 minutes away) and seeing our friend's home turf. We got to see two massive cathedral, the museum of Armagh, and eat a bagel sandwich lunch at one Judith’s favorites, Bagel Bean. We then proceeded back to Judith’s house for some much needed catch up time and sleep. 

Sunday, April 1st: We woke up at 4:30 a.m. to go to a Dawn Easter Service at Big Stone in Rostrevor (top of a mountain), then got a healthy breakfast of hotdogs at the local church before driving along the coast and around the Mourne Mountains to hike to the top of the snowy Slieve Bearnagh all while puzzling over the reason of the Mourne Wall. From there we drove to Newcastle and chowed down on some delicious paninis at Maud’s Cafe and looked out for the first time at the Irish Ocean before heading home for some quality friendship time and relaxation after a long day. 

Monday, April 2nd: Packed up our stuff and headed to the Northern Coast to spend the next two nights at the Hook’s caravan (picture below, we were confused too). On our way to the coast we drove through the Dark Hedges, a Game of Thrones film location, and stopped at Bothy in White Park Bay for some lunch before heading along the coast to Benone. During the trip we stopped at various scenic places including Dunluce Castle and the two small remains of a long forgotten fortress. Once at the caravan, we layered up against the cold and cooked a nice dinner of tomato soup and brie melted on hearty bread. I can’t forget to mention our Irish dancing lesson from Judith, and Judith's interpretive dancing lesson from me and Shelby. That got us warm before we hit the hay. 

Tuesday, April 3rd: This was a very wet day and the view of the ocean was obscured by low hanging clouds, but we didn’t let that stop our fun! Though we tried to do a scenic drive along some hills, we decided checking out the North Coast’s coffee culture was the best way to spend the rainy day. However, we couldn’t start that before going on a tour of Old Bushmills Whiskey Distillery to taste some of Ireland’s most famous whiskey. With a bit of whiskey flowing in her veins, Shelby decided she wanted to get her cartilage pierced, so onto Coleraine we drove to Sailor Bill’s, aka a very dingy tattoo place that thankfully did not body pierce. While we were there we began our coffee tour, starting with Lost and Found for some rich lattes, refreshing earl grey tea, and the best frosted rhubarb loaf you’ll ever have. With the pastries kickstarting our digestive systems, we decided to head to Castlerock to eat a delicious bagel sandwich lunch at Crusoe’s. I promise you, we did look at some sights this day. We had a late afternoon hot cocoa  stop at Bushmills Inn & Pub, had deep talks, and looked at secret libraries before driving to Portrush to eat dinner at Neptune & Prawn, a beautiful restaurant with the best lamb pancakes and chicken tikka. 

Wednesday, April 4th: Fair warning, this will be a long one because Wednesday was our busy day. We stirred our sluggish, sleepy minds with the a warm sea salt mocha from the Sea Shack right on the strip of the wind stirred beach in Benone. With our newfound energy from the chocolatey coffee and the strong wind blowing away any drowsiness, we tackled the day. To begin we went to Mussenden Temple (or “the place where Judith will get married one day" if you think like us). A short (ish) walk from Castlerock brought us through a fairytale, lush, and vibrant green forest and along a windswept field to arrive at a circular stone building flirting with a watery destruction as it sat on the very edge of the cliffs that ran down into the sea. The temple, now empty, was once a library with a view for the nearby castle under renovation.

From there we headed into Bushmills to the Copper Kettle for our first Irish Fry— an Irish breakfast of bacon, sausage, beans, a roasted tomato, a fried egg, mushrooms, soda bread, a pancake, potato bread, and black pudding. Unfortunately— or fortunately— depending on the way you look at it, our plates did not include black pudding.

With food warming our bellies, we continued east to Giant’s Causeway— known for the interesting, hexagonal shaped rock pillars extending into the ocean, formed by two squabbling giants throwing rocks at each other. A quick hot chocolate at The Nook allowed us to park in their restaurant and avoid paying the absurdly expensive parking fee. With chocolate still coating our tongues, we walked along the sea cliffs that overlooked the rock formations all the way to the end of the walkway— in which we hopped the small wooden fence and continued on a less-than-developed path which lead us along rocky landslides, slippery grasses, and next to astoundingly red rock walls. Maybe not the safest route, but it provides some excellent views of the cliffs and separates you from the crowds. Gathering our fill of salty wind and mist brushing our faces, we headed back to the main attraction— the rocks. Before seeing them, I wondered if it was just a tourist trap. Though it was a trap, it was for good reason. Very cool.

The day isn’t over yet! Heading further east, we got to test our bravery by crossing Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. We laughed a little at the thought of paying to cross a twenty-five foot bridge, but the surrounding ocean scenery, with Scotland saying hello in the distance, the adrenaline rush when crossing the high-swinging bridge, and bonding with a group of young American students, was worth it. 

A bit tuckered out from the day, we stopped by Ballintoy Harbour just to say we’ve been in a location were Game of Thrones was filmed, but mainly to behold the crystal blue waters, and jump from rock to rock to avoid shallow tide pools. And for the fun of it, we took some model photos, because why not?

And thus, our long day came to end as we headed back to Coleraine to Judith’s house she shares during college, chowed down on some take out, and caught some much needed Zzzzz’s. 

Thursday, April 5th: Our time in the north and with Judith was coming to an end, but not before taking once last scenic drive along the coast towards Belfast to meet up with another good friend, Emelie. And what a beautiful drive it was! We drove through all sorts of landscapes: flat plains, rocky hills, and rolling slopes of green meeting with the turquoise sea. We stopped briefly in Ballycastle for some honeycomb ice-cream (aka one of the best flavors I’ve ever had) at Morelli’s. We did not stop any other place because we had a late start, but the views were something I would definitely go back for. One place that sticks in my mind is Cushendall, a small town situated pleasantly between vibrant, green hills and a calm, blue ocean; the overall appearance quite harmonious. Sadly, we had to continue towards a cacophonous city. Once we arrived in Belfast, we met with Emelie and chatted for awhile in her flat before saying goodbye to Judith and hello to the bustling streets of the city. We walked along the Lagan towards the Salmon of Knowledge (a giant fish sculpture, with history told on every tile), where we made a couple of river rafting jokes, contemplated the leaning clock tower of Belfast, and headed toward Grounds, a delectable coffee shop. From there we made our way towards Victoria Square (a shopping center) to get an overlook of the city from the top of the glass dome roof. It was getting late in the night, so we got some food to cook, and headed back to the flat. 

Friday, April 6th: Since we hadn’t seen much of Belfast, we debated if we should spend half the day in Belfast and leave for Galway later in the day; however, me and Shelby are not huge fans of of big cities and decided that heading west earlier would be better for us, so we narrowly made our two hour bus from Belfast to Dublin. There, we took a three hour bus ride from Dublin airport to Galway and arrived in Galway around 3:00 p.m. We filled our bellies with some famous Irish fish & chips and made our way towards the White House B&B, about a twenty minute walk from the city centre, our home for the night. There, we dropped our stuff, and dressed up for a night in the city. The night was filled by walking along the flag lined streets, listening to great music performed by the Galway Street Club, many taste samples of Murphey’s Ice Cream given to us by Ellen (aka our new friend), some window shopping, and late night crepes from Java’s accompanied by some deep conversation. Now, I must say, the crepe I had was one of— cut that— the BEST crepe and food I have ever eaten— and I’ve tasted many delicious foods! Absolutely incredible. In all honestly, when we were considering how to get back to Dublin at the end of the trip, we considered if we should go through Galway again, simply to get another crepe… or two. 

Saturday, April 7th: The morning started out with a polar plunge into the ocean! A great way to shake off sleep if you ask me. It could have been possible to have stayed in longer than a quick dip, if not for the fact that it felt like my ankles and feet were turning into brittle icicles. Aside from that, very refreshing. From there, we packed up our stuff and headed into town for an okay breakfast at Arabica Coffee. We then meandered the streets and stumbled upon a market. I loved the bustle and the noise: vendors calling out their wares, smiles shared between everyone in mutual epiphany in the crowd. I wished we had stumbled upon it before breakfast. We then went to a few stores including: the Cheesemongers to get some beautifully nutty and rich cheeses + some bread for lunch later, famous Griffin's bakery for some pastries to eat on the long bus ride ahead of us, and Coffeeworks and Press for some coffee and a little gallery tour of some great illustrations and graphics. After our collection of various foods and drinks, we made our way to the bus station to catch a bus to Doolin, a small town situated close to the Cliffs of Moher. However, upon arrival at the bus station, we were told our bus actually left from a different bus station a few blocks away. So we ran, our backpacks bobbing up and down on our backs, and bought our tickets as quickly as we could. I saw our bus begin to pull out before we had our tickets and was thinking, “Oh crap, oh crap.” Luckily, there are wonderful people in the world and a nice Irish man flagged down the bus as it was leaving and told it to wait so we could get on. So we boarded the bus with an embarrassed apology to the slightly annoyed driver and passengers, and were on our way to Doolin.

The bus ride was about two hours and showed us a whole different side of Ireland. The green hills became hills covered in rocks with not a farmhouse in sight. But what a lovely bus ride it was, chatting with friends and looking out at beautiful sights. Upon arrival in Doolin, we walked to Rainbow Hostel to drop off our bags and make a nice lunch. The hostel was very colorful and included a nice setting room, a gorgeous, bright kitchen, and outside sitting. Our room was nice and the bathroom functional: however, I think our view of the place was tinted by the incredibly loud snoring of our dorm mates. I’m serious, it was shake the walls loud, and no music, no matter how loud in the ears, could tune it out. Anyways, we sat outside in the warm sun (yes Ireland can be sunny an occasion) and ate our good bread, cheese, and honey. With our bellies happy, we began the hike to the Cliffs of Moher. It was about a fifteen minute walk to Fisher Street (the main part of town) and about twenty-five minutes to the real start of the trail. It was a lovely walk that brought us right next to the edge of the cliffs. It was about a 2 hour hike with a couple stops in between to look at the views and an experience of electrocution to reach the cliffs. WARNING! Don’t touch the wire fence closer to the cliffs, it is electric. There are signs in warning, but closer to town, the fence doesn’t actually work; however, don’t assume that there is no charge in the fence the closer you get to the cliffs. It was worth it though, to see the majesty of the cliffs. They leave you with no words, all you can do is gaze. 

After sitting at the cliffs with our feet hanging over the edge for more than an hour, we headed back to town, but not before watching the sun dip into the ocean. We stumble into O’Connors pub around 9:00 p.m. with the last bit of light completely gone. Dinner consisted of a small bowl of clam chowder and some shared onion rings because the prices were a little too high for us. From there, we walked back to the hostel and got maybe three hours of sleep thanks to our dorm mates. 

Sunday, April 8th: The hostel provided us with a breakfast of cereal, toast, and what we think was a community Nutella. We then headed to the chapel at the beginning of the road into town to see a catholic service. I felt as though we were a bit of an interruption with our big bags, but it was cool to see that part of Irish culture. From there we went back into town to drop Emelie off at the bus stop, where she was whisked back to Belfast. And then it was just me and Shelby, for the first time since the begging of the trip. We dropped our bags at Allie’s River Hostel, the cutest stone cottage right next to the river. Shelby and I decided we weren’t getting another three hour night sleep, so we got a private room there for a decent price. We then headed to a tourist information office to see what ticket prices were like to visit the Aran Islands. The lady was very nice and gave us a discount since we were students, and before we knew it, we were on a boat to Inisheer (the first island). We passed through a maze of rock walls and grazing cows to reach the old ship wreck, where we had fun being captains. We continued to walk in attempt to try and reach the lighthouse, but had to turn back in order to get to our return boat in time. On our way back, we stopped at Man of Aran Fudge, where we tasted some delicious fudge and rich espresso as we sat at a picnic table, looked out at the green ocean, and felt rain drops touch our cheeks.

 Included in our ticket was a boat ride along the base of the Cliffs of Moher. Fun Fact: Did you know a scene from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was filmed in a cave along the cliffs? The ride allowed us to see the immensity of the cliffs from a whole new perspective and again left us utterly speechless. 

Monday, April 9th: We said our goodbyes to Doolin, but with full intention of coming back, and  began our trek from Doolin to Killarney. Three busses, two of which we almost missed, and over four and a half hours later, we finally arrived in Killarney around 3:00 p.m. We checked into Neptune's Hostel Killarney; our artistic, clean, and fairly priced home for the night, and then headed for Killarney National Park. It was about a four minute walk from the hostel, passed a grand cathedral, to the entrance in the park. The park was beautiful with the cloudy sky illuminating the green fields, the twisted trees, and the purple mountains overlooking the valley. We got to walk along the paved pathway, passed elk grazing in the peatlands, through a swamp-like area, to look at the spectacle of Ross Castle. This was our first official castle that we went inside. We learned a lot about the history of the castle and realized that living in castles is not like the fairytales we see; however, was fascinating to see a fairytale-like scene in real life. We then made our way back to town in the rain to shop for some Irish knickknacks like the tourists we were, and to find dinner to settle our rumbling tummies. We decided to eat at Salvador's restaurant because they had the cheapest food we could find on the street. We enjoyed a candle lit dinner with good pizza and Guinness for eleven euro. We then headed back to Neptune's for some much needed down time watching a movie and going to sleep early. 

Tuesday, April 10th: The amount of adventures to pursue around Killarney are endless; unfortunately, we could only have a quick trip there to say we'd done it before heading back to Armagh to celebrate Shelby's birthday with our friends. Shelby enjoyed a great birthday breakfast of cereal and toast before we headed for the train station to catch our long ride to Dublin, then Dublin to Portadown, where we were picked up by Judith, Emelie, and Anne. I must admit, having a car again was wonderful. Shelby and I could finally relax and let Anne take care of us. We had a wonderful home cooked meal at Judith's and some good laughs that night as we tried to mimic Judith's accent and she tried to mimic ours. With a surprise adventure in store for us the next day, we slept soundly knowing that we had nothing to plan. 

Wednesday, April 11th: Anne and Judith planned our whole day out, but didn't tell us what we were doing other than to bring a pair of clothes to get dirty in, and a pair of nice clothes. With excitement in our chests for what was to come, we fully surrendered ourselves to what they had planned. It began with a horse ride at Anne's best friend house! This was especially heart warming to Shelby because she had been talking about how it would be cool to horse back ride in Ireland. It was loads of fun to ride the horse, but my favorite part was the puppy running around that I got to play with. Next we made our way to our next suprise location— Leslie Castle for high tea! The castle was more like a mansion, but as equally luxurious and fun to look at. I am a total foodie, so the high tea was one of my favorite parts of the trips. The small little pastries ranging from tarts to macaroons paired with my loose leaf chai tea was something spectacular. We all felt like such ladies in with our fancy finger foods sitting in the elegant room. We then walked around the lake in our galoshes and acted out scenes from the Sound of Music as we walked along rolling hills. The walk lasted a few hours, and then we returned to the castle to change our shoes and continue to the next leg of the journey. A five minute walk up the grounds to my favorite restaurant of the trip by far, mostly for the setting, but the pizza was good too! We had our own private room, finished with a fireplaces and fun images decorating it. Our surprise day was over, but was by far one of the best and most touching days we had yet. That night we enjoyed our last few hours together with lots of laughs and good chats. 

Thursday, April 12th: Shelby and I said goodbye to our lovely friends with promises to see each other soon and caught a ride to Portadown to catch a train to Dublin. Once arrived, we dropped our bags off at an Internet cafe and got an Irish fry at O’Connells Street and tried black and white pudding (animal blood mixed with fat and oatmeal) for the first time. I gotta say, it wasn’t too bad, good even, if you didn’t think about what it was made of too hard. We then began our exploration of Dublin. A few stops for souvenirs for friends, and a short contemplation of the Spire (a metal, massive spire that rose from the middle of the street) and we were across the river and making our way towards Trinity College. It was a lovely campus and we had hoped to go into the Old Library, but it was a bit costly and the line was enormously long, so we decided it wasn’t worth it. We had no map, so we meandered around and followed rare street signs to find our way around. Our next stop was to the famous bakery and restaurant, Bewley’s, on Grafton Street. Here we got some fancy desserts and split an Irish coffee, though I drank almost all of it since Shelby wasn’t a fan. From there, we went to a small, artsy tattoo and piercing parlor so Shelby could get her cartilage pierced!

With her feeling all hip, we made our way to the National Gallery of Ireland where we stared to our (or my) hearts content at beautiful modern and historic paintings and sculptures. We must have spent more than three hours here because 1.) the art was captivating and 2.) the layout of the area was really confusing so it took awhile to find your way around. My favorite part of the gallery was to see art students “learn from the masters” as they recreated historical paintings in the Grand Gallery. I, myself will be going to George Fox University as a Studio Art major, so it was encouraging and inspiring to see fellow art students doing what I will be doing in the fall! My feet were aching by this point, especially since they hadn’t gotten a rest in two weeks, so we set off in search of Temple Bar for food. Why the Temple Bar is so famous, I’ll have to get back to you, but the prices were pretty steep for us. We came, we saw, and we weren’t going to pay eighteen euros on a sandwich, so we continued our search which led us to a small and quiet street where we found an Italian place. Not authentic, but we were starving, so we settled. You must be thinking all we ate was pizza during this trip, but hey, it was the cheapest and its pizza! We wanted to have an early night, so we got some Nutella crepes to go, some cider, and headed back to the train station where we had hoped to catch a bus to our hotel. We had a small scary moment at the Internet cafe when retrieving our bags, where a small Irish man was completely going off on the store owners and started to say, “Get me my gun!” So we got out of there fast, only for me to be told by an Irish teenager that he loved me. “Okay,” I said. Whereas Shelby yells after him, “Love you too!” So with those experiences, we got tired of searching for a bus that wasn’t going to show anyways, and took a taxi to a hotel. Yes, a hotel. Holiday Inn Express Dublin Airport, were we had a nice shower and snuggled into our own beds to watch a movie, eat our crepes, and drink our cider. What a life. 

Friday, April 13th: We filled our energy stores with a big, complementary breakfast, in which I split an entire bowl of yogurt and broke the bowl. Aside from that, it was the most filling breakfast we had in awhile. From there we took the shuttle to the airport and caught our plane to London. The plane from Dublin took off late, so we ended up missing our connection plane in London. So we had to do a bit of finagling to secure a plane to Seattle, Washington. We spent the plane ride watching movies on opposite sides of the plane and forcing ourselves not to sleep so that we were on the same time schedule as the U.S. From Seattle we rushed through customs (don’t forget to throw out any foreign fruit beforehand!) and got on the last plane of our journey to San Francisco. We arrived late at night, where my poor parents picked us up and drove us back to Tahoe. And thus, our journey ended. 

So that was a brief— or not so brief— description of our trip itinerary. It was a wonderful trip, packed full of adventure and excitement! If you are thinking of traveling, it would be in your best interest to consider Ireland. Be on the look out for further thoughts and descriptions of my favorite places! 

All the best.