So I flew with Aer Lingus to Dublin from Geneva on Friday morning. My tour didn't start until Saturday night so I had a day and a half to explore Dublin. I stayed at the Trinity Lodge, a charming little hotel next to Trinity College. I was very impressed with this hotel, the room was lovely, the staff were friendly and the included breakfast was excellent. I would stay there again and definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Dublin. On Friday night I had signed up for the Dublin City Pub Crawl, however no one else showed up so they cancelled it. I was pretty annoyed, had I known it wasn't booked up I would have made other plans. At least they refunded me promptly. The next morning I got my hair cut on Grafton Street for €29 before heading to the Sandemans New Dublin free tour. My tour guide, Brian, was interesting and insightful and certainly earned his tips. Afterwards the tour takes you to O'Neill's pub and offers a €10 pub meal, however I was still full from the Irish Breakfast I had at the hotel. I headed back to retrieve my bags before checking into the Jury's Inn on Parnell Street for the start of my Contiki tour.
The Ireland tour with Contiki is modular, so some of the passengers have been travelling since London/Edinburgh with the Great Britain/Scotland tours. I was surprised at how many people were just joining for Ireland, I thought I'd be one of the only ones! We met up with everyone and went to Temple bar that night.
The next morning we travelled to Belfast, where we met up with a local tour guide named Dee. She took us on the coach through the Falls, the republican area of Belfast, and the neighboring Shankill area which is predominantly loyalist. These two areas are separated by peace lines with gates that still shut at night time. It was an eye opening tour, it's pretty incredible that in my parents' youth deciding to travel to Belfast was the equivalent of me planning a trip to Baghdad or Gaza. All of the local guides in Ireland have grown up with the Troubles going on and have very educational and insightful words for the tourists who come visit.
Afterwards we visited the Giant's Causeway. According to legend, a Scottish giant challenged an Irish giant to a battle. The Irish giant, Finn, accepted and built the causeway. When the Scottish giant arrived Finn was tucked up in bed and his wife introduced him as their son. The Scottish giant was so afraid that Finn's son was so big that he fled back to Scotland and destroyed the causeway. The formations of rock at the Causeway are very interesting and the walking tracks along the cliffs make for a refreshing hike.
Our next stop was Derry, where we had a tour with Ronan McNamara of McNamara Tours. He took us through Bogside, the site of Bloody Sunday in 1972, and around the city walls. The tour was absolutely fascinating, it is absolutely unmissable if you are ever in or around Derry. One thing Ronan speaks about is how great it is for the locals having tourists come to town like Derry. This was backed up when we went for dinner and were offered "samples" to try, we said yes of course, and the waitress brought out a huge platter of food. They were so excited to have us in their town.
The next morning we drove down to Galway, with a little detour in the middle when the coach got lost on back country roads. Thankfully we made it to Galway eventually, we all shopped around for a bit before dinner at a local pub.
The next morning we were up early for a day trip to Inis Mór, the largest of the Aran Islands. This day was by far my favourite day in Ireland. I had arranged to go for a horse ride on the island, after finding a page on Facebook. A little bit random, so I didn't really know what to expect. I arrived and my mount, the adorable Irish Cob mare Lady, was tacked up and waiting for me. Stiofan, the guide, was lovely. As I was on my own we ended up having a lovely chat while I was riding. He was only too happy to take pictures for me. Lady was one of the quietest horses I have ever ridden, which was a relaxing change for me. It's nice to ride something quiet so you can admire the views instead of worrying about the horse. It was so nice to get off the beaten track and experience the island as it is experience by locals. The farmland and 1000 year old stone walls were so picturesque. I have always wanted to ride in Ireland and I'm so glad I did on Inis Mór! I highly recommend Aran Island Horse Riding to anyone visiting Inis Mór. They cater for all levels of riders and are reasonably priced. I got in touch with him through Facebook messages and he responded within hours, perfect if you're trying to book while travelling.
After my ride I had lunch at Joe Watty's pub just up the road. I bumped into some of my tour friends there. Afterwards I went to explore the island on foot. Eventually I made it to the spectacular cliffs on the southern side of the island. I was told by my guide earlier that these cliffs were more accessible than the Cliffs of Moher, without barriers or fences. I was able to get right up to the edge. Unfortunately I didn't have time to go explore the nearby fort because I had to get back to the harbour in time for the ferry. In the off season only 2 ferries run per day.
The next day started with the Cliffs of Moher. It was gorgeous and sunny and we could even see the Aran Islands from the cliffs. We had an hour and a half to explore and take pictures before getting back on the bus to travel to the Blarney Castle. We kissed the stone and wandered around the grounds. We spent the night in Cork where I caught up with my cousin who is studying at Medical School there.
We went to Cobh Heritage center the next morning. Cobh (also known as Cove or Queenstown) was the Titanic's last port of call before she sunk in 1912. The exhibition was okay, but I probably wouldn't have gone if the tour bus hadn't stopped there. I didn't go to the Jamesons distillery either, I just had some quiet time at a cute cafe in Midleton. Kilkenny was fun, we did a walking tour with a local guide before dinner and karaoke at a bar down the street. Then we were back to Dublin to visit te Guinness brewery. I was unimpressed, I much preferred the Heinken experience in Amsterdam to Guinness, much more to see and do in the experience. We had a free afternoon following that. A few of us went to the Kilmainham Gaol then visited the Old Library at Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells. We finished the tour with a dinner at the Merry Ploughboy Pub. Great food, great music and great entertainment. Very touristy but well worth a visit anyway. We had a great evening.
The next morning we all said our goodbyes at breakfast and those returning to London left on the coach. I did some last minute souvenir shopping before returning to the hotel to collect my bags and head to the airport. However there was a large protest going on down O'Connell Street so the buses had been rerouted and no one could tell me exactly where to. So I watched the protest for a while then when it had completely passed Parnell Square I grabbed my luggage and walked to the next bus stop. Luckily I wasn't flying until the next morning, there were people on the bus who were running late for flights and stressing out big time. A word of advice: always give yourself too much time to get to the airport, especially if you're using public transport! Delays happen without warning and a missed flight can completely ruin your trip. If you're short on time take a taxi. I had a very stressful experience in Venice taking the Aliguna public ferry to the airport, the staff at the dock told me it would take an hour to get there, after I was on board for an hour and a half the crew informed me that we still had another hour to go so I had to hail a water taxi from the ferry to make it to the airport in time. €100 later I arrived at the airport to find my flight had been delayed by an hour and a half luckily, I wouldn't have made it otherwise.
Airport hotels are a wonderful thing. If you have an early morning flight from an airport out of the city it is a good idea to get a room there for the night. Most airlines let you check in and drop off your luggage the night before so you can have an extra half hour or so of sleep in the morning. I stayed at the Maldron Dublin Airport. The hotel is modern and spacious, a nice place to relax after a week of traveling! The bar and restaurant looked nice, but I bought a sandwich and junk food from the airport and spent the evening in my room watching Titanic and X Factor. My flight back to Geneva the next morning was almost empty, I slept pretty much the whole flight anyway.
All up the Contiki Ireland tour was fabulous. The itinerary gives you a chance to experience all the different cultural and historical aspects of Ireland. The hotels were far better than the European tours. Our tour manager Mike and driver Matt showed us a good time. I would definitely recommend the tour to other Contiki-ers.
This trip was the last of my travels in Europe. I am in Geneva for the next few days then Saturday I start the long journey back to New Zealand. Time has flown by since I've been here and I can't wait to come back!
Happy wandering x
Ally
