Maybe it’s because we were born and raised in nature that we tend to be less impressed by cities than landscapes. We often feel that cities are rather similar, and once you’ve seen the prettiest buildings and tried a few restaurants, you run out of things to do. 

If this statement speaks to you, we recommend you do just like us and spend one or two days in each of the following. You’ll have enough time to see the nicest things and then move on to another city!

Considering the size of Ireland, you can easily save money on public transport and walk through every town as they are all fairly small. 

During the day

First, book a ticket at the Guinness Factory that includes a drink at the Gravity bar. You will walk through the whole process of how Guinness is made in a colorful exhibition, from how the grains are harvested to how it gets delivered all around the world.

You will be going up to a bar surrounded by huge windows to give you a panoramic view of Dublin. Up there, you will have the chance to drink a pint of freshly-made Guinness. And trust us, it’ll be the smoothest, creamiest, coldest, and most delicious pint of Guinness you’ll ever have!

Now we could describe every monument we’ve seen in detail but the best way to grasp the essence of a new city is to go discover it yourself. Make sure you take a moment to admire the beautiful Christ Church and Trinity College.

Take a stroll down Saint Stephen Green Park and enjoy the live musicians playing in the streets nearby.

A note for the coffeeholic of this world: The Irish coffee chain Frank and Honest is spread out across the country and has one of the best coffee we’ve ever tried! Grab an almond milk latte on a foggy and frisky morning and thank us later 🙂

During the evening

At night, enjoy a drink at the Temple bar! Now, this one is a bit controversial, as many people will tell you that it’s an expensive tourist trap. But to be fair, we thought it was a fun experience and the drinks are pretty much always expensive in Dublin.

So do what you will with that information, but the Temple bar is definitely a cute place to enjoy your favorite cocktail (or countless other pints of Guinness!) 

Don’t forget to go see all the cute bridges lit up as you stroll by the Liffey river at night and catch the nightlife vibe of Dublin.

You’ll see so many people enjoying takeaway pints (cause yes, they are a thing in Europe! We small-town Canadian girls were blown away) so why not join them to be part of the party!

How should we say this… just don’t go to Cork. One very common mistake (we are guilty of it!) is to mistake the county of Cork and the city of Cork. We ended up in the city and to be fair, there is not much to see there. We would much more recommend Cobh, which is in the county of Cork.

Cobh is a charming coastal town filled with brightly colored little houses and one of the most prestigious and imposing gothic cathedrals we’ve ever seen. You can easily reach this place by bus from Cork, which is the only reason why we were happy to stay there. Bonus point if you go to Cobh on a cloudy day, as it brings out the soul of the village.

For the famous viewpoint of the cathedral overlooking the colorful houses, head to the tiny West View Park. You can first climb Spy Hill to get another great picture spot, and then go down West View street to reach the park. 

Relax by the sea and breathe the fresh saline air in John F.Kennedy park. You’ll be surrounded by an impressive number of crows! Another pretty viewpoint is from the Kennedy pier. 

Fun fact about Cobh: it was actually the last stop of the Titanic before heading out to the ocean! If you’re interested in more info about that, you can buy your tickets to the Titanic Experience Cobh museum situated near the pier.

She and I went on the ruuuuun ‘don’t care ‘bout religioooon. You’d be surprised to know that there is more to Galway than the Ed Sheeran song!

Galway could be summed up by loooots of pints and looooots of students. If you are a party animal, you’ll be amazed by just how many bars are there. If you’re not a heavy drinker, you might be a bit disappointed since the night life is the core of the town.

Nonetheless, it’s great to grab a snack and go sit by the Corrib River to enjoy the sunset and chill with the seagulls. You can also soak up the sun on the Salthill promenade, a long promenade near the sea going through a few villages.

What also makes Galway such a lively city is the numerous street performers. We saw so many great free live concerts in the middle of the streets. A little shoutout to Brad Heidi, a live musician we fell in love with. Go stream his songs on Spotify! 

It’s also a great place to stay and book some day-tours to the surrounding natural wonders of Ireland. In our opinion, that’s where the real fun starts!

The following destinations are harder to access without a car. If you can’t rent one (or don’t want to), you will have to opt for guided tours. And a side note here, if you didn’t know it, Irish people drive on the left side of the road, like in England! So make sure you take that into consideration before renting a car.

Fast track for you: we usually book our tours through this company and we love it:  Get your Guide

Now that’s where we understood the hype about Ireland. That’s where we really fell in love. Going up the majestic bright green hills while sheep and horses graze on the grass around you is just something else.

From the top of the trail, you can admire the endless Connemara lakes and make your way back down through the little purple flowers peeking through the rocks. We would recommend getting a guided bus tour that goes through some little villages before heading to the park. It’s affordable and totally worth it. 

That’s what we did and our guide was amazing! It’s a good way to get to your destination while learning more about the place and passing by scenic routes that you would maybe not have seen otherwise. We had a bunch of insights on Ireland’s history and funny extra stories! 

From Galway, you can easily book a guided tour to the Aran Islands (and even a combo Aran Islands/Cliff of Moher). The bus will take you to the small village of Doolin, from where you will depart by boat for an exciting journey. (Pay attention, we saw several dolphins on the way!) 

There are three Aran Islands. We personally visited Inisheer, which is the smallest, and Inishmore, which is much bigger. Once you are on the islands, you can rent a bike or even a horse cart to visit the area. For Inisheer, as it is quite small, we chose to walk and it was perfectly fine. We climbed all the way up to the castle, visited the peaceful cemetery, the grounded boat, and enjoyed the beautiful beach for a while. 

If you decide to visit Inishmore, which is ABSOLUTELY worth it even though it’s farther, you will need to rent a bike to make the most of it.

This way, you’ll be able to cycle the entire island and make it to the astonishing cliffs and the beautiful Kilmurvey beach. If you’re brave enough, have a swim in the freezing water, it’s worth it.

If hikes are your thing, you will be well served with this one! Croagh Patrick is considered the holiest mountain of Ireland. It’s a pilgrimage destination, as it is on this mountain that St-Patrick, the patron of Ireland, fasted for 40 days. 

But it’s also a beautiful 7km high hike. From the top, you will be able to admire Clew Bay, which is a truly stunning view. 

You can start the hike from Murrisk and park in the car park (there is a fee) or on the roadside if you’re early enough. This will allow you to avoid paying. 

Be careful, this hike is not the easiest! You need to be physically prepared for the hike, as it can be quite steep and rocky. However, it’s more than worth the effort on a sunny day. 

According to our guide while we did this tour, the cliffs are the second most visited attraction in Ireland (after the Guinness factory!). We totally understood why once we got there. It’s quite a breathtaking view. 

For this one, we’d recommend waiting for a sunny day. That way you’ll be able to see the vastness of the ocean unraveling before your eyes while you’re standing on top of these 215 meters high fascinating scarps. Plus, you might get a chance to befriend cows that are living their best lives in the green fields around. 

You have two options to admire these wonders of nature: You can choose to walk on them or to see them from the sea (on a cruise). Personally, the tour we chose allowed us to do both! 

Here is what you should know about Ireland’s weather: it’s changing every 2 minutes. You’ll probably spend a good part of your trip under grey clouds looking like a frizzy lion from the constant humidity. That being said, DON’T let it keep you from doing activities!

Take this as an example: we were WILDLY unprepared for the hike of Connemara. Anne-Marie had crocs, I had Converses on, we had no raincoat or umbrella, we did it in the pouring rain and it was GREAT. No kidding. It was like getting the ultimate Irish experience, we were laughing the whole time. Don’t limit yourself because of the weather!

READ MORE