Your Ultimate Guide to Dublin, Ireland

Dublin. I had originally planned on staying in Dublin for a day because my return ticket to Chicago had a whole day layover there, but my fate had some other plans. This was my itinerary for those last two days in Europe: I would take my scheduled evening flight from Milan to London then once, I have arrived in London, I would spend that night at the London Gatwick Airport. The next day, early morning my flight from London to Dublin would take off, I would land in Dublin around 11:00 am and check in to my hostel, explore Dublin for that whole day because my flight to Chicago wasn’t until the next day at 12:00 pm. What actually happened? Get ready to hear this.

My Easyjet flight from Milan to London got delayed for two hours at first. Then, to make it worse, they canceled the flight and since it was almost nighttime, there weren’t any flights left for London for that day and if there were, then they were full. So, there goes my flight to Dublin. I did find a flight straight to Dublin from Milan on Aer Lingus for the next day in the evening which was $400 one way but at this point, I didn’t really have a choice because after researching so much, that was the only flight I found. So I just booked it before I lost those last tickets or in case the prices went above $400. Now, my plan was “Screw exploring Dublin, I just need to make it to Dublin before my second leg to Chicago”. It really didn’t bother me that I missed my flight to Dublin and I didn’t get to explore Dublin, I can go back to Dublin anytime but I would’ve been very upset if I would’ve missed my international flight to Chicago and had to pay for another one because Easyjet does NOT cover your connection flight. They would have not paid for my international flight if I missed it. EasyJet accommodated a shuttle bus to a good hotel, a night stay in the hotel, food, and a private shuttle back to the airport to catch the upcoming flight out of Milan for everyone who was affected by this canceled flight. The next day, after my shuttle, dropped myself off at the airport and my evening Aer Lingus flight from Milan to Dublin took off and got me to Dublin completely fine. I was still not at peace though, I was worried if my international carrier Aer Lingus was going to let me on my second leg from Dublin to Chicago since I missed my first leg from London to Dublin. Once I landed in Dublin, I went straight to the ticket counter and the lady advised me that Aer Lingus does not cancel your reservation/your second leg if you didn’t make it through your first leg. BUT to keep in mind, a lot of other airlines will cancel your reservation if you did not make it to your first leg. Luckily, that wasn’t the case for me. The ticket counter lady printed my boarding pass there and then too. I was set to leave for my 12:00 PM flight to Chicago. I was beyond blessed that I had a whole day layover in Dublin and was able to catch my second leg of the international flight. I had to spend that night at Dublin airport but at least everything was good, and I was ready for home. On a side note, Dublin’s McDonalds has a lot of vegetarian options, they have this really good wrap, I’m not sure what it’s called but it was really good. So, I had my dinner there, watched a bit of Netflix on my iPad, and before I knew it, it was time to get started with pre-clearance and get ready to go home. Everything went smoothly and I returned back on time. Now, all this mess aside, since I was planning on exploring Dublin, I did plan to follow this blog post to learn a bit more about Dublin!

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1. Airport – Dublin International Airport – DUB

I flew Aer Lingus, Ireland’s National Carrier to Dublin from Milan, Italy (MXP). The flight was smooth. No problems whatsoever. Like I had mentioned earlier, that Easyjet had cancelled my flight and so I had to resort to taking Aer Lingus to Dublin in order to catch my flight to Chicago. Once I got to Dublin, I had to spend the night there at the airport because my flight to Chicago wasn’t until the next day around noon.

The airport in itself is very quiet at night and there are a few good options for dinner as well. I had McDonald’s for dinner and surprisingly, McD in Dublin have WAY more vegetarian options than McDs in America.

2. Public Transportation

From my research, I found out that Dublin doesn’t have public metros if I should say. They have busses but not trains like other major cities in Europe. Once you’re in the city center, they have trams but in order for you to get to city center from Airport, the bus system is going to be your best bet.

• If you take bus number 747 (also known as Airlink Public Express Bus) from the airport, in a matter of 33 minutes, you will be in the city center but that option is a bit expensive. For one way it’s 27 Euros. You have another option, you can take bus number 41, which is the public transportation bus and there are one every 10 minutes.
• You can get more information about bus 41 here: Link
• You would want to get off at this station: Usher’s Quay

Public Transportation in general:

• You won’t necessarily need public transportation if your lodging accommodation is in the city center. Everything is close by and within walking distance
• If you think that you will be using public transportation, you can find more information here: Link
• Another thing to remember is that if you are going to be staying for more than a couple of days and want unlimited public transportation, you can get a Leap Card.
  • You purchase it once and load it when you need it. It’s similar to the Oyster card in London.
    • Link

3. Hostel – Generator Dublin

After my great experience in Barcelona with this hostel chain, I decided that I wanted to stay at Generator again when I’m in Dublin. I looked at the pictures online and even read reviews. I know I would not have had a bad time here. It’s also very close to lot of the attractions so that means that you won’t be spending so much on public transportation.

• If you wish to book Generator Dublin for your stay, you can do so here: Link

4. Five things you HAVE to see

Although I haven’t been there myself but, after doing a lot of research, reading a lot of blogs, and watching a lot of vlogs, These are the top 5 things that would have been on top of my list to visit.

1. Guinness Storehouse

19.50 Euros ($21.91)

Even if you don’t drink, this is a really cool place to visit from what I’ve heard. It doesn’t hurt to see what the process is behind the world’s top-class beer. Even though I’m not a huge fan of beer myself, I would love to see/learn about the history.

You can purchase your tickets here: Link

2. Temple Bar

FREE

Temple Bar is probably the most famous thing in Dublin. No matter who you ask, they will tell you where it is.

Mostly, It’s a very lively neighborhood with a lot of street cafes, restaurants, and bars. It’s like Khao San Road in Bangkok but little fewer nightclub vibes.

When you make friends at the hostel, a night spent in Temple Bar would be worth remembering for years to come

And, Let’s not forget the bar that is named after the neighborhood, which also looks like a red mailbox.

3. Phoenix Park

FREE

This park is full of different things to do.

Play a little game of soccer, sunbath, people watch or feed deers

My favorite part of the park is that you can simply just sit there and watch a bunch of deers and fawns just walk around

4. St Patrick’s Cathedral

6.50 Euros ($7.30)

As many of you know, I’m huge on architecture photography so I was really excited for this one.

If you want to attend a Mass, there is no entrance fee but if you would like to visit on non-Mass timings then you will have to pay a small fee.

You can purchase your tickets in advance here: Link

5. Samuel Beckett Bridge

FREE

You have to walk across the bridge at least once.

It’s a really cool looking modern era bridge

It also reminds me of a bridge in Valencia, Spain. Very similar designs I would say.

5. Currency Exchange

Currency Exchange. Local Currency: Euros (EUR). 1 USD = 0.88 EUR

You have 3 options, I recommend option 3:

1) Open a prepaid card. This is the method I used and it had its ups and downs. I used Travelex Money Card that you can find here. It’s pretty much like a debit card. What you will have to do is, open the card for $10 and you will be able to link it to your bank account. Every time you feel like you want to convert some money onto your Travelex Money Card, you can use their app to say what currency you want to convert it in and with in seconds, that money will be on your card and you can use it right away. It’s also contactless, so you can use it on the public transportation and you can set a 4-digit pin so you’re safe as well. I did a lot of research when I went to open this card and I couldn’t find a better exchange rate than Travelex. So if you are planning on picking this option, you’ll get a good rate out of its competitors.

2) You can also carry around cash but I DO NOT recommend this option. When you’re exchanging cash, you won’t get a good exchange rate and there is change of it getting stolen or lost.

3) Open a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees. I recommend this option because when I left for my backpacking trip for the first time, I did not know such credit cards existed and so I never did my research. My personal favorite is United Explorer Visa Card that you can apply for here. I use this card pretty much anywhere I go abroad and since it’s a Visa card, it works almost everywhere. Another reason why I really like a credit card is that no one will give you a better exchange rate than a bank. It’s also very easy to use, simply use it as if you were to use it in the US and when prompted to choose between USD or EUR, pick EUR. It’s also contactless, no foreign transaction fees and you 2 lounge passes for United. So, if you’re in a place to open a credit card, I really recommend this option.

6. Food

1. Tang Cafe

• It’s a European cafe that serves the most amazing food at a very low price.
  • A lot of options for vegans and vegetarians
• Apparently, It’s also known for its world-class coffee.
• Check out the menu here: Link
• Hours: M – F: 7:30AM – 5PM & Sat: 10AM – 4PM, Closed on Sundays

2. Taza

• This is an Indian restaurant. I love Indian food and especially when I’m on the road, I miss it quite a bit.
• Check out the menu here: Link
• Hours: M – TH: 4PM – 10PM, F – Sat: 4PM – 11PM & Sun: 1PM – 10PM

3. The Landmark

• Try their shepherd’s pie. I’ll just leave it there.
• Check out the menu here: Link
• Hours: Mon-Sat: 11AM – 12AM and Sunday 12AM – 11:30PM

4. Bobo’s Burger Restaurant

• This is an American restaurant for those who are missing burgers and fries.
• Along with that, for all the Guinness fans, they have it on tap.
• Check out the menu here: Link
• Hours: Sun – Wed: 12AM – 9:30PM and Thurs – Sat: 12AM – 11:45PM