"Explore Dublin With my Mom: Churches, Nature, and Surprises Around Every Corner"

Checking into the hotel and looking around in Dublin

Checking into the hotel from 24 - 29 September.

Keavan's Port Hotel, Dublin

Costs approx. 8393 Norwegian kr for 5 days, is in the middle of the city in Dublin, so is very centrally located.

Large and nice hotel room with 2 single beds and bathroom. We stayed at a PUB. As you can see in the pictures above.

We start by looking around in shops, shopping streets, in the park, at markets and much more.

Then we visit St. Patrick's Cathedral: 113 Norwegian Kr for an adult and 102 Norwegian Kr for a student. It is a cathedral where you can get a guide in your ears, automatically with earplugs.

A little history:

St. Patrick's Cathedral Tours and Tickets

The largest church in Ireland, the majestic St. Patrick's Cathedral is a testament to almost 800 years of Irish history. The church was supposedly founded on the site where Ireland's patron saint, St. Patrick, baptized converts and is renowned for its exquisite stained glass windows, marble statues and medieval tiles. St. Patrick's is as much a place of literary pilgrimage as it is for their religious counterparts; Jonathan Swift, the renowned author of "Gulliver's Travels," once served as dean here and is now buried within its gray stone walls. Read more here: https://www.viator.com 

In the church, there are audio guides, which look like telephones where you can press buttons and hear about the different parts of the cathedral as you go. Each area is marked with a number, so you can press the button for the part you want the story to be about.

Looked around the city and ate a delicious pizza.

Shopping centers and places to shop

- Arkaden shopping center.

Guided bus tour (t) to Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough (Vally of to lakes), og Medieval Kilkenny.

We booked a paddywagon tour, from Ireland's leading day trip company. Read more about this here: https://www.paddywagontours.com/tours

Started the day by arriving very early for the bus, so early that it hadn't arrived yet. We therefore sat down at a cozy cafe, right next to where the buses arrived, so that we could see when the bus had arrived. I bought myself a croissant, and we also bought ourselves some soda.

Then we got on the bus, the guide chatted the whole way back and forth and from destination to destination in one go. He had a lot of interesting things to say and was useful since we were on a guided bus tour after all. But then .... I had forgotten my motion sickness tablets, so the bus trip was simply hell. Sickly clammy, hot, aching in the stomach and head, had to hold back the vomiting. It went well, but was terrible, delicious when we got out and got some air.

The trip begins

The places we went to were Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough (Vall of two lakes), and Medieval Kilkenny.

Now I'll tell you about the trip.

After a while on the bus, we stop in Glendalough (The two lakes). This is where they filmed the movie Bravehearth.

Directly in the pamplet it says:

Our first major destination today is the Celtic - Christian monastic ruins of Glendalough (which means "Valley of two lakes" in Gaelic). The valley is known for its fascinating history, archaeology, wildlife and world-famous monastery site from the 7th century with St. Kevin's Church, stone tower and Celtic cross. The History Channel "Vikings" was partly filmed in the valley - a thousand years after their real counterparts. A large Viking procession took place here on Christmas Day in 835 AD, and the second largest longshio ever discovered was built around 1042 AD with oak from the area

We had very little time here so did not have time to calm down and look properly. We rushed to walk from the bus and inland, and inland towards the two lakes to see them. But then we only saw the first, we had to walk a little further to see the second lake but we did not have time. Was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see that they were divided into two. It would have been better if we had had a little more time there. There was nature, a monastery, a cemetery, and lakes. Here you could also take great pictures with your own phone or camera.

Then we got back on the bus and went on to Wicklow.

Wicklow Mountains

The brochure states:

The Wicklow Mountains are often referred to as the "Garden of Ireland". Made famous by films such as P.S. I Love You, Braveheart and the BBC TV series Bally, the landscape is one of cascading waterfalls, gushing streams, peat bogs and views of the Irish Sea. Look forward to a drive through dramatic mountain valleys and picturesque lochs.

Medieval Kilkenny City

Kilkenny

Kilkenny Castle: (self-guided tour, adult 91.43 NOK, student 68.57 NOK). Read about this and book tickets online here https://kilkennycastle.ie or in person. We booked tickets to the castle when we were there.

The brochure states:

This afternoon we arrive in Kilkenny, once the medical capital of Ireland. Enjoy 2 hours at leisure to explore what is arguably one of the finest cities in Ireland. You will have plenty of time to take a tour of Kilkenny Castle (optional) or Smithwick's Brewery (optional). Other popular sights include St. Canice's Cathedral and Black Abbey. You might even consider trying a pint of "Kilkenny" red ale in Kilkenny! A favourite pub with guests in Kyteler's Inn (Est. 1324 AD), once owned by convicted witch Dame Alice Le Kyteler.

All in all a great trip with guided bus tour and sightseeing in Dublin, city. It was also nice to travel with my mom.