Tag: Europe

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide.

We did the Portsmouth and IOW trip in Dec 2019. There is no bridge from England’s mainland to IOW. The only way to get to the island is to take a ferry or a hovercraft or any other kind of boats.

NOTE: There is also a ferry from Southampton to East Cowes operated by Redfunnel. This journey takes around 1 hour (https://www.redfunnel.co.uk/en/book/ferry-booking/)

If you are planning your trip from Portsmouth (island city/seacoast), I would strongly recommend to spend 1 full day(minimum) in Portsmouth aswell as there are some cool places/attractions in this city. This is a vibrant waterfront city and it’s the 3rd oldest City of the nation.

Some places worth visiting in Portsmouth are:

a) Emirates Spinnaker tower: (https://www.spinnakertower.co.uk/)

I would request to include Spinnaker tower in your itinerary. We got some great discounts from Groupon. So before booking, see if you can find some Groupon discount Coupons. The observatory in the top is worth visiting. You will get an excellent view of the entire place from the observatory. You can also step into the glass floor (sky walk) for a unique experience. Don’t forget to take your camera with you, as you can capture some stunning images from the top deck.

Other places worth visiting:

• Portsmouth Beach
• Historic Dockyard
• Ports down Hill
• Fort Nelson
• Pierce Island (20+ acres of island are around 5 minutes from downtown)
• Jennes Beach
• Boat tours
• Porstmouth Cathedral
• Portsmouth city Council Building

We Stayed in an Airbnb Apartment in Portsmouth. The stay was very nice and close to city centre.

Address: Rosemary Lane, Portsmouth, England PO1 3DR, United Kingdom.

We reached IOW by around 10.45 AM.

The IOW is measured around 24 Miles from East to West and 12 miles from North to South.

The recommendation will be to do a road trip to cover all the places. However, there are also public transport (bus) available to the main attractions. In winter, the frequency of Bus will be very less. The website https://www.islandbuses.info/services will be helpful to explore the bus routes. Hop on Hop off buses are available only in Summer, I guess.

Also please note that there are many speed cameras in IOW. So, it will be good to control your speed while driving.

We covered the following places in our IOW trip.

Below are some of the Other places worth visiting. So plan your itinerary according to your interest:

Tapnell farm Aqua park

Yarmouth

Backgang Chine Theme park

Robin hill adventure park

Whitecliff Bay

Osborne (Palace/House)  (https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/osborne/)

Yarmouth Castle

Garlic Farm  (https://www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk/)

Newport

Island Line Railway (Ryde-Shanklin) (https://www.southwesternrailway.com/destinations-and-offers/island-line)

IOW Steam railway (located in Haven street) (https://iwsteamrailway.co.uk/)

Shanklin Chine

Carisbrooke castle (http://carisbrookecastlemuseum.org.uk/)

Water Fall @ Shanklin Chine

Yaverland Beach

IOW Zoo & Tiger Sanctuary  (http://www.isleofwightzoo.com/)

Amazon World zoo (http://www.amazonworld.co.uk/)

Donkey Sanctuary  (https://www.iowdonkeysanctuary.org/)

Sandham Gardens

Ryde Beach

SpringVale Beach

Brading Roman Villa (https://bradingromanvilla.org.uk/)

Cowes town

Cycling in IOW (there are around 200 miles of safe cycle routes in IOW)

Fossil Hunting Tour

Quarr Abbey

St.Catherine’s Down

Visit Wine yards (Ex: Rosemary Wineyard)

Brighstone Village Museum 

Godshill Model Village

Dimbola Museum

Butterfly & Fountain World

Westwight Aplacas  (http://www.westwightalpacas.co.uk/)

Summary: IOW is a very good weekend option for people from UK. It is truly a hidden gem for anyone who wishes to get away from London to relax near the seaside. Many visits here to have some fun with their family on the beach, to go surfing or to bike along the island’s nature trails

“The Journey not the Arrival matters.” – T.S Eliot

We visited Dalkey and Killiney in Oct 2021. It was a great sunny day In Ireland (perfect for a day trip).

We took the Public transport (Luas) from Saggart to Connolly (Last stop of the red line).

Connolly Luas (Tram) and the Dart (Train) stations are quite near to each other.

Connolly station:

It is the biggest train station in Ireland. There are around 7 platforms in Connolly (+ 2 Platform for Luas).

The train timings and Platforms are clearly marked on the boards. So you don’t have to panic and there are even sign boards clearly indicating the platform numbers.

We took the train to Bray from Connolly. Dalkey is the 14th stop from Connolly. Dalkey is a very small station. This is a very scenic train route.

We had covered the following places in our trip:

1. Dalkey Town:

Just outside the train station, you will see clear road markings indicating the different place names.

Dalkey town is a small and beautiful town with lots of shops including multi cuisine restaurants.

It’s also an interesting fact that many rich and famous people stay in and around Dalkey. 

If you are reaching here during lunch time, make sure to have the lunch from the Dalkey town itself. You wouldn’t find more options in the other destinations during this journey.

If you are planning to have a walking tour, it will be good to  get some bottles and snacks from Dalkey. There is a SuperValu available here.

2. Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre:

Dalkey Castle is one of the seven fortified town houses/castles of Dalkey. The castles were built to store the goods which were off-loaded in Dalkey during the Middle Ages, when Dalkey acted as the port for Dublin. The castles all had defensive features to protect the goods from being plundered. These are still available on the site. For more details: https://www.dalkeycastle.com/ Note: Please note that there is an entry fee of 13.95 Euros.

3. Colliemore Harbour & Dalkey island:

This was more of a walking tour.

The next destination after the castle was the Colliemore Harbour.

Please note that there are small boats available to visit the Dalkey island (Its an uninhibited island) .

This island is an ideal spot for fishing.

But these boat services are seasonal.

You can check the website to see some boat timings : http://kentheferryman.com/

4. Dillion’s Park:

It’s a great place for a small picnic, to go fishing or simply to enjoy the views of Dalkey Island and the lighthouse.

5. Vico Road to Vico Bath:

We took the Vico Road (Scenic route along the coast) to reach the Vico Bath.

You will see a lot of nice houses with great views, enroute.

Vico Bathing place is a must see in this route. Unfortunately, there are no great markings to Vico Bath. So please be a little careful else you might miss the entrance (it’s a small path going down with a bridge over the dart line) to the Bath area.

Maps Indication (Courtesy: Google Maps): https://www.google.com/maps/@53.2703705,-6.0973575,3a,75y,176.69h,75.09t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sEiB1toGZ6ntZtLD18S-cpw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

The historic Vico Baths in Dalkey is one of the most popular places to go swimming in Dublin. This historic bathing place has been delighting locals and tourists alike for many years.

Here, we are covering these places as a part of the walking tour. If you plan to visit this place directly in a car, please remember that there is no much parking available near to the bath, as the Vico road is very narrow. The best option will be to park your car somewhere near the Dalkey Town.

There is no life guard available here. So it is good to be careful while swimming. There is a small changing room but no bathrooms.

Historically, it was a gentlemen only bathing place. There were penalties for women who break the rule and try to swim there. But such things have changed now and no such rule persists today.

You would also see  a Big ‘EIRE’ Sign on your walk down to the Vico Baths.

6. Killiney Hills

This park was dedicated to public use in 1887. Killiney Hill is a popular destination for walkers and hikers availing spectacular views, over the surrounding areas.

You can follow the Vico Road further to reach the entry to the Killiney Hill. Clear indication boards are available.  Please remember that if you are planning to take this route, you will have to climb a large number of steps (don’t recollect the number of steps) to reach the top of the Killiney Hill. If you have small kids / or people with walking difficulties in your group, this wouldn’t be an ideal route for you. Instead you can reach the top of Killiney hill through the other side in your car. There is also a big car park available at the top.

The views from the Killiney hill top is marvellous. As soon as you reach Killiney hill top, please refer to one of the maps/boards which are erected in different places. That places will give you a fairly good idea about the various points of interest within the Killiney Hill.

From one side of the Killiney hill, you can see the Vico Road, DART Train line and the Dalkey Island.

From another side, you will see the Killiney Beach.

From another side, you will see a lot of residential areas, Motor way and industrial estates.

7) The Obelisk (within the Killiney Hills):

Don’t miss the Obelisk while you are in Killiney Hill.

Killiney Obelisk has been the subject of much attention since it was built in the 1740s. It was intended as the centerpiece of a great undertaking to plant and landscape the hill, which at first was called Obelisk Hill, and more recently has become known as Killiney Hill.

You can also visit the Pyramid, when you are in Killiney Hill.

NOTES:

1. There are couple of options to reach the Killiney Hill, if you are coming in car. (One route has a height restriction in place)
2. There are no much shops available in the  Killiney hill. Either you have to get something from a coffee shop near to one of the car parks. Normal people try to come up to the Killiney hill with some small snacks, Pizzas, Burgers and so on.
3. There is also a rest room available outside the coffee shop.

8. Killiney Beach:

You can Climb down the Killiney hill to reach the Killiney beach.

Personally, We did not like the beach.

There is enough parking space available near the Killiney Beach. There is also public toilet available (near the Killiney beach parking). The toilet is not maintained properly.

Food options:

As mentioned earlier, there are lots of restaurants in Dalkey.

Personally we had tried food from Kathmandu Restaurant and Wood Burn Pizza. The food was tasty.

There were also 3-4 Indian cuisine restaurants available in Dalkey.

Some restaurants would need prior booking.

Parking Options:

By chance if you want to visit in car, there are parking spaces available near Collimeore harbour, Castle, Killiney hill and Killiney beach.

Killiney Beach was our last destination in our journey. The Killiney DART (Train) station is just near to the Killiney Beach.

For those who wants to return back to the Dublin City Center, you can take direct train to Connolly from Killiney station.

For those who wants to explore beyond Killiney, please check out the rail network. There’s a great rail network coverage and you could pick some nice destinations.

Dalkey and Killiney Hill  is infact a great one day trip from Dublin. Infact this can be covered in a half day trip aswell.

NOTE: We have covered only a few places here in this blog. Our idea was to give you a high level overview of this place. Certainly do a homework and make a proper plan. You can really craft a beautiful one day itinerary for this destination.

Happy Journey!!

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide.

We visited Bray and Greystones in July 2021.

Thanks to the Sunny Weather (believe me, it didn’t rain that day in Ireland), it was really a wonderful trip.

We took the Public transport (Luas) from Saggart to Connolly (Last stop of the red line)

Connolly Luas (Tram) and the Dart (Train) stations are quite near to each other.

Bray is relatively a small station.

You can also go to Bray in bus and there is a bus depot aswell, in Bray.

Main Attractions in Bray:

1. Sea Life Aquarium:

We couldn’t visit the aquarium as the entries were restricted with prior booking (due to covid restrictions).

2. Bray Beach:

Bray beach is not a pure white sand beach.

You will see a lot of pebbles here.

There are lots of snack shops (ice creams shops and restaurants) near the beach area.

Few points to note:

a) There are clear indications through out the walking trail.

b) Remember the Wicklow Litter Code: You wouldn’t see any bins through out the walking trail. You will have to keep the rubbish with you and throw it in the bins at the start or the end point.

c) Some of the paths in the walking trail is very narrow.  A one way traffic might have to be followed there.

4. Greystones Beach:

The final destination of this cliff walk is the Greystones Beach.

Compared to the Bray beach, the Greystones beach is less crowded. (You can play/swim here).

The bay area here is really nice.

The Greystones town is small and there are lot of shops in both sides of the road (for light refreshments and so on).

The Greystones dart station is around 1 km / 10-15 min (walking distance) from the beach.

There is a small and nice beach near to the station.

You can take the train from Greystones to Bray (if you have parked your cars in the Bray Parking area).

For those who wants to return back to the Dublin City Center, you can take direct train to Connolly from Greystones station.

For those who wants to explore beyound Greystones, please check out the rail network. There’s a great rail network coverage and you could pick some nice destinations.

There are lot of restaurants and small coffee shops available in both Bray and Greystones.

Some among them are:

PLATFORM Pizza Bar and BOX BURGER (in Bray)

We had tried some of the Indian restaurants (lots of options available) in Greystones and really liked ‘Chakra By Jaipur’ the most.

If you are looking for ice-creams, our personal recommendation would be ‘Gino’s’

Another cool hangout place for Vegetarians in Greystones is ‘The Happy Pear’.

Bray and Greystones is infact a great one day trip from Dublin.

NOTE: We have covered only a few places here in this blog. Our idea was to give you a high level overview of this place. Certainly do a homework and make a proper plan. You can really craft a beautiful one day itinerary for this destination.

Happy Journey!!

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharlal Nehru

We visited Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough and Kilkenny In Ireland in December 2018. We booked this trip through ‘Wild Rover Tours’. The details of the tour can be seen in the link below:

https://wildrovertours.com/activity/kilkenny-wicklow-mountains-glendalough/

This is a full day trip from Dublin, Ireland and the booking can be done online.

Route Map:

During online booking, they give you some discounts (10-15%) on other similar tour packages operated by the same company.

They have 3 Pickup points in Dublin and the trip starts at 8:10 AM

8:10am at Gresham Hotel, O’Connell St Dublin 1
8:20am at Ulster Bank Bus Stop, Dame Street / College Green Dublin 2
8:30am at Jurys Inn, Christ Church Dublin 8

Note: They have only 1 Drop point near O’Connell street (will be back by 6PM)

Charges: Adult: €33.00
Child (under 12): €25.00 (they don’t accept reservations for babies under 2)
Student: €28.00

Place 1: As a part of this trip, we first visited ‘Richard Collen’s Working Sheep Farm.

Mr Richard and his wife explains how they run the farm.

Also a very interesting ‘Sheep Herding Demonstration Using Border Collies’. It’s an interesting one, for people like me who have not seen this before. This is a wonderful experience not to be missed!

After demonstration, they hand us the baby lambs for hugs and cuddles and you can take pictures with the baby lamps.

Place 2: The next place is the famous heritage site of Glendalough; a glacial valley and medieval monastic settlement. Its just a 5 minutes drive from the sheep farm.

The Bus will be parked there for 2 hours (expected to be back in bus by around 12PM)and we can visit the Glendalough Monastic Site. Nick (our guide) from the Tour operator side will explain about the place and once the walking tour is over, we can walk till the Glendalough Upper and Lower Lake. Please note that the walking distance is around 1.6 Kms+ (one side) from the parking area. The views are stunning and I would personally recommend this.

There are restaurant and bathroom facilities available in the ‘Glendalough Hotel’.

I would personally suggest you to take some light food from here as the bus would stop only at the next attraction at around 1:45 PM.

Enroute to the place 3, we will pass through the beautiful scenic mountains (Wicklow Gap) lying both sides of the Braveheart Drive road. You will also pass through very small town like ‘Holly Wood’. The bus will also stop for 10 minutes, for you to take some beautiful snaps of the mountains. You will also get a chance to see a lot of ‘Fairy trees’ enroute.

Place 3: The last and final place of visit is ‘Kilkenny’ Medieval City. We might reach here around 1:45 PM and bus will be parked near the Kilkenny Castle till 4PM. Before reaching Kilkenny, the guide will provide all the information related to the various attractions in that area.

If you are a person who is not fond of History, this is not a location that you might enjoy.

My decision was to visit the St. Canice’s Medieval Cathedral and Round Tower. You need to pay a small fees for getting onto the top of the Round Tower from where you can get a 360 view of the town. Beware that there are around 100 steps and it’s a risky one for the elders and young kids.

There is also a small ticket for seeing the inside of the Cathedral.

Based on individual preference, you can also decide between:

Kilkenny Castle

Ballykeefe Distillery

Rothe House & Garden

Saint Francis’s Abbey Brewery

National Craft Gallery

You will be back in the City Center by 6PM, if the bus starts around 4.15 PM from Kikenny.

Overall, I feel that the trip is very economical. The Travel Guide ‘Nick’ and the pilot ‘Paddy’ were very supportive and caring. Nick has spend more than 30 years in Ireland and he gives a lot of information (using Mic and speaker) about the History of Ireland, Dublin and the attractions that we visit. He was amazing – not only was he informative but hosted walking tours along the way which was interesting. He also brought along some instruments and entertained us with his music along the way.

The only thing what you have to keep in mind is that the operator doesn’t spend/waste time by stopping the bus in front of the restaurants. Anyway food is not included in this package. So be prepared to grab a short menu like Burgers or sandwich wherever the bus parks. This is quite a busy journey throughout the complete day. In case, if you want to save some money, you can also pack food from your home/hotel. The tour operator don’t block you from having outside food inside the coaches.

Overall, I would recommend this one-day package to my fellow travellers.

As for the tour itself, everything was great except time. But I guess that’s the same thing for all day tours; there’s little time for so many things to see and do. All in all, it was a great tour, and we were lucky to have a beautiful weather to make it more enjoyable.

Anyway, there are some other tour operators like ‘Paddywagon’ who are also operating in the same route.

https://www.paddywagontours.com/KILKENNY-and-WICKLOW-Day-Tour-From-DUBLIN?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-vuPrYK23wIVBbTtCh39wg6JEAAYASACEgL_5vD_BwE

But they don’t take you to the sheep farm, I guess.

In Winter time, we might not see the real beauty of this place. But in Summer, these are must see destinations.

We visited county Galway from Dublin, in February 2019.

This was a part of the 5-day road trip from Dublin covering mainly Mayo, Galway and Clare counties.

Road map- Day 2:

Places covered on Day 2 (In County Galway)

1) Connemara National Park:

The park covers nearly 3000 hectares of land and includes mountains, bog, heath and woodland. Entrance to the park is free. Pets are allowed.

There are four trails in the park. The Woodland Trail, Scruffaunboy Walk, Lower Diamond Hill Walk and Upper Diamond Hill Walk, however the real reason for coming here is to do one thing only, and that is to climb Diamond Hill, the 445m mountain that stands majestically in the centre of the landscape. The full hill walk is combination of 3 of the walks, 7.5km and takes 2-3 hours. You will find the visitor centre in the entrance of the trail.

We did not proceed for the Trails, as we were running short of time.

Note: Connemara is also known for Connemara Pony Breed.

2) Kylemore Abbey:

This is one of the most visited tourist attractions in this part of the County Galway. Seems like this Abbey was a former castle.

You can visit some rooms in the abbey, many of them were redesigned with the original furniture and provide a lot of information about the history of Kylemore Abbey.

There is a entry fee into the Abbey.

Another attraction that we skipped in this region was ‘LetterFrack Village’. The village has some traditional music bars, restaurants and so on.

3) Aasleagh Falls:

Aasleagh Falls, sometimes spelled Ashleigh Falls, is a small but picturesque waterfall on the River Erriff near Killary Harbour. There is a parking area, a short walk from the falls. Salmon fishing is popular in this region.

We also saw the Killary Fjord Boat tours office on the way. The service was not operational because of Winter.

• You can find more details in the below link:
• https://killaryfjord.com/

4) Sionnanach:

There is a nice parking space here. There are seats wooden seats arranged in this place. You can park your vehicle and relax for some time.

5) Clifden:

We had gone upto Clifden that day but it was already late evening and we had to leave back to county Mayo where we had booked for that night stay.

Clifden is around 15 minutes from Letterfrack and is one of the largest towns in this region.

The main attractions in Clifden are:

1) Sky road: The Sky Road drive in Clifden is a popular route in the Connemara region and has been described as the most impressive coastal drive in the country.

2) Clifden castle / Dunguaire Castle

Road Map – Day 3

Places that we covered/planned to cover on Day 3 (In County Galway)

Glengowla Mines

Rossaveal Ferry (To Aran Islands)) (we did not go for boating here)

Salthill Promenade

National Aquarium

Claddagh (Corrib Princess Boat) (we did not visit here)

Spanish Arch (we did not visit here)

Galway Bay

Kinvarra Fishing Port (we did not visit here)

1) Glengowla Mines

We really wanted to go inside this mines but at the entrance gate, we realised that it is normally closed to Visitors during winter.

It’s an old lead mine that was only in operation for fifteen years or so in the 1800’s(1851-1865) but now it’s open for tours down into the mine. Its an interesting place to learn about the miners work and about Irish history. Mainly Silver and lead was mined from here.

Am little confused if we should call it as a Historic place or a Tourist attraction.

Please note that the mine is open for the season from March 18^th and close by the end of October. They are open from 10 AM till 6PM, with the last guided tour at 5 PM.

They have various options like Guided Tours, Sheep herding, Farm walks, Museums, gift shops and so on.

Fares:

Adult : 11 Euros

Children : 4.5 Euros

Students : 10.5 Euros

Family : 27 Euros

2) Rossaveal Ferry ( To Aran Islands):

Ferry services are available to Aran islands from Rossaveal.

This ferry port is around one hour drive from the Galway city centre.

They also suggest booking the tickets well in advance, to avoid any disappointments at the last moment.

Notes:

You have to park your vehicles (Parking charges apply) in the designated parking space.

They also arrange a shuttle bus which leaves Galway city on time to get you to the ferry.

They allow pets inside the ferry.

Bicycles are allowed (but with some restrictions on the total numbers)

Travel times to the Aran Islands from Rossaveal.

Rossaveal to Inis Mór (Inishmore): 40 Minutes.

Rossaveal to Inis Meáin(Inishmaan): 50 Minutes.

Rossaveal to Inis Oírr(Inisheer): 55 Minutes.

3) Salthill Promenade:

The Irish for Salthill is ‘Bóthar na Trá’, which literally means ‘the road by the sea’.

Salthill’s main attraction every year has been its promenade and numerous sandy beaches. The promenade covers approximately 3kms of coastline, overlooking Galway Bay.

This is an ideal area for jogging, rollerblading or strolling.

There are lots of bars, restaurants, and hotels. There are many designated parking space aswell.

4) National Aquarium:

You can see a wide and diverse collection of Ireland’s native marine and freshwater animals here.

Galway Aquarium is designed over two floors, where visitors follow a vivid interpretation of the Irish aquatic landscape, from the glacial mountain streams of Connemara, down through the famous River Corrib and out into Galway Bay.

Galway Atlantaquaria typically opens for every holiday and Bank holiday weekend (St Patrick’s Day, Good Friday etc).

Opening Times:

Open Monday to Friday 10am – 5pm

Open Saturday, Sunday 10am – 6pm

Last admission 45 mins before closing time every day.

Admission Fee:

The admission fee includes entry for the day, so visitors are allowed to come and go any time but need to hold the receipt for re-Admission

General:

Adult €13.00

Child €8.50

Senior €9.50

Student €10.00

Children ages 2 and under are free.

Family Tickets:

2 Adults and 1 Child € 31.00

2 Adults and 2 Children € 35.00

1 Adult and 2 Children € 24.00

Each Additional child € 4.50

Children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult at all times!

There is also a fish feeding demonstration happening at different timings like 3Pm for big fish feeding.

As Ireland’s largest aquarium, they strive to ensure that a visit to the Galway Aquarium provides a real wonder for visitors of all ages.

Website: www.nationalaquarium.ie

5) Claddagh and the Corrib Princess Boat:

Claddagh (Irish: an Cladach, meaning “the shore”) is an area close to the centre of Galway city, where the River Corrib meets Galway Bay. It was formerly a fishing village, just outside the old city walls. It is just across the river from the Spanish Arch, which was the location of regular fish markets where the locals supplied the city with seafood as recently as the end of the 19th century.

The boat was not operational in winter and hence had to skip this in our tour.

They do some sailings in April and in the month of October.(Private group hire of 20+ passengers)

Public daily sailing happens between May and September.

Corrib Princess Boat is a luxury 157 seat passenger boat. They sails from Woodquay in the heart of Galway city. The journey takes passengers along the majestic River Corrib and onto Lough Corrib, the Republic of Ireland’s largest lake, providing visitors with unsurpassed views and natural amenities that make this the most spectacular waterway in Ireland.

The sailing duration is around 90 Min.

6) Spanish Arch:

The Spanish Arch built in 1584, stands on the left bank of the River Corrib, where Galway’s river meets the sea.

7) Galway Bay:

Galway Bay is a large bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway and the Burren in County Clare.

Galway Bay is famous for its unique traditional sailing craft, the Galway Hooker.

You can get in touch with Galway Bay sailing club for sailing related details.

8) Kinvarra fishing port/ Kinvara Harbour

Due to the limited time, we did not visit the Fishing port.

Kinvara is a picturesque fishing village, located on the South Shores of the famous “Galway Bay”.

By late evening, we managed to reach the Home stay which we had booked through Airbnb. We had stayed in Pake’s Cottage (Near Cliffs of Moher, County Clare).

We visited Dublin Zoo in November 2018.

This is one of the most visited places in Dublin (by families).

You would need 3-4 hours to cover the entire zoo.

This zoo is located in Phoenix Park just after People’s Garden and its one of the oldest zoo in the world (opened to the public on 1st September 1831). Its spread across 28 hectares.

Dublin Zoo has not got a designated car park. However, there are lots of places to park around Phoenix Park.

An interesting history:

The zoo is noted for its lion breeding program, and since the 1850’s, more than 700 lions have been bred here. The most famous past resident is probably the MGM trademark lion. Named Slats, he was filmed for the opening sequence that preceded all films from the then newly formed MGM studio, and first appeared on screens in 1924.

You can buy tickets online and save some money.

Ticket price below:

There are other options like ‘Annual Pass’.

The zoo is open almost throughout the year.

The zoo is home to roughly 400 animals from 100 different species, and you can visit all of them across the eight different habitats, which range from an Asian jungle to a family farm, where kids get to meet the inhabitants up close and milk a (model) cow.

Some of the mammal’s that you find are:

Chimpanzee,

Gorilla

Orangutan

When visiting the new Orangutans enclosure in Dublin Zoo be careful when they are crossing above your head.

They’ve been known to pee and poo down on onlookers for the craic.

Elephant ,

Giraffe,

Hippopotamus,

Rhinoceros,

Lemur,

Okapi,

Oryx,

Sea Lion,

Zebra,

Snow Leopard,

Tiger Wolf

Some of the Bird’s that you find are:

Flamingo,

Ostrich,

Pea cock,

Penguin

Family Farm

Located near the entrance/exit, the zoo also has a petting farm, where visitors can interact with farm animals

Cows,

Sheep,

Pigs,

Goats,

Rabbits,

Chickens,

Other animals

There is a Snake park with in Campus.

There is a beautiful lake within the zoo.

Carefully recreated habitats:

Their habitats have been carefully recreated, there is no cage in this Zoo and you can feel the wellbeing of the inhabitants. The Zoo has worked on an expansion project for 20 years including a huge African Plains area, a new sea lion cove habitat, a forest trail for the elephants, a forest for the orangutan and a rainforest for the gorilla.

Play Forest:

Dublin Zoo has got a free and innovative play area for children (mainly kids aged from 3 to 10). Named Play Forest, it is strategically located across the lake from the main entrance, just past the main Asian Forest attractions — or about a 10 minute walk if you weren’t stopping to look at the animals. The play area includes fun wooden climbing structures and a giant slide.

There are restaurants and souvenir shops within the campus.

There are lot of seating arrangements in the campus. It’s really good option to relax yourself after a long walk. If you have taken food from home, you can take advantage of the numerous picnic areas scattered throughout the zoo.

If interested, you can also adopt animals.

https://www.dublinzoo.ie/67/Adopt-an-Animal.aspx

Dublin zoo has live web cams. You can see them (Elephants, penguins) here:

https://www.dublinzoo.ie/17/Webcams.aspx

Tesco Clubcard points can be converted into Dublin Zoo passes.

We visited county Mayo from Dublin in February 2019.

This was a part of the 5-day road trip from Dublin covering mainly Mayo, Galway and Clare counties.

Road map- Day 1:

Places covered on Day 1:

1) Termonbarry Lock

2) Strokestown Park House

3) Downpatrick Head

4) Céide Fields

1) Termonbarry Lock (This is in County Roscommon)

Happened to see that the re-opening of Tarmonbarry Lock on the Shannon Navigation was done in Apr 2015. This lock is still operational. This is really an Engineering marvel.

You can spend around 30 minutes in this location, as it is quite near to the main road.

There is a lot of parking space available.

2) Strokestown Park House / National Famine Museum (This is in Roscommon County)

Strokestown Park is a unique historic property in the west of Ireland and is the home of the first landlord to be assassinated during the height of the Great Famine of Ireland the 1840s.

If you are a history lover, this place can be in your itinerary. The museum contains some of the best records from the time of the Famine.

Please note that there is a ticket charge involved to get into the National Famine Museum (around 10 Euros/person).

There is a Woodland Walk which is free of charge and open 7 days a week from 10.30am-3.30pm. This would be interesting for kids. (You don’t have to buy any tickets to use this walkway)

There is a lot of parking space available. Website: http://www.strokestownpark.ie

3) Downpatrick Head

This place should be in your itinerary, if you are going to this part of Ireland.

It’s a place of absolute coastal beauty. It is one of the Signature Points on the Wild Atlantic Way in Mayo.

From the parking area, there is a nice walk. A little bit upwards, but easy to make.

The name Downpatrick is derived from a time when St Patrick himself founded a church here. You can still see the ruins of the church building, a stone cross and holy well here today. This was once a popular destination for pilgrims, who came here each year on the last Sunday of July, known as ‘Garland Sunday’. Today that tradition lives on, and mass is still celebrated at Downpatrick Head on that same day.

There is also a holy well and a memorial to 25 Irishmen who fled from British Redcoats during a 1795 uprising. They hid in the caves at Downpatrick Head, but couldn’t get back out before the tide came in and flooded the cavern. They all perished.

There is a Lookout Post here, one of many around the coast of Ireland dating from about 1939. At these lookout posts in 1942-43, ground markers were etched out spelling EIRE and with a number – this one is 64 – to alert aircraft to the fact that they were now over neutral Ireland.

Be little careful when you go near the edge of the cliffs. Unlike Cliffs of Moher, we don’t have enough protection (steel fence) at the edges.

4) Ceide Fields:

While you visit Down Patrick, please make sure to take the short drive out to visit the Céide Fields. The Céide Fields are the oldest known field systems in the world, over five and a half millennia old. It is a unique Neolithic landscape of world importance, which has changed our perception of our Stone Age ancestors. You can also visit the Céide Fields Visitor Centre, which has exhibitions, audio-visual shows and so on.

Opening Times:

Open Easter to October 29th

Daily 10am – 6pm June to Sept

Daily 10am – 5pm Other months

Available for bookings in winter months.

Admission Charges

Adult: Euro 4.00

Group / Senior: Euro 3.00

Group / Senior: Euro 3.00

Family: Euro 10.00

After Ceide fields, we went back to the homestay.

Road map- Day 2:

Second day, we started a little early as we had to cover a lot of attractions on the same day.

Places covered on Day 2:

Achill Island

Croagh Patrick

Roonagh Pier @ Wild Atlantic Bay

Doolough valley / famine valley

Connemara National park

Kylemore Abbey

Aasleagh Falls

Sionnanach

Clifden

1) Achill Island:

Achill Island is on Ireland’s West Coast in Mayo County. It is on Wild Atlantic Way – a 2500 KM long trail that goes along the Atlantic Ocean in Ireland.

This is a place that you should cover when you are in Mayo.

Achill Island is the largest of all islands off the coast of Ireland. Achill is accessible by the Michael Davitt Bridge, built in 2008 on the site of the original bridge which was constructed in 1887.

It makes a fantastic day trip from Westport, as it’s only one hour away.

Inhabited for over five thousand years, the Irish language is still spoken on the island.

You can see hundreds of sheeps in this region. The sheeps along with the background gives you the best postcard pictures in your camera.

The 2 other places (I couldn’t go to these places) which are around 15-30 Minutes are:

Keel beach (White sand beach)

Keem Bay

2) Croagh Patrick:

Croagh Patrick is a Holy Mountain which overlooks Clew Bay in County Mayo. Croagh Patrick is 8km from Westport town and its peak can be seen soaring above the surrounding countryside. Spectacular views of the Clew Bay coastline and the south Mayo countryside can be seen from the mountain. This is one of the highest peaks in the Western part of Ireland. Please note that in case if you are not planning to climb the mountain, there might not be anything special for you at this place. There is lot of parking space (paid), available here.

3) Roonagh Pier:

We have not visited this place but heard that this is a nice place.

4) Doolough valley:

This is a magical landscape of lakes and mountains.

It is a high-quality driving route in a spectacular setting on the R335 between Delphi and Louisburgh in Co. Mayo.

There is also a Famine Memorial in this region. This is a stone memorial, in the form of a simple stone cross which was erected in memory of the victims of the famine in this area.

Unfortunately, it was slightly raining when we passed through this area. However, this is one of the journeys that I would never forget.

The last 4 destinations that we visited was Connemara national Park, Kylemore Abbey, Aasleagh Falls, Sionnanach and Clifden. I would like to cover those destinations in my blog related to ‘County Galway’.

After seeing Clifden, we went back to our home stay.

We visited county Clare from Dublin, in February 2019.

This was a part of the 5-day road trip from Dublin covering mainly Mayo, Galway and Clare counties.

Road map- Day 4:

Places covered on Day 4

Doolin Pier Point

Doolin Cave

Burren Way / Burren national park

Fanore Beach

Murrooghtoohy

Ailwee Caves/ Birds of Prey Center:

Poulnabrone Dolmen Tomb

Kilimer Port

1) Doolin Pier Point:

Doolin Pier Point is situated in the Wild Atlantic Way. Doolin is the home of traditional Irish music. Its a nice walk down to the pier, but they’re not great for getting down to the sea itself as there’s no seashore here. Its more like a rocky beach here.

This is not a beach for swimming. But it is a beach for amazing views, listening and watching the waves crash, enjoying the sun, and admiring the dazzling geology of the coastline.

I believe the Sunset view from here will be excellent.

There are high chances that you will find some Dolphins here.

There is enough parking space available here.

The pier has two public restroom spots, one by the boat booths, and one closer to the rock beach.

You have Ferry Services From here to Aran Islands and Cliffs of Moher.

It was closed as we visited during Winter.

https://www.doolin2aranferries.com/

https://www.doolinferry.com/

2) Doolin Cave:

Since we had planned to go to Ailwee Cave, we decided to skip the Doolin Caves.

I have seen lots of discussion on internet regarding the comparison between Ailwee and the Doolin caves.

Personally I have visited only Ailwee caves and hence might not be in a position to do a comparison here. I would suggest you to visit both and draw your own conclusions.

3) Burren Way / Burren National Park:

The Burren, on part of the Wild Atlantic Way – from the Irish ‘boireann’ means rocky place.

It is a 123km walking route that takes in the best of what the Burren area has to offer, from the coast at Doolin to majestic wild-flower-decorated limestone terraces and from the remains left by the Neolithic inhabitants of the Burren to the rich heritage of early Christian churches and site.

The Limestone rocks beside the road provides a spectacular display.

4) Fanore Beach:

Fanore is located on the main road from Doolin to Ballyvaughan and this road is well worth a drive on your visit to the Burren. It has some fantastic views on a clear day.

This large sandy beach and clear water is very popular with walkers, swimmers and surfers.

Fanore Beach is on the northwest coast of the Burren and its golden arc of sand with the backdrop of bare limestone hill, make this a very distinctive Geosite.

Ample parking space with clean toilets are available.

The views are spectacular from this beach, especially the rock formations.

5) Murrooghtoohy:

From Murrooghtoohy, you can get magnificent views of the whole of Galway Bay from the Aran Islands to Oranmore Bay east of Galway City, with a back drop of the Connemara mountains.

Another place which you can cover is the ‘Flaggy Shore’. I have personally not visited this place during our trip.

6) Ailwee Caves/ Birds of Prey Center:

This was First discovered by a local farmer in 1940.

Later only in the year of 1973 is when he shared this information with a group of students (Cavers). The cave had been fully explored and mapped in 1977. The cave is not operational currently.

Formed by water flowing through cracks in the limestone hill, it is one of the oldest caves in the Burren. The remains of bears can also be seen inside the caves and allusions have been made to it being the last bear den in Ireland. There is a also a very small water fall inside the cave.

You can also visit the Birds of Prey Center which is in the same campus.

There is a combo ticket to get inside the caves and the prey center.

Individual tickets will cost around 7 Euros and the 2 attractions combined will cost around 12 Euros. The cave ticket charge includes a guided tour. The tour takes approximate 30-35 minutes and is a great option for people who have never visited any caves in their life time.

The bird centre is the home to one of the largest and most varied collections of Birds of Prey in Ireland – Eagles, Falcons, Hawks, Owls and Vultures to name but a few.

It’s a nice place where you will get a chance to see some trained birds in flight. You can also have them land on your hand which was very exciting for the younger members in our group. Birds flying display are daily at 12noon & 3.00pm

There is a also a Café and a gift shop within the cave campus. Lot of parking space is also available.

7) Poulnabrone Dolmen Tomb:

It’s an amazing view to see the rocks (that heavy), that high off the ground and that too around 5000 years ago when there was no much machinery available.

I know from reading about this tomb that it was put back together a couple of years ago as one of the supports fractured or was going to collapse, but it still doesn’t take away from the sheer wonderment of something so old.

The site is very quite and free of charge. There is parking space available and information signs on the way from the carpark to the tomb itself. It is off the beaten track to get to this.

8) Kilimer Port:

We desperately wanted to cover a Ferry trip during this 5 days but unfortunately most of the services were not operational due to winter.

Finally we decided to take Shannon ferry which goes from Kilimer port to the Kerry island (Tarbert Port)

You can keep this as an optional plan in your trip as the driving distance is more.

Kilimer to Tarbert takes around 20 minutes one side in the ferry.

Website –> https://www.shannonferries.com/

Detailed Schedule can be found below:

Shannon Ferries also provides a discount (15%) for the online booking.

The return Car fare cost is around 30 Euros (25.50 for Online). They charge only for the vehicles and no additional charges for the passengers in the car. You can simply drive in to the ferry and the tickets will be given during the journey.

There is a snack shop inside the ferry but it was closed (not sure if its due to the Winter season)

There are Toilets available within the ferry.

In case if you plan to take this Ferry to explore Kerry, I would suggest you to take morning trips.

The main attractions like the ‘Rings of Kerry’ would take a minimum of 2 hrs from the Tarbert Port.

We took the return trip in the ferry back to Kilimer Port and went to the Airbnb accommodation that was prebooked near ‘Cliffs of Moher’.

In case if you are near Kilimer and want to explore some other places near by (avoiding ferry to Kerry), I would suggest some of the below places:

Scattery Island

Loop Head Light House

Lahinch Beach

Places covered on Day 5:

Cliffs of Moher and then Back to Dublin

Cliffs of Moher:

This was the last day of our 5 day road trip. We wanted to spend some quality time at the cliffs and hence decided to reach there in the morning itself.

One of the important things to be noted is that we need to take tickets to visit the cliffs.

At the gate, it’s a flat rate of 8 Euros. (For adults). For Children up to 16 years, it’s a free ticket.

If you book online (at least one day in advance), you need to pay only the half amount of 4 Euros for the morning and evening visits.

Morning visit time is between 08:00 – 10:59 (Means you can enter any time between 8:00 and 10:59)

Evening visit time is between 16:00 – 19:00

More information and ticket booking @ https://bookings.cliffsofmoher.ie/

The Cliffs of Moher are located about 90 minutes south of Galway or 3 hours from Dublin on Ireland’s west coast in County Clare. This might be the most famous destination in the entire scenic wild Atlantic way. The cliffs run for around 10+ kms and at some places, it rise to a maximum height of 214 metres (702 feet) above the Atlantic Ocean. It ranks one among the most visited tourist sites in Ireland, with around 1.5 million visits per annum.

You can also visit the Cliffs of Moher visitor’s center. This state-of-the-art underground visitor centre features various interactive exhibits, images and displays that can be enjoyed by people of all age groups. There are some restaurants and public toilets available within this center.

There’s also a observatory tower here with a ticket of 2 Euros. But now its closed for some major maintenance work.

The parking area is huge. But you will have to walk a long distance to reach the cliffs from the parking area (Private vehicles).

There are safety barriers which prevents visitors from going near the cliff. However, if you keep walking away from the Visitor’s center, the barrier ends. So be a little careful and dare not to go near the edge. Already many have lost their life here.

During summer, you can use the boat trips to experience the cliffs from the water and there are Helicopter rides to see the cliffs from the top. In winter, such options are not available.

If you have only limited time in Dublin and want to cover this scenic cliffs, you can search and book for day trips. There are many companies like ‘Wild Rover Tours’ , ‘PaddyWagon’ and so on arranging such trips.

If you’re into photography you’ll want to stick around and wander along the coastal walk since there are many different vantage points to enjoy.

Being one of the busiest attractions in Ireland, you are bound to find visitors all year round, however July and August are the peak months.

It’s recommended that you leave at least half a day (or atleast 3 Hours) for your visit to the Cliffs of Moher, as the site isn’t simply a pretty tourist destination but also includes an impressive number of hiking trails that offer spectacular views of their own.

We had stayed in Pake’s Cottage (Near to Cliffs of Moher)

We took the ‘Go Bus’ service from Dublin to Cork..

The starting point was Burgh Quay (Dublin). It’s a 3 Hours journey (Direct-28 Euros including Return). The bus service was prompt and on time. The dropping point in Cork was St. Patrick’s Quay.

https://www.gobus.ie/booking.php

I have also seen bus services which take more than 4 hours (one way). I believe Go Bus is a good option. The train charges are more and hardly you can save 30 minutes by train.

We stayed in Cork on the First day at my relatives house and went to ring of Kerry on Day 2.

Area wise, Cork is the largest county in Ireland.

All year round, Cork is a great place to visit — whether it’s to relax or to explore, there are plenty of activities in and around this place. It’s one of the more popular cities in the country with a lot of good food and pubs.

As Cork is a small compact city, getting around is really easy. Walking is a great way to get around.

The main intention of this trip was to cover Ring of Kerry and hence did not explore much of the tourist destinations in Cork (Hopefully I will go back to Cork again to explore more).

In case if you would like to explore Cork, you can keep the below places in mind:

Mizen head

English Market

Hike around Gougane Barra

Cork Butter Museum

Cork City Gaol (Old Prison)

Courthouse (Washington Street)

City Hall

The National Monument at the top of Grand Parade

Walk down the Oliver Plunkett street

Echo Boy

Kiss the Blarney Stone (Nearby)

Patrick’s Hill

Holy Trinity Church on Fr. Matthew Quay

University College, Cork

Shakey Bridge (Daly’s Bridge)

Fitzgerald’s Park

St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral

Day2: Ring of Kerry:

The Ring of Kerry is a scenic drive around the Iveragh Peninsula in southwest Ireland’s County Kerry.

Its (100+ Miles) one of Ireland’s most popular drives whether you choose to cycle it or drive, it is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful scenic routes in Ireland. Fortunately, or Unfortunately, it rains almost most of the days here in Ireland. If you reach here on a rainy day, you might not be able to enjoy this place fully. Unfortunately, it was raining on the day, we travelled aswell.

People say it takes around 3.5 Hours to complete the entire ring. Obviously the time would increase, as you cannot avoid stopping the vehicle for capturing some scenic places. But for sure you can complete the entire trip in 7 hours or so. Some people extend it to 2 days.

Some people go in a clock wise direction and some others in the anti-clockwise direction. Most of the guidebooks say to go clockwise so you’re going the opposite direction of the tour buses, which go counter-clockwise.

We did not see any of the restaurants (common chains) in the route we travelled. So, keep some snacks handy with you. We also faced network coverage issues in many places.

Views of the Atlantic Ocean:

The views of the Atlantic Ocean is simply superb.

Waterville Village/Beach:

This large village is famous for golf, its beach and its association with Charlie Chaplin. It is a great place to stop off and have a tea/coffee or something stronger and there are a number of pubs you’ll enjoy along the sea front. You’ll also notice the monument of Charlie Chaplin which of course is worth taking a photograph with.

Caherdaniel:

The best stop off point is the beach between Caherdaniel and Castlecove. Parking can be scarce here but it is so worth stopping off. You will know it because it has a caravan/mobile park and a beach side pub, so keep an eye out for those signs so that you can turn off the road in plenty of time. This is a small beach but its really magical, especially on a sunny day. This can be a peaceful spot, even if its crowded.

Some other places that you can explore in and around Ring of Kerry:

Molls Gap

Ladies View

Staigue Stone Fort

Ballinskelligs Castle

Kerry cliffs

Skellig Michael / Beehive Huts on Skellig Michael

PortMagee

Valentia island / Harbour

Stopping in Sneem

Kenmare (One of the cutest towns)

Geokaun Mountain and Fogher Cliffs

Caragh Lake

Rossbeigh Beach

Derrynane Bay and Ballinskelligs Bay

On our way back, we also visited Torc waterfalls (inside Killarney National Park).

Parking is free, and the falls are only a mere 300m walk from the car park.

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” – Anonymous

5. Cathedral of Trier (Oldest in Germany):

The Romer Express city train trip will take you near this cathedral.

But I would certainly recommend you visit this Cathedral (a Must see in Trier)

This is a Roman Cathedral in Trier. It is the oldest church in Germany and the largest religious structure in Trier, notable for its long-life span and grand design.

Today, the cathedral is an important Catholic shrine that still receives pilgrims from all over the world.

You can take photos/videos inside the cathedral.

6. Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady):

The Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Dear Lady) is a 13th-century parish church in Trier, separated from Trier cathedral by a narrow passageway.

In case if you want to explore more, you could also check the below Options:

• Aula Palatina
• Rheinisches Landesmuseum
• Electoral Palace
• Dreikönigenhaus
• Basilica of St. Paulinus
• Simeonstift
• Barbara Baths
• Trier Galerie
• Rhineland Museum
• The Palace Garden
• St. Matthias’ Abbey
• Wine Tasting
• Thermen am Viehmarkt
• Hop On Hop off city tour