So last weekend I went for a 1 night stay in Dublin for my friend Ailsa’s hen doo!! Thought I would do a little blog about some of the places we went to and around how much it cost!! (Btw, I will be writing everything in £ because I don’t have a euros sign on my computer!)
So, there was 17 of us and we were flying from Liverpool at 6.30am, which meant a 2am get up (not cool!) As you can imagine, we were all feeling very lethargic by the time we got to the airport but that didn’t stop me having a prosecco with my toast! Our flights cost £45.99 return per person! Which is basically cheaper than going to London on the train. The flight was meant to be an hour long but because we had a good wind behind us it only took 25 minutes, which I was actually rather gutted about because I was hoping to get a little bit of sleep!
We pre-booked our taxi to pick us up from the airport to drop us at the hotel, and it was picking us back up on the Sunday for our return journey too. This was £10 per person return and they were bang on time each way, so would strongly advise doing this if there is a big group of you going. Alternatively, check out the bus routes because some of the shuttle services that cost around £4 return drop you near your hotel.
We stayed at The Maldron Hotel on Parnell Square (be careful if you are going to book this, there is more than 1 in Dublin). It was really nice, it cost around £60pp a night and this included breakfast. Also, it is only about a 10 minute walk from pretty much anywhere, and more importantly, Temple Bar. We arrived at the hotel around 7.30am but couldn’t check in til 2 so decided to venture out for some breakfast and a mooch about to kill some time. We ended up in a pub called Slatterys which did an amazing breakfast, all though somewhat peculiar. I ordered a breakfast sandwich but it came with a side salad and crisps.. No idea why. This was around £8 and included a cuppa, really cosy pub and really well priced considering where you are.
Just down the road and over the main river was the city centre. We headed up to Grafton Street which is where all the shops are, the Bride-to-be needed some new heels so we went on a mission to find some, then once we had finished we headed to a pub to meet the gang! Even if you don’t fancy shopping, Grafton Street is good because it’s full of buskers and “good vibes”. We settled in a pub called O’Neils (how ironic) which did a really good pint of Guinness for £5.. Of course it is imperative that you try one whilst your there!
After a well-deserved nap, it was time to hit the town. We ventured out for tea at 5pm at a place called Parnell’s Bar & Grill. It was 3 floors with a roof top terrace aswell, for you posh folk out there! The meals were reasonably priced, I had a Carbonara for £12.95 and then with a glass of wine it came to under £20. From here, the mother of the bride had organised a party bus, which actually turned out to be one of my favourite parts of the trip and it was £20pp! You could take your own alcohol on, then it basically drove you around for an hour whilst playing cheesy pop music. It dropped us at a comedy store round the corner from Temple Bar which was £10pp. Do not go there. It was awful. To say it was the size of a shoe box would be the biggest understatement of the year. Only half of the girls could get sat down and the comedians barely made me crack a smile. I ended up sat in a dark corner next to a broom stick by the bar, just passing empty glasses over in return for full ones.
Due to the shocking performances in here, we decided to leave at the interval and headed up to the famous Temple Bar. It’s safe to say that I don’t actually remember much but I DO remember going into St John Goggartys! This was a 3 floor pub with live music on each one. Head to the 2nd floor, that seemed to be the quietest of the two and a glass of wine was £7. You have to be prepared to spend a lot when you go to Temple Bar, I think I spent around £100 this night, but I think I had a bloody good night. There’s so much going on, lots of street performers, loads of pubs and a few clubs! A lot of the places shut at around 2ish but about a 5 minute walk from temple bar are some more clubs such as Copper Face Jacks that are open til around 6am.
Woke up severely hungover on the Sunday, checked out but had til 8pm to kill before we were being picked up for the airport. Most people went shopping but myself and the Bride decided to get back on it and headed towards the City Centre. We ended up in a pub called The Turks Head. It doesn’t look like much from the outside but inside it was massive, really cosy and had amazing décor. We got cosy in a corner then the rest of the group slowly joined us.. After about 10 beverages, we grabbed some food. I had fish & chips which was around £11 and was absolutely amazing!! I’d really recommended heading here, it’s definitely one of Dublin’s hidden gems.
Obviously there is so much more to do in Dublin such as the Guinness tour and I hear their zoo is pretty good too.. I hope this read has been useful! Until my next little trip.. Enjoy!
