One Week Ireland Itinerary: Exploring Dublin and Galway

While the rest of America feasted on turkey, ham and pies during Thanksgiving holiday one year, my family and I spent the week in Ireland instead. It wasn’t the most ideal time to visit the Emerald Isle. It was cold and a bit gloomy.

Though, we lucked out with sunshine on most days. It was a wonderful getaway and showed us just how diverse and beautiful Ireland is. This was our one-week itinerary in Dublin and Galway with some day trips.

Day 1 – Sightseeing in Dublin

Our flight arrived early and we were in the Dublin city center and into our hotel room by noon. After an hour nap and a lot of coffee and adrenaline, we set off to explore this compact capital city on foot. It was the best way to fight off jet lag.

My husband and I visited Ireland in 1998 when we were in graduate school. So, we were excited to show landmarks we loved to our kids.

We were staying in the Temple Bar area which is the “cultural heart of Dublin City”. Located on the banks of the River Liffey, the area is packed with pubs, restaurants and galleries.

It’s always been fascinating to walk down the cobblestoned streets, hear music and see all the colorful façades of the pubs. Some of the pubs were already decorated for the holidays. Don’t they look inviting?

Though, the most popular photo spot in Temple bar is the red Temple Bar Pub which just happen to have a Christmas tree on it. This bar has been around since 1840. Locals have told us that only tourists really hang out at the Temple Bar area.

But, we really enjoyed being around this area with lively music coming out from many of the pubs and the lively atmosphere. My husband and I took every opportunity to listen to as many live music, especially the traditional Irish songs, as we could.

We made our way to Grafton Street which is the shopping area of Dublin. Walking down this street, under twinkling lights, really put us into the holiday spirit. The window displays from many of the stores were so festive.

Of course, you can’t walk around Dublin without stopping at Molly Malone’s statue. This bronze figure along with her cart is a popular tourist spot. Some rub her cleavage for good luck. She was a heroine of a traditional Irish ballad and no one is certain if she was fictional or based on a real person.

St. Stephen’s Green was the green oasis at the center of Dublin. It was a sunny day so it wasn’t a surprise to see many locals enjoying the outdoors on a Sunday afternoon.

The park was big with a lake, gazebos and plenty of wildlife. Living in someplace where we barely have any colors on trees and don’t really experience the Autumn season, it was a treat to see many of the colorful trees still intact with their leaves here.

St. Patrick (and his special day in March) is almost synonymous with Ireland. The national cathedral in honor of its patron saint is worth a visit.

This medieval structure was completed in the 13th century. Its interior has 200 monuments, an impressive altar and stained glass windows and also the burial place Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels.

We always enjoy recreating photos. So, we couldn’t help but do this one in front of Christ Church Cathedral. It’s a digital update to a photo taken 20 years ago.

Day 2 – More things to do in Dublin Sightseeing

Our teen daughter will be going off to college in Fall 2020. We’re in the midst of touring college campuses. So, we couldn’t pass up an official college tour of Ireland’s oldest and most well-known university, Trinity College Dublin. Queen Elizabeth I established this university in 1592.

The college is usually part of some walking tours as it was located in the heart of the city. There is also an official guided tour of the campus for a fee. You can sign up at the ticket desk at the Front Gate for the next available tour. No advance purchase available.

If you have a high school student, you can sign up for the free one-hour tour. It was a wonderful way to learn more about this campus and life as an international student.

They have an amazing campus, curriculum and was actually cheaper than some of the American private universities. This is now one of the top contenders for my teen’s future college abroad.

You can’t miss visiting the Book of Kells exhibit and its famous library when you’re in Trinity College. This isn’t free but well worth the admission.

The Book of Kells was a 9^th century elaborately decorated book containing the four Gospels in Latin of Jesus Christ’s life. It is considered Ireland’s “greatest cultural treasure”.

The Old Library’s Long Room was filled with about 200,000 of the collection’s oldest books in oak bookcases. Trinity college students can actually borrow these books. The smell of old books can be so intoxicating. The grand 200-foot-long room was built in the early 1700s and its main walkway was lined with marble sculptures of writers and philosophers.

Ireland may be well known for its Guinness beer. But, Irish whiskey was also a big part of its culture and history. There were quite a few distilleries around the country.

My husband wanted to visit St James distillery since we were in the Bow Street area of Dublin. They offer tours and tastings. Check out their chandelier.

We did a lot of walking during these two days since we like to explore cities this way. But, if you want to save your feet, do the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tours.

Day 3 – Day trip to Northern Ireland

We’re not usually spontaneous with our travel plans. Our planned itinerary was to spend another day around Dublin but the weather forecast was rain for most of the day.

So, we decided to look into the day trip to Northern Ireland (two hours away) instead. We found a great Giant’s Causeway itinerary with Finn McCool tours and the weather outlook up north was much better.

This tour was from 6:45 AM – 8 PM. It was a long day but worth it. We saw so much and now we know that Northern Ireland is clearly an underrated destination.

Part of the appeal of the tour was to see where Game of Thrones (the very popular TV show) filming spots. My husband and I are big fans. You can read about our Game of Thrones tour in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Northern Ireland is one of the show’s main filming locations.

Our first stop was this stretch of road with 350-year old beech trees known as The Dark Hedges. Many of the leaves have already fallen off showing a creepier look with the dark branches.

The road leads to the Gracehill House where it is said to be the resident of the Grey Lady’s ghost who roams the hedges. If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, this is known as King’s Road.

The highlight of this day trip was the Giant’s Causeway. We spent over two hours here and had a lot of fun exploring. The scenery and history of this area was fascinating.

These rock formations were formed millions of years ago after a volcanic eruption. There were thousands of interlocking basalt columns and most of them were hexagonal shaped.

We knew we would have about an hour to walk around Belfast. It was such a pleasant surprise to find that their Christmas market was in full swing around their striking city hall. There were many stalls selling arts and crafts with Christmas carols in the air.

Most of all, the smell of the various food items drew us in. There were plenty of mulled wine, beer, sweets, paella and German sausages.

*Read more about our day trip to Northern Ireland here. 

Day 4 – Drive from Dublin to Galway

Rain finally caught up to us as we expected for late fall in Ireland. This was our travel day across the country as we made the 2.5-hour drive to the west coast and using Galway as our base. It was a pretty easy drive along several motorways (think highways and freeways if you’re American) with some tolls in between.

There were plenty of rest stops with gas and food in between. If you have more time, there were also some towns worth stopping to see ruins and palatial homes.

Galway’s city center was even more compact than Dublin. It was easy to walk around and the streets and stores were just as festive. We loved seeing colorful pubs here too. We got lucky again and came across Galway’s Christmas market in their city square.

Day 5 – Visit the Cliffs of Moher

An Ireland vacation wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Cliffs of Moher. These 700-ft cliffs rising from the ocean is the country’s top natural attraction. It was worth navigating those narrow, Irish countryside roads which were a bit nerve wracking.

When we visited the Cliffs of Moher 20 years ago, it was windy, rainy and foggy that we could barely make out the landscape.

We were so glad it was just windy and cold this time because we really got to see this breathtaking scenery. Don’t miss the visitor’s center built into the rocks and was filled with informative exhibits.

Along the way, we took the scenic seaside road overlooking the Wild Atlantic Way. We came across Dunguaire Castle, dating back to the 1520s, watching over Galway Bay.

It was a surprise to find this expansive beach called Fanore Beach. I’ve never really associated beaches with Ireland. But, this one was beautiful and reminded me of America’s east coast beaches. It even included sand dunes.

*Read more about our trip to Cliffs of Moher here.

Day 6 – Kylemore Abbey and Clifden

Who wouldn’t want to visit an attraction where a rich husband built a lakeside castle for his wife? Kylemore Castle is now known as Kylemore Abbey and run by Benedictine nuns since the 1920s.

There was also a neo-Gothic church and a beautiful Victorian walled garden on the grounds. This was an easy one-hour drive and day trip from Galway. Read more about our visit to Kylemore Abbey here.

If you have some time, you can also explore a bit of nearby Connemara National Park. We chose to go around the charming coastal town of Clifden instead. Look how colorful their buildings were!

Kylemore Abbey was our alternative to visiting the Aran Islands. We really wanted to go to the island reading late November wasn’t the best time to visit according to locals. If you’re here during warmer weather, look into taking the ferry into Inis Mor (the largest island) where there are plenty of ancient sites and activities.

Day 7 –Powerscourt Gardens and Malahide Castle

We drove back to Dublin for our last full day in Ireland and spent most of the day touring elegant homes. We adored Powerscourt Estate and Gardens during our last visit and wanted to show this special place to our kids. This was only about a 30-minute drive from the city.

While the house is impressive, it is all about the gardens here. It was ranked third in National Geographic’s World’s Top Ten Gardens.

It wasn’t in its full glory compared to coming here during Spring or Summer but it was still easy to see its beauty. We enjoyed walking around here and exploring its many sections especially the Japanese garden.

There were many families during our Saturday visit here since it was pictures with Santa time. My kids really enjoyed going into the Christmas stables to see reindeer, donkeys, sheep and velveteen rabbits.

If you have a bit more time in this area, you can explore the nearby Powerscourt Waterfalls (highest in Ireland). Glendalough, which has monastic sites and scenic lakes, is located about 45 minutes away.

If you don’t have a rental car, there are several tour companies from Dublin to Powerscourt that may or may not include Glendalough. It is also easily accessible via public transport.

Our last stop on this trip was historic Malahide Castle and Gardens. This was the Talbot family’s home for over 800 years. Tours are available for the castle and gardens. There was also a butterfly house and fairy trail for kids to enjoy. If you’re visiting during the holidays, we also found an indoor ice skating area on the grounds.

Tips for Visiting Ireland with Kids

• Getting to Dublin city center from Airport. We didn’t rent a car during our first few days in Dublin since it was easy to walk around. We also didn’t want to deal with parking and driving in the busy streets. Taxis were readily available at the airport and we were quoted about 40 euros.

We took the Airlink express service bus (double decker green public bus #747) which ran every 15-20 minutes. The bus had free Wi-fi and luggage racks. Prices (as of Dec. 2018) were 7 euros one way or 12 euros roundtrip for adults. There were children discounts which my teens didn’t qualify for (3 euros single/5 euros return). It took about 40 minutes to get to our stop by Temple Bar.

There was also the private Aircoach bus. It looked like those large tour buses with much more comfortable seats. It costs almost the same as the Airlink and discounts are available online. We chose the Airlink only because it was already there and ready to leave.

Both the Airlink and Aircoach were found outside of the Arrivals area and there were personnel there to tell your stop and sell tickets.

• Renting a car. We rented a car on our third day and made out way back to the airport. In hindsight, we should have rented within the city instead. Avoid renting from the airport if fees aren’t that much to avoid the hassle and shuttle wait times to their offsite locations.
• Be comfortable with the thought of driving on the left side. It took some adjusting despite my husband driving on the left side before during our visit to Australia four years ago. Study the guide the rental cars give you especially while driving on the roundabouts.
• There were many Ubers available around the city. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to use them on this trip.
• Data Plan. If you don’t want to use your data plan from home, you can easily get sim cards too. Although, Dublin had plenty of Wi-Fi hotspots. We bought our sim card at the Tesco supermarket for less than 20 euros with 16 Gb data and 10,000 minutes for text/talk.
• Get the Dublin Pass. Look into getting this sightseeing card to save time and money if you’re staying in Dublin for 3 or more days. It includes free entry to over 30 attractions and museums including the Guinness Storehouse, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin Castle and the Irish Rock ‘n Roll Museum Experience. It also has free Hop on Hop off Bus Tour, discounts and dining offers and fast track entry to some attractions to skip lines.
• Leap Visitor Card – If you’re going to be using public transportation around Dublin, look into getting this leap card for unlimited travel over 1, 3 or 7 days on Airlink, Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead Ireland, Luas, DART and Commuter Rail. This includes free travel to and from the Airport.

Where to Eat in Dublin:

• Old Dubliner – We had hearty meals in one of Temple Bar’s oldest pubs while being entertained by a local musician singing catchy Irish tunes during lunch here.
• Nando’s – This wasn’t traditional Irish but a South African/Portuguese flame-grilled Peri-Peri chicken restaurant. They have several locations and there was one near Grafton Street. It’s great for family meals. Their sauces combined with the chicken were delicious.
• Bubble Waffle Factory – If you ask my kids where their favorite dessert was, it would be this place in the Temple Bar area. Based on a Hong Kong street snack, these warm bubble waffle cones were filled with a variety of toppings ranging from ice cream to fruits.
• Off Beat Donut Co. – Located in the Temple Bar area, this bakery had amazing flavors of donuts and made them look artsy and unique. If you want Instagrammable donuts, this was the place.
• Avoca Terrace Café in Powerscourt Estates and Garden offered beautiful views of the gardens. Prices were reasonable and food with varied menu was delicious.
• Gibney’s was located in the town of Malahide near the airport – They offered basic pub food including sandwiches and soup. The best value was the Gibney’s Platters which came with sausages, onion rings, chicken wings and potato wedges and available in three different sizes. The locals at our neighboring table told us this was a popular local hangout and it was quite lively.
• Oliver St. John Gogartys – We didn’t eat here but my husband and I hung out here for two nights with drinks on hand listening to live Irish music on their upper floor. The lower area also had live, contemporary singers. I wish we had the chance to eat here since their menu of traditional Irish food looked delicious. Don’t miss this pub/restaurant located in the heart of Temple Bar.

Where to eat in Galway and in nearby tourist attractions

• McDonagh’s – This popular restaurant has been around since 1902 and according to a couple of locals we met had the best fish and chips in town. They offered various fish from cod, salmon to ray for fish options with generous helping of fries/chips. Try their garlic mayo sauce. Fried chicken was also available. Meal deals with drinks were all under 8 euros.
• 1520 – The live music and varied menu with reasonable prices drew us in to this old-fashioned Irish pub in Galway’s busy street. My husband really enjoyed his lamb stew here. He said the best one on this trip. I loved my generous portion of Galway mussels. It was lively and wonderful atmosphere.
• The Galleon Restaurant – We spent our Thanksgiving meal at this family-owned, traditional Irish café restaurant in Salthill a few steps from our lodging. They offered delicious pasta dishes and a wonderful seafood platter. Great food with reasonable prices.
• O’Connor’s Famous Pub – Located in the Salthill area, my husband and I enjoyed coming here after 9 PM to listen to live music since it was down the street from where we stayed. It was used in Ed Sheeran’s ‘Galway Girl’ video and you have to go inside just to see all the quirky things on display. They had old sewing machines for some of their tables.
• Kylemore Abbey Restaurant is known for their traditional recipes and fresh, home-cooked food as part of their Benedictine roots. My husband and son enjoyed their hearty soups. We loved their scones.
• Cliffs View Cafe – We timed our visit right in time to end during lunchtime at the Cliffs of Moher. This conveniently located restaurant at the visitor’s center offered panoramic views and some delicious meals at reasonable prices. The seafood chowder was delicious and there were enough variety of lunch specials to satisfy picky eaters.

Where to Stay in Dublin

We lucked out and stayed at some great lodging with excellent location for a decent price. Of course, it helped to travel during low season.

Temple Bar Inn, Dublin  – We stayed three nights here and it was an excellent location with Temple Bar, River Liffey, Trinity College and many restaurants and stores right around the corner. We had a spacious quadruple room with four single beds and two bathrooms. They offered a buffet breakfast for purchase but there were plenty of bakeries and coffee shops nearby.

If you have a bigger budget, the Temple Bar Hotel across the street looked great too. If you have Starwood/Marriott points to use, then The Westin Dublin nearby is also a great option.

We stayed for one night at the Hilton Dublin Airport since we had a morning flight the following day. This was located about 10 minutes drive from the airport. They provide a shuttle (with a fee but free for Gold and Diamond members). Their buffet breakfast was great with a lot of variety. There weren’t many things around the are but a couple of restaurants, a grocery store and a shopping center.

Where to Stay in Galway

Jameson Court Apartments – We absolutely loved this self-serviced apartment in the seaside village of Salthill.  The building had about 20 of these apartments and a secured garage downstairs. It was so spacious with two bedrooms, two full bathrooms, full kitchen and a living room.

It was a big plus to have a washer and dryer. It was behind the aquarium and across the beach promenade with views of the bay. There was street access to nearby stores, restaurants and pubs. It was less than a 10-minute drive to the city center.

We hope this itinerary and tips can help with your visit to Ireland with kids (or without too). Here’s hoping you have warmer weather, more leaves on the trees and plenty of sunshine when you visit. Although, November with all the holiday lights and decorations was pretty magical too.

*Have you visited Ireland?

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