We arrived in Dublin on a Wednesday evening, about 8ish after a very quick yet very boozy flight.  We got on the coach which took us to the town centre, which is where we stayed. The apartment was incredible, especially considering we only paid £90 each for the two nights including flights and the accommodation. We had a double bed room, a bathroom (obvs) and a kitchenette with a big tv and sofa-bed, perfect for our pre-drinks that night.

Once we had dumped our stuff, we realised the best thing to do was grab some food and find our bearings so off we trotted to explore the city. We found our way pretty easily as were bang in the centre, but as we walked further in, the more beer you could smell and the louder it got from older tourist men.

 Considering we went on a Wednesday, it was absolutely crazy in the centre near Dublin’s famous pub, The Temple Bar. After speaking to several Irish men that weekend, they all said they stay away from the centre as it’s too expensive. This was kind of gutting considering we all wanted someone with an Irish accent to whisk us away, but hey ho, tourists are still good too.


So eventually after looking around, we settled for The Hard Rock Café, where I ordered a club sandwich, nothing special. The girls all ordered burgers but I just live for club sandwiches (FYI, Dear Mr Hard Rock, club sandwiches are a double layer of sandwich, what I had was a chicken and bacon toastie with a bit of lettuce but no biggy, I’ll let it go).

The  main street of Dublin with all the touristy pubs and bars

So as for our first night out in Dublin, we had big expectations as we always hear “the Irish can drink” etc and damn right they can. We got a taxi to Coppers, which was way out of the centre but totally worth the trip if you want to club with the locals. I will repeat, even for a Wednesday it was crazy busy, perhaps it was student night? Who knows? Good music, good people, good drinks prices – what more can you want from a night out in Dublin? We arrived back to our apartment about 4ish as the club closed at 3. Crash – passed out.

Surprisingly, I woke up raring to visit all of the key tourist attractions around Dublin despite a heavy night the night before. We went for brunch in the café downstairs, The Queen of Tarts, which sold the most amazing array of cakes. If I could buy 5 cupcakes and eat 3 brunches this would be the place. I ordered a potato cakes with egg and bacon, which was amazing. My only problem with some of the food places in Dublin that I had found was that they didn’t supply ketchup – as a ketchup addict, this is a major issue, I had to re-think my order several times before actually telling the waitress what I wanted.

From brunch, we headed down by the river and started walking towards the Guinness Factory. As it was a Thursday day time, we bought our tickets and went straight in. One thing to point out about the factory is how well-organised it is. Despite having a lot of things going on around the building, there are enough staff dotted around to help you and direct you (and serve you a free pint of Guinness). I don’t really like Guinness, but it was good for the photos and just to come home from Ireland to say “I drank Guinness”.

Tourist and cliche photo outside the Guiness Factory

The Kilmainham Jail was the best experience in Dublin. I had already heard good reviews of the famous prison from my family and Trip Advisor, but actually being there exceeded what I had read. You get a full tour of the jail, which has been used for several film sets andwhere the Irish rebellion prisoners were held. The tour guide will tell you any important stories that went on back in the day, and point out important architecture and props. Truly amazing experience and I strongly suggest everyone visits it.

We walked back through a market where we asked one of the locals where good to grab some pizza as we all fancied it after our long day. He suggested a small pizzeria on the other side of the market. Although the outside put us off, as it was small and looked empty, the food satisfied us. I am not sure if it’s because I was super hungry of it I genuinely enjoyed the taste, but easily one of the best pizzas I have ever had. Here is the best bit, from here we went back into the market to an amazing frozen yoghurt place, where I covered mine with strawberries, white chocolate sauce and chocolate buttons. AMAZING.

This then takes us on to our second night, our wildest night. The night that I bled all over sushi from falling in a shop and the night my phone fell in a toilet and didn’t work for the remaining day. Sums my night up in a sentence. This night was more of a pub night than a club night, and although drinks were expensive, we kept claiming free tequila shots from the barman.

Our first stop was Temple Bar, as it is an Irish tourist must, but DAMN drinks are expensive - £12 for double vodkas. The bar was buzzing with a live band and it was near impossible to find a table or a seat, it was full of tourists. We had one drink and moved on to a smaller, yet just as pricey bar. The barman allowed me to select my own music behind the bar, pour my own drinks and dance around on tables, again, that explains the night.

We were all extremely drunk dancing around to ‘classic Irish songs’ such as Uptown Girl and B*Witched. Obviously, being someone who likes to snap their memories up with a photo, took my phone out while having a wee, and dropped it in the toilet. Wonderful, despite buying rice in a shop to bury it in (apparently it works), I had no phone for the next 24 hours.

Needless to say, none of us were as rearing to go on the final day in comparison to how we felt the previous day. We went for brunch about 11am on the other side of the canal where I ordered pancakes with a shed load of syrup and bacon. From here, we decided to do a bit of shopping in the famous Pennies and Forever 21 where we all thought it would be funny to dress each-other up in the most tragic outfits, good-times. As the sun was shining, what better way to finish off the day than to sit in the Trinity College field with a load of food and drink before our flight. This was at about 3pm where we stayed until it was time to leave and get the bus for our 7pm flight.

Unfortunately, this was the end of our mini-trip, but needless to say that I really want to go back and had an amazing time.