Location: Dublin, Ireland
Hostel: Apache Hostel
To do: Tour of Kilmainham Gaol, Guinness Storehouse, Trinity College Library
We got to Dublin very late on Wednesday night and it was all about getting to the hostel and going to sleep, since I’d booked a very early tour of Kilmainham Gaol the next morning.
Our hostel was not fantastic, probably the worst one we stayed at in Ireland, but it was to be expected. It’s usually like that in the bigger cities when you don’t want to pay a fortune for a place to stay.
The next morning we went to Kilmainham Gaol and it was the best thing I did in Dublin. Kilmainham Gaol is a former prison where many Irish revolutionaries, including the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, were imprisoned and executed by the British. It’s very well kept and the museum is actually amazing. I could have spent a lot more time in there just reading all the prisoners stories.
After that we did the good old trip to the Guinness Storehouse, as one always has to do if one is in Dublin. Although there were parts that were really interesting I feel like it’s a bit of a touristic trap and I’m not a massive fan of places like that. I don’t regret going and I think it’s worth it, but I’d definitely lower my expectations.
Before the end of the day we went to Trinity College. The tour of the college is really interesting and I obviously demanded we go to see the well known Trinity library and the book of Kells. The library is as magnificent as the pictures show, I can promise that. A curious fact that my friend notices is that the shelves in the library skip the letter “J’. We looked online but couldn’t find an explanation so if anyone who reads this blog knows why that is just let me know… I’m still curious! =D
All in all:
- You should definitely go to Dublin but one day is enough (2 days max). Unless you just want to party and in that case stay for longer (although I’d still say there’s better places to party in Ireland *cough*Galway*cough*)
- Please don’t leave without seeing Trinity College Library and Kilmainham Gaol
- Get a Guiness….if you must =p