Over spring break, Matt and I had our first WOW Air experience and ventured back to Europe! We went to Dublin, Ireland and Reykjavik, Iceland. We absolutely adored both. I thought I’d start by sharing photos from our time in Dublin and we’ll definitely be posting a video in a few weeks, as well. Here are a few tips about where we stayed, places to eat and other recommendations. Hope enjoy our tips and our first batch of photos! Stay tuned for more photos about our time in Galway City and visiting the Cliffs of Moher.
Where we stayed: We stayed at the Brooks Hotel, Dublin for three days. I would highly recommend this one, because it’s an amazing location and close to everything you want to do in Dublin. The staff were all super helpful, rooms were big especially by European standards and they even let us borrow an umbrella. (For reals, bring rain gear to Ireland haha). I’ve mentioned this before, but we are huge believers in travel as one of the best ways to spend our money and we also love the Chase credit card points system. We fund a lot of trips this way!
How we got there: For the first time, we used the Budget airline WOW Air. I highly recommend giving it a shot. First of all, it’s a budget airline. They charge for food, water, bags, etc. There are no TV screens and not a ton of leg room. With that being said, I’d definitely recommend WOW Air because our flights were only about $1,000 total for both of us! WOW Air doesn’t fly out of Atlanta, so we had to fly to Boston first, but still totally worth the saved money. WOW Air has CRAZY ridiculous deals to all kinds of places in Europe and they fly out of several US cities. We actually were able to do our Ireland and Iceland flights as part of their stopover program to encourage tourism in Iceland. Once we got to Dublin, it was easy to take one of the buses into the center of Dublin and then walk to our hotel from there.
Must do in Dublin: Metro Cafe was one of our favorite restaurants. Wherever you eat, be sure to try bangers and mash! Guinness Storehouse is a fun tour and a great way to spend a rainy afternoon. Dublin Castle is beautiful and worth a tour! Go for a walk in St. Stephen’s Green. Be sure to also give yourself plenty of time to just walk through the streets and take photos of all the churches you’ll come across or cute row houses. Also, Trinity College‘s grounds are beautiful and worth the walk around. And while you’re in Ireland (or England), be sure to visit one of my favorite stores from my study abroad days, Cath Kidston.
What to bring: I’ve posted before about packing for cold weather in a backpack and packing for warmer weather in a backpack. But for Ireland, you’ll definitely want to have some rain gear like this Columbia rain jacket. I also brought a packable down in case I needed some extra warmth, which I definitely ended up needing. Also, rain boots, Bean boots or some kind of wellies are extra helpful. No one wants to walk around with wet feet. Here are a few options!
Cheers! xx
Aubrey