October 2022, I visited a friend in Dublin. I spent most of the days hiking and drinking coffee, and I am glad that I managed to squeeze most of the natural wonders in one single week. I did not have a car, so I travelled mostly using public transport, though me and my friend also did one tour to the west coast.
The City of Dublin
Dublin in autumn tends to be very windy and rainy. And most of the buildings look like from the Harry Potter movie! Like St Patrick's Cathedral (is everything named after Patrick in Ireland?).
There are many gardens and parks, a lot of places to escape to from the city.
And because my friend is a PhD student, we spent a lot of time hanging out in the Trinity College Campus.
This included also a short stop to the largest library I have ever visited - Trinity College Library where the famous Book of Kells is kept.
The biggest park in Dublin is Phoenix Park - though for me as a pedestrian, it was a bit impractical. The lack of toilets, a lot of cars passing by, sometimes no crosswalks made it a very short stop for me - I decided to hop on a bus and head to the beach.
Dublin is very lively most of the time. However, the 5-km long beach on Bull Island was that one place in the whole Dublin where I felt calm and quiet.
Howth
Just 30 minutes from Dublin by train, you can reach Howth. Howth is famous for its circular coastal walk which can be done from the train station, coming back after 10km (~3-4hours). I walked this route.
It is generally an easy hike, but please be careful when walking down the beach, it can get very slippery. Also you cannot visit the lighthouse, so be prepared to zoom your camera a little bit ☺︎
Bray
Bray is another favourite destination reachable from Dublin. Again just hop on the train (but in the opposite direction!) and in about 45 minutes you are on the Bray Beach which was the starting point for my hike.
The hike is circular and around 10 km (~3-4 hours). I hiked up the Bray Head (241 m) and continued my hike. It was easy to navigate at first, but when I headed down to reach the coastal route to walk back, I could not find it. Luckily there were other hikers who I followed down. Here is the link for the route.
Glendalough
Glendalough is truly an amazing gem close to Dublin.
You can take a bus from the city but remember it goes only once a day, so you want to make sure not to miss it. It gives you around 3-4 hours to hike, so if you are in a very very very good shape, you can try to manage the whole circular route around the lakes. Since I wanted to enjoy the scenery and take some pictures, and not to rush anywhere, I decided to reach the viewpoint and hike back (route).
Cliffs of Moher
With my friend, we also did a tour with Paddywagon to visit the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast.
There were multiple stops along the way - first, a quick visit of a village called Kinvara with its Dunguaire Castle.
Starting with Burren, we got a glimpse of a smaller cliffs on our way to the Cliffs of Moher.
And finally, Cliffs of Moher. Truly fascinating landscapes, although flooded with people. Bring a lot of patience, breathing exercises and enjoy!
And the last stop, a little village called Bunratty.
Finally
And that's all from Ireland.
I am glad to have visited in autumn.
Until next time ♡
