I'm TERRIBLE at writing trip reports, I put them off forever, wanting to perfect them, so here goes, email [email protected] if you want more info, and I'll respond - I promise!

Quick jaunt across the pond, Boston->Amsterdam (3 hrs)->Dublin (4 days). It was all about the cheap flight - quick note, the Amsterdam airport is a great place to kill some time. Shops, small art gallery, true 'lounge' chairs...

Arrived in Dublin about 11AM. Wished we were from the EU as their customs line was QUICK. Hotel had told me of 2 busses that would stop near them, jumped on the 16A, stood in the aisle with our luggage (thank goodness Fodors taught us to pack light!), engaged in some great conversation with an 80+ woman and arrived in Parnell Sq all too quick. Got a bit turned around from our map, but found our guesthouse, Clifden Guesthouse, easy enough. Our room wasn't ready, so we dropped our bags and headed out!

Ok, Ok, I said overview, so here goes. I will try to do a more detailed report soon !V some overlap yes, but better than not doing one!

The GOOD
- The Irish! Just a very friendly, welcoming culture! Great people to chat with !V and they are talkers!
-Pub food. Yum. Great soups/stews and breads.
- Temple Bar !V just a neat area to be in and people watch. Don!|t pay attention to the guide books saying the area is a has-been, we almost didn!|t go b/c of that. And don!|t feel age is an issue, I made a great new friend there and he was in his 60!|s. Its not only an area for 20-somethings.
- St. Kevin's at Glendalough (too lazy to look up spelling!) Interesting ruins, in good shape.
- Jameson Distillery tour/tasting - we only ended up there since St. Michans was closed, but well worth it!
- Student discounts! Though my husband and I are recent graduates, we took advantage of this at many places. Saved at least 20 Euros each.
- Dublin public Transportation !V buses, DART, all great and easy to use.
- New Year!|s! We hit a few pubs, it was obvious the Dubliners had been drinking long before we started at 8PM! We were talking with a few locals and they tried to convince us to stay in the pub, but I wanted to be outside Christchurch !V I!|m so glad we went! It was wonderful to be in the streets listening to the bells and seeing the celebrations! People singing, dancing, spraying Champagne everywhere... Not very crowded at all, and just a great experience.

The BAD
- Clifden Guesthouse, while not terrible, I wouldn't stay there again or recommend it. The location was nice, but the one owner did not have a friendly bone in her body! Our room was quite large, breakfast was good...but there was no friendliness or helpfulness, which is what I expect when you're staying in a smaller guesthouse. Also, we could hear everything in all the rooms around and above us, so, for the price, I know there is better in Dublin.

- The closings over Christmas/NY week! They wouldn't have been so bad if they had been published, but it was hard to know what was open/closed, just on a different schedule. We missed Marsh library, Trinity college, and St. Michan's church Dublin Castle was also closed, but that is b/c the head of the EU is taking up residence in 04. (even the DART!|s South line was closed!) Perhaps if we had been at a true hotel the staff could have helped with this, our guesthouse was not a place to gather info! (and even the answering machines of the places didn't work - St. Michans said they were open all year, we went twice during their hours!) The tourist office wasn!|t much help either !V a very confusing (and busy) place!
- Prices! As can be expected in any large city, Dublin was very expensive. But I also hadn!|t done my research to see exactly HOW BAD the dollar faired against the euro ??

The HUH?
- Guinness 'tour'. Was very expensive $$$, is strange (they use high tech media to present things and it just ends up being odd), but the end Gravity bar is worth it! Not that I'm promoting this, but you can walk the tour building without the $14 pass, and just buy your pint at the top!
- The tourist office! We met two other couples who felt the same way. It was broke up in very confusing segments for who dealt with what questions, and was just hard to navigate. Is worth a stop, but don!|t expect too much.
- SNOW & how the Irish deal with it! This story is a report in itself, but the gist is that we were stranded in Sally gap for 4 hours b/c the tour bus in front of ours got stuck, then went off the road as the driver tried to right things. Our driver had called this driver and he had said the road was fine, and we could make it through the mountain pass. Wrong! We played in the snow, pushed 15-20 other cars, sat around, schemed, and were just helpless while the two drivers walked to a point they could have cell service and call for help. They kept saying the !?JCB!|s!? were coming (tractor-like machines), but they never showed. It was cold and dark and we had 60+ people standing on a bus together for warmth (the other bus could have tipped, so they couldn!|t be on it!), finally people began asking other vehicles if they could take our passengers down the mountain (these were locals coming through with 4WD!|s that come up the mountain for fun and to find stranded people on snowy days! Some of them did multiple trips for us). We got all the elderly and children out, then a few more people as well. They finally turned our bus around and got out the way we came !V they weren!|t!| sure we could make it back through that either!) My husband and I rode with a local and two Germans, it was great conversation on the way down and we felt safe. Can!|t say the same for those on the bus!K What an experience! Us being from Rochester NY, we were FRUSTRATED, as there was less than 2 inches of snow !V but no salt or plows.

The end got cut off...

Overall, it was a great trip! We met nice people we hope to keep in touch with from Amsterdam and the States, we saw the sights, ate great food, drank great beer and cider (yum! I'm a Bulmers addict now)... we did not accomplish everything I had wanted to, but we fit a lot into 4 days!

Send me your questions, as I will respond faster than writing a real report

- Kristy [email protected]

Sounds like you had a good trip overall, minus the snow disaster. I agree that the Guinness tour is a bit silly. I haven't done the Jamesons tour but it sounds like a good one.

Bill

KAMG, your tale reminds me how much I miss Ireland! Now I know we will try for a fall trip this year! (Just went last April.)

We have never gone on the Guinness or Jameson tours but we did go to the Bushmill Distillery in NI. We didn't do the tour there either, but did spend quite a bit in the store. We went into the bar area where we thought we would just buy a shot of something smooth and yummy. I was joking with hubby as to whether we could afford a taste of the 16 year old stuff, and he was getting out his money. The lovely lady behind the bar very quitely asked us if we hadn't been on the tour. She said to put our money away, poured our drinks and said "AND WASN'T IT A GRAND TOUR!!"
This is one of the many reasons we love Ireland!

"- Prices! As can be expected in any large city, Dublin was very expensive. But I also hadn!|t done my research to see exactly HOW BAD the dollar faired against the euro ?? "

It's not the exchange rate, because the prices are exorbitant before you even factor in the exchange. They suffer dearly from price gouging that occurred when they converted to the Euro. I've been going to Ireland regularly for 11 years, and was astounded to see how bad it became after my first trip post-Euro (long before the dollar went south). But as someone posted a while back, Ireland is now the most expensive European country (finally topping Finland, was it?)

Yes, a dubious honor.

Bill

Kamg, thanks for posting. Makes me realize how much I miss Ireland.
Amyb, yes I agree that the prices did suffer from price gouging when they went to the Euro. I've felt this all along, and it's so nice to hear someone else echo my thoughts. I couldn't believe how prices went up. But still, I'd love to go back.

I apologize for the formatting, I had thought about changing it to a text file, but I previewed the post and it looked fine. I just noticed it is hard to read.

I enjoyed so many other things I didn't mention... Malahide castle & village, Christ Church, Kilmainham Gaol, the hop on hop off bus (run by the city), various restaurants... The food was great, traditional Irish fare was good, but we ate lots of Italian as well.

Eateries worth mentioning were... Milanos (Temple bar, recommended here!), La Gondola (Wellington Quay, recommended by the Dublin paper), Flanagans (the bar/restaurant, not the pizza place on O'Connell), the Parnell Mooney pub, Madigans, 12A in Malahide was probably our best meal.

The only let down was St. Patrick's Cathedral - the fact that one third of the interior was a gift shop was a bit of a turn off in this beautiful place that should have been very serene!
I would go back in a heartbeat - but since I have my 2nd Italy trip planned for Nov of 04, it will be awhile before have the chance

Oh, and yes, I did hear during pub talk one day that the prices in Dublin rose overnight. Our guide on the fated bus tour was actually wonderful - and he spoke alot about the price increases and the problem that has been created specifically in the housing market. One local I talked to on the DART said his mom's 3 bdrm little house, with barely any yard, had jumped from about $130,000 to over $500,000 Euros. He said he didn't think he would ever be able to own a home near Dublin, and he had lived there all his life (was probably in his 40's).

It seemed everyone wanted to talk money - is that always true? In just casual conversations it was - how much was your trip here, or how much do you make in the states, or how much would this or that cost... Perhaps this is just true because prices have become a big concern in recent times?

UGH, must get back to work! Kristy

I talk to a friend in Dublin 3-4 times a week, and we visit each other 2-3 times a year. He is amazed how much cheaper things are here (and now, how much he benefits from a weak dollar). For example, Levi 501s are 50 euro there. Here, they're $40 in a store or $29 in a Levi's outlet. A take-out pizza and wings in Dublin: 24 euro. Here the same is less than $15. CDs upwards of 25 euro in Dublin, here Newbury Comics has all new releases for $11.99. They were seriously gouged, and it is a cause for concern for them. It's great that their property values soared if they want to sell, but not if they've been trying to buy. It's really a conundrum. So I guess that's why they talk about it so much now, but it didn't always use to be that way.

Hi KAMG,

Thanks for the upbeat report. Sounds like a great time, snow and all.

Dublin was one place I went on my first European jaunt and now I'm itching to return, bad Dollar and Irish inflation and all. Can you share the price of your B&B, not that I'll stay there after reading your report but to get a quick idea of prices.

I remember going to the Guiness brewery tour when it was free and at the end you got a pint or two. We only had time for one pint since Holy Hour (afternoon closing) intervened and we had to leave the brewery. Is Holy Hour still honored in Ireland or has it gone away as the pub closings in England have?

Holy hour is gone a few years and was on Sunday afternoons. It was from what I was told a way to get the husbands out of the pub and home to the family for dinner for at least an hour. I think at the time it was a good idea. Although I have been to a few lock-ins a few years ago where they still served but you were stuck in there.

Kamg - I read about a bus of Italians being stuck in the sally gap. Were you behind them? It may only be a little snow but I find it scary how dangerous it can be here. They don't have the resources because they rarely need snow maintenance equipment.

Did you feel that being on Gardiner street was far from the sights? I have heard of Clifton House but I never send anyone to Gardiner street because I am not happy putting people here at night. I know the area well from living over here and I do not feel its safe at night.

As for people talking about how expensive it is here its true but you would be surprised how you can make ends meet. Most houses are not in the €500,000.00 range but some areas have changed and if you are near a good area your house will rise by default for thoise who want to live close to a posh area. We still can get places to buy here but maybe not in the city or a mature estate. Most people I know have bought new houses or apts in and on the outskirts of the city.

Sounds like you had a fun trip.

Adrienne - The real reason I chose the Clifden was b/c it was the only place that was not charging a huge increase on New Year's Eve. Their rate was $48pp, for a double. In my inbox I kept all the responses to my inquiries - the best places mentioned on here and in the guidebooks I tried were all booked. I would be happy to forward you the messages if you want to check the prices out. The most was $150 a night, the cheapest was $70, but was a guesthouse in the suburbs. (note, all prices in Euros, I just use the dollar sign)

SiobhanP - First I want to thank you (and all other fodorites) for the info you offered during planning - greatly appreciated!

Our place was actually on Gardiner Place, and we got to it by way of O'Connell - felling very safe, just off Parnell SQ (I'm sure you know this! If anyone else is looking its right at Belvedere College on a map) The time we came from a cross street, and up Gardiner, felt a bit unsafe, like a seedy are, but our walks from Parnell Sq were fine. I did not feel it was too far out - we walked everywhere except the first day when we did the hop on/off tour. Our area didn't have much atmosphere, and for that reason book early in one of the recommended places, but in a pinch I would say anything in that neighborhood is fine.
Different books and this site were wary of mentioning the neighborhood we were in, but it truly did not feel unsafe, just a bit rundown.

I think there was more I was going to say, but it has escaped me! Kristy

Kristy,

Glad you had a good time. It's fun to read your report since we were in Dublin for the same 4 days. We had also discussed our trip beforehand on this forum. I agree that I got some very valuable information from other posters.

I just returned home last night and as soon as I've rested a bit I'll post some information about our trip.

BoH

In case anyone is planning a trip for Dublin this year across NYE, I wanted to give an updated email address for me. (oh, and I'm KAMG, I created a new screenname).

[email protected] if you need information. Looking back on it, I STRONGLY recommend NYE outside Christchurch. Its the BEST atmosphere, beautiful churchbells, and just a joyous NYE feeling. My husband and I travel quite a bit, and being there on NYE is one of my favorite travel memories.

AND eat at La Gondola, Milanos or 12A, all great - its fun to look back almost a year later and see what stands out as wonderful! The soups/breads in pubs are also worth trying out a few times - never a bad meal for the money.

-KAMG

"Ireland is now the most expensive European country (finally topping Finland, was it?"

No, Ireland is the most expensive country that has euro as its currency. Of European countries Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and UK are all more expensive than Finland. I don't know where Ireland goes, just above Finland or somewhere between the five mentioned.

Elina,

I think there are so many variations on prices for different products it's hard to tell. Do they base on the price of milk and petrol or rents? I think food and drink are cheaper in the UK than Ireland. Tax on wine and champagne is shocking here and unnecessary. One reason though for high prices is the cost of shipping products into the country as we are an island and do not produce many products.

TTT for a friend.