Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report That's right, a long weekend in Dublin!

We don't normally take short trips that involve flights over the Atlantic, but I got a wild hair and decided to surprise my husband with a trip to Dublin for his birthday this year. Here are the (I hope not too boring) highlights.

We left Wednesday night flying Delta from ATL. The plane was a bit of a let down (worn, no individual TVs, etc) compared to the plane we had going to Rome a few months ago...but thanks to an ambien and two glasses of wine in the airport I slept from take-off until we were about an hour from Dublin. This was key as we really didn't have issues with jet lag.

I used priceline to bid on a 5 star hotel in City Center South and got the Conrad for $110 USD a night. The location was convenient and overall I was very happy with the hotel considering the price paid. Room was a good size, clean, and the staff was extremely friendly. 5 star is a stretch, though.

Thursday-

We bought tickets for the Hop On Hop Off bus and did:
1) the Guinness Storehouse- my husband loved this and if you're at all interested in the history/beer making process it's worth the stop. I bought tickets online beforehand to avoid the line. We had lunch and our free pint in the restaurant onsite and enjoyed a lovely view over the city.
2) Kilmainham Jail- good tour and museum, fascinating history.

After a 45 minute nap, dinner was at Green 19 on Camden St. The atmosphere is lively if a little loud, but the food is good and no entree in over 10 euros. We stopped at an adorable wine bar/restaurant, il primo, on the way for a glass of wine to toast Dublin!

Friday-

I had booked a walking tour with Fabulous Food Trails that covered a number of stops around central Dublin. We vistied a lovely cheese shop, pub, cake cafe, and Fallon & Byrne among others during a leisurely almost 3 hour tour. We had a great time and it was fun to see some things we would not have discovered on our own.

After, we headed over to Trinity College and got one of the 30 minute student guided campus tours for 10 euro. Money well spent as we got the history of the college along with entrance to the Book of Kells. But the library is the real gem in my opinion- absolutely gorgeous space! We were feeling pretty energetic after this so hit St Patrick's Cathedral and the highlights at the National Gallery as well.

After stopping at ely wine bar for a quick snack it was back to the hotel to put up our feet! We had reservations at Winding Stair this night and despite some recent mixed reviews on trip advisor, I loved it! The food was very good with warm service and a well priced wine list. Plus the view over the river is lovely. Some had complained of the tight space between tables, but after years of living in San Francisco I'm used to the concept of squeezing in one more table!

After dinner we strolled through Temple Bar for a couple of pints and music and felt like we were about 100 years old (I'm 35). But the area provided excellent people watching and was worth the detour.

Saturday-

We slept in and intended to do the 1916 Rebellion Walking Tour at 11:30 am. Unfortunately, the tour leader had a talk to give at 3 pm so the tour turned into an informal (and free) talk on the rebellion. It was still very interesting and Lorcan is so passionate about Irish history I can only imagine how fun the tour would be! After, we headed over to Dublin Castle and signed up for a tour of the apartments. While we were waiting, we had lunch at the cafe inside the Chester Beatty library (very good!) and checked out some of the exhibits.

At this point, it's about 3 pm and we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon shopping and strolling. The main tourist area in Dublin is quite compact and easy to navigate and I thought 3 days was a perfect amount of time to get to the things on our "list".

The big birthday dinner was at Pearl Brasserie. Overall, the food and setting were both very nice, although the service was a bit formal for us. We stopped at O'Donoghue's for a couple of drinks and live music and then it was was time to pack for the flight home!

We arrived at the airport Sunday morning with the understanding it can take a long time to clear US Immigration but there were no lines anywhere and we were at the gate 30 minutes after getting out of the cab! Overall, it was a bit of a surreal trip but I have no regrets and my husband was SO surprised...he thought we were going to Chicago :)