So Just before our 24 hours in Dublin started, we actually drove from our house to Cardiff and stayed over night as our early flight was from Cardiff airport. 100% recommend staying as close to the airport as possible because to make the most of the day you want to start early.
5:30am: This is what time we woke up, multiple alarms were set however as the night before was a lot later then planned. We got ready into our travel clothes, did our hair ready then after a quick brew headed out.
6:30am: Headed out for the airport (20 minute drive ish), on the tickets with Ryan Air it said to be there at this time however, we weren’t checking in any bags thanks to the viral Tik Tok carry on bag my parenter found.
7:00am: Security was a breeze and it took less than 20 minutes for us to find the pub, order breakfast and the obligatory pint. We chilled there for abit before heading to our gate.
9:00am: Departure from Cardiff begins, the flight is ridiculously quick, we ordered a coffee and a brew and by the time we landed we still had full cups because it was still that hot!
10:00am: We had landed and now made our way to the toilets to finish getting ready, we changed into our clothes for the day and did the rest of our make up. The reason we did this is so our clothes would be fresh as these were what we were wearing all day and also the bag was big enough to fit an outfit (could for sure fit a couple outfits if you were headed some where hot too) as well as any toiletries.
10:30am: As soon as you walk out of the airport there are a couple coaches to the side, these will take you into the city as well as pick up from various places, make sure you check out which stop is closest to your hotel etc. but for 20(ish) Euros its a safe bet, the only thing is you have to wait abit for your coach but the journey itself is quick!
12:30pm: We’d dropped our bags off at the hotel, got all checked in and then headed back out, toward the bus stop, tried getting onto a bus but turns out you need a Leap card, luckily there was a Spar just by the stop and we got ours from there, I’m sure the bus driver said you can get them from most shop but Spar is the most likely. Once we got our Leap Card topped it up and waited for the next bus, we were then on our way to the Guinness Storehouse.
12:45pm: This was our slot and we began the tour, the Guinness Storehouse is honestly so fun, you walk through all the different sections, the marketing one was for sure my favourite, I could recognise some of the different posters from my dads old house. Then you get taken through to a tasting section, its really cool the way the have it set up and also gives you a chance to taste before you can get your free drink at the top in the Gravity Bar. We did then make our way up to the Gravity Bar and the views were insane, it was an overcast day but even then you could see for miles. I would 100% recommend booking in advance of any tour you want to do as Dublin can get pretty busy all year round and especially if you only have a day or so its the best way to make the most of your time.
2:45(ish)pm: After raiding the gift shop at the Guinness Storehouse, we made our way to Brazen Head, this place is the oldest Pub in Dublin. You can see all the old photos and parts of the building that have with stood the ages, they have a courtyard outside that looks as though it has been recently done or reconstructed (by recent I mean within the last 50-80 years). The food sounded lush but we weren’t feeling it so we sank a couple pints in there and order the hot chicken wings and they were stunning, we actually sat at the bar and the amount of people the women behind the bar serviced was insane!
4:00pm: We let the Brazen Head and walked around, we saw a few bites on our bus journey to the Guinness Storehouse so wanted to wounder through and have a proper look. The Cathedral is massive and has the bridge going over to what I think used to be the church’s living quarters (that’s how big it was), that’s now a shop/info desk I believe but still… we went into the Castle Square, it doesn’t look like much of a Castle so if you go looking for it just be aware it looks more like a palace. We then stumbled across The Porter House, which is a pub and restaurant, it is amazing in there and the staff are lovely too, I got my Irish coffee in there (had to be done) and it was stunning – warmed me up to after getting caught in the rain.
7:30pm: After heading back to the hotel to find somewhere to eat tea and dry off some of our clothes, we headed back out, a lot of the places we seen online that we wanted to try were already fully booked (again be sure to book into to places early if you want to go), but we were happy walking round and seeing the city, we even walked down Temple Bar street and seen the famous pub, it did look lovely and had all the fairly lights but it was rammed and is notoriously expensive. We did then find The Gallway Brewery, we stopped here for food and a few more drinks and it was brilliant, the vibe was 10/10, they had great music on and the food and drinks were crazy good!
10:00pm Having now been up since 5:30am we were spent, we’d ticked off everything from our list for the day and so we stopped into a shop got a load of snacks and headed back to the hotel to play cards and chill out (that lasted all of 30 minutes before we both fell asleep).
8:30am: We were up, dressed, bags packed and back on our way to the bus stop for the coach to pick us up. There are a few bus stops that pick up every 30 minutes and others that pick up every 15, so if you’re in a rush etc. just be mindful and try get to which ever will get you there quickest. Again we only had our hand luggage so weren’t in too much of a rush. Finally at our gate, there were some delays but we just played cards and entertained ourselves.
12:00pm: Another crazy short flight later and we were back in Cardiff getting picked up by our friends.
Honestly on the way back I was just thinking about the last 24 hours and how crazy they were, we did EVERYTHING, okay a few hiccups but you should also account for them in your travel plans! It was a perfect 24 hours in Dublin (even with the rain) and I was crazy lucky that my partner had got the flights and hotel as my birthday present; 24 hours in Dublin – best present ever!!!