Dublin is a city teeming with bars and joy, beautiful parks, cool tours and great food.
We arrived to Dublin from Killarney (southwest Ireland’s County Kerry).
We stayed at the Blooms Hotel, a 3-star hotel in a central location, complete with a bar and a breakfast option.
Day one – Daily routine: Tour of the city, Whiskey tasting tour and Michelin star restaurant
Irish breakfast
We started our morning with a hearty breakfast at the Stage Door Café, a beautifully designed, intimate restaurant. Roman ordered the traditional Irish breakfast with egg, sausage and beans. I had scrambled egg on toast, which was very well seasoned – I was extremely delighted by it. Roman liked his dish as well.
Tour of the city
From the café we went to the meeting point of a free tour (Tip based) with Sandemans company (We’ve been on their tours in Jerusalem and Berlin in the past). Our guide’s name was Connor and he was among the best guides we’ve ever had.
He was very funny, and delivered the tour in a fascinating, humoristic fashion. He had an interesting anecdote about each and every place. Our group was huge, with about 40 people yet he was still able to sweep everyone away with his stories.
Lunch at a Japanese restaurant
After the tour, we walked from the end point to a Japanese restaurant named Musashi Noodle & Sushi, located approximately 10 minutes away on foot. The restaurant had a good business menu.
Roman had chicken Ramen for 9 euros and I ordered a Japanese box containing several types of food. Sushi, rice, sea food in a tasty sauce and a kind of schnitzel and miso soup for starters.
The food was really good and filling. Roman’s soup was subtly flavored, and I was happy to have a few different dishes to try – They were all good.
The restaurant’s atmosphere is very relaxing and service was great. Definitely a recommended place to have some satisfying, reasonably priced lunch.
Whiskey Museum Tour
After lunch we went on a tour of the Irish Whiskey Museum. Their tour included whiskey tasting, as well as a tasting tour where you could blend your own drink.
Culinary experience at Michelin Star restaurant
For dinner we picked the Michelin star restaurant L’Ecrivain, belonging to Ireland’s Blue House (A chain of incredible boutique hotels and high-class restaurants).
The combination of delicious food, exquisite presentation and 5+ star service truly turned our dinner into an unforgettable night.
Read more about the dishes we had and our experience at L’Ecrivain.
Day two – Daily routine: Castle and harbor tour, traditional dinner and bar
Eggs Benedict breakfast
We started our morning at Art Café Dublin, with eggs Benedict with salmon and hollandaise sauce on brioche bread. Truth be told, I wanted to have their avocado sandwich but they were all out of avocado and so I decided to order the same dish as Roman. The food itself was filling and tasted great. We also had coffee along with our meal.
Castle and Dublin harbor tour
Following breakfast, we headed to the meeting point for DoDublin’s castle and Howth tour.
This particular tour leaves at 11:00 daily.
Ours was a nice green bus, who’s driver was also the guide, offering explanations and background for the sights along the trip.
Read more about the tour and our experience with it.
Dinner at a traditional Irish restaurant
If you’re looking for traditional Irish cuisine in an open and joyous environment – O’Sheas Restaurant is a solid choice. The entrance area is a bar, with a restaurant further inside – Although you can eat at the bar as well. We wanted to talk and so chose to sit in the dining area rather than the bar, as it was quite loud.
For starters I ordered a simple green salad and Roman had chowder, a thick creamy soup with sea food. Roman liked it a lot.
For mains I had the Shepherd’s pie, which had sea food with cream and potatoes on top, and Roman had the pork belly with potato. Both were not only really flavorful but also filling.
Irish bar
Dublin is full of fun bars with great atmosphere. There are bar crawls you can join or you can just walk through the city center and go from one bar to the next. Next to our hotel was Oliver St. John Gogarty, a live music bar that was great to hang out at.
Day three – Daily routine: Day trip to the cliffs of Moher
Tour to the Cliffs of Moher
We took this tour through Irish Day Tours. We really enjoyed touring with them and our driver was very nice. During our trip we visited the cliffs of Moher, had lunch at Doolin village and visited Burren and Galway city.
Read about our tour and impressions in detail.
Noodles dinner
We came back from the tour exhausted. The only thing on our mind was getting takeaway and returning to our hotel.
We went to the fast food restaurant Noodle Bar.
I had rice with shrimp, vegetables and curry and Roman had chicken noodles. Both dishes were excellent. Frankly, we were so tired I even forgot to take pictures, but if you’re looking for a quick, tasty and cheap fix for dinner – you can trust me it’s definitely worth it.
Day four– Daily routine: Shopping, parks and a modern Irish dinner.
Tasty breakfast
After having lots of bread and many Irish breakfasts, I was craving variety and so we went to Pog – a café serving tasty semolina porridge (They also have great looking pancakes for those looking for something a bit less healthy).
We had almond milk based porridge with berries, strawberries and ground (Roman ordered two 🙂 ) and they were delicious.
I asked a couple of girls there to take a picture of their dishes so I could show you what those looked like as well.
Going to the souvenir and food market
If you feel like buying a pretty souvenir or something artistic, George’s Street Arcade is a good place to visit. Actually, if you want some cheap breakfast or coffee – the market is a great choice for that as well. It may not be very big, but it’s got a variety of stalls and nice little cafés.
Enjoying nature at the heart of Dublin
After a walk around town we went to St. Stephen’s Green. You can rent a bike at special stations right on the streets and ride them around the park, or just go on foot. The park is beautiful and frequented by many who come to walk, run, lay on the grass or just sit on a bench and enjoy the quiet.
From the park we continued on to Iveagh Gardens, a quiet jewel of nature with very few people. There’s a nice waterfall but the water wasn’t flowing when we were there. It’s a giant and very peaceful garden – If you’re looking for a place to relax or have a little picnic Iveagh Gardens is a great option.
Vietnamese lunch
As you must have noticed, we really like Asian food. We found an authentic Vietnamese restaurant with good prices and very tasty food next to our hotel, The Pho Ta restaurant. Roman ordered Pho soup, a Vietnamese meat soup and I Ordered Bun Cha – a fish dish with noodles and excellent sauce.
Wandering down Dublin’s main streets
After lunch we wandered the city itself and went into shops at random along the way. If you’re interested in shopping, Henry street is home to many brand stores such as Zara, Bershka, H&M and more. There’s also Penny’s, which is like Primark with low-cost clothes.
Coffee house
The Cocobrew coffee house has great coffee, tasty drinks and unique desserts.
They also have desserts made of superfoods and vegan desserts. Roman had the banana cake which was really good, so I ate half of it and a peanut butter date ball which was a hit as well.
Dinner at a modern Irish restaurant
This time we picked Boxty, a modern Irish restaurant. The prices there we slightly higher than other Irish restaurants, but the place was very classy and the food all tasted great.
Roman had roast beef and I had the house special, a thin pancake filled with beef steak. We also had fries made of the pancake’s ingredients and they were addictive. We really enjoyed the food, the service and the atmosphere.
