Headed over there Aug 30th thru Sept 7th. For my brother-in-laws wedding and a vacation.

We are spending a couple days in Dublin, and then spending the rest of the time at Ashford Castle and around Galway.

Five Star Luxury Hotels Ireland, 5 Star Hotels Ireland, Castle Hotels Ireland - Ashford Castle in Cong Mayo Ireland Looks Fricken Awesome. I love Castles!

Anyone from the area on here and can give me a few "Not to miss things"?

Mostly need to know what "not to miss" in Dublin.

I will be with family so nightclubs or bars arent really in the plan. I will be downing many a pint of Guinness though and going to the brewery. Wheeeee

Also what can I do about cell phone service in Ireland? I have Verizon, do they have plans for just short trips or what can I do? Obv never been to Ireland or Europe before.

Also, I need to know about tipping in Ireland? Restaurants, Cabbies, Street Performers, bartenders, Hotel staff, etc. Who else and how much is customary? Any help? Heading out 1st thing Monday am, for 9 days.

Thanks for any help?

I lived in Dublin for a while. Tipping is different over there. They don't really do it. Barmen make pretty good money...it's been a while, I forget what we did when we went out to eat. I was working more than doing touristy stuff, so I can't really help you out. I don't think you're going there, but if you do, don't kiss the Blarney Stone...the kids who live in the area, break in and piss on it at night.

You are kinda fucked without bars or nightclubs in Dublin :oP

I dont know about mobiles, i just used roaming on mine when i go abroad. Tipping in restaurants about 10%

We have some beaches with no sun!! Phoenix park is in the city centre and is huge, biggest park in Europe i think. It has Dublin Zoo in there

There are hop on hop off bus' all over ythe city centre that do the sights like Trinity college etc
Theres also a popular ghost bus in the evenings that brings you to the supposedly haunted places!

Put you off your trip yet?

 

Originally Posted by Basics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collins_Barracks_(Dublin)

While your at it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilmainham_Gaol

burn it

I eat them everyday. Tomorrow they shall be roasted

Yea, planning on playing a couple of times hopefully.

I boned a girl in Tallaght (sp?) when I visited in 1998. Good times.

Lol she was at Trinity College when I met her. I flew over the day after Xmas just for fun and met her at the airport. She took me to her parents place and they showed me the best hospitality ever. Breakfast every day, pubs at night, and I got to nail her for a week. I even watched Michael Collins with her nutjob brothers.

I want to go back so bad. My father in law was born and raised in Ireland in County Meath and I want to see it. Love Ireland.

 

Originally Posted by timthegem

You're not going to believe this but they have breakfast cereal there that is little potatoes and they pour Hungry Jack on it. And you can get milky mashed potatoes in a glass to drink with your meal. And when a random passerby burps in your general direction it smells like corned beef hash. F that place.

Seriously tho, the best breakfasts! White pudding, Black pudding! It's basically scrapple, but the black pudding has blood in it. Yummy. Rashers = meaty chewy bacon. The eggs are brown! The milkman delivers milk ffs! and it's creamy! Throw in some fried tomatoes and some baked beans and you have a HELL of a breakfast!

EDIT: I just read my post and realize that it might come off as sarcastic. I was serious tho. I loved the breakfast over there. A proper fish and chips was cool too, post pub crawling. I found the people to be very nice also.

tmobile is the biggest phone provider for ireland, you can buy prepaid minutes everywhere... it'd be a shame not to go out at least one night while there...try a pub crawl, they're epic. the minimum wage for waitresses is a lot higher and tipping isn't necessary. if you want to get around and see all the attractions, you can take bus tours for around 50 euro a day and see all you want....

play some golf obviously. jaipur, i think , was this indian restaurant over in dublin around trinity near great georges, but they got plenty of decent spots open till 4am after some celebrating. you can pick up a 10 euro credit towards a cell phone that will usually just be a free phone, free number, and 10 euros towards either o2, 3, vodafone, or whatever, and then you can just top that up at any convenience store or atm to be straight for a short stay after you burn that up.

cabbies are especially helpful in ireland relative to literally anywhere else i've ever been, i'm sure they'll be better in dublin than galway. galway shuts down on sundays more like most of ireland does. gotta see those cliffs of mohr over on the west too.

there are pretty regular street performers down grafton street towards st. stephen's green, and then all throughout that main street in galway during busy seasons. usually some kids then some semi-pros on string instruments, some singers, then closer to the park (dublin) where theres a bigger clearing will be some guy doing something with fire or some really intense limboing. theres a barber shop around there that'll serve you beer too. if you get tired of irish food in dublin there's a legit steakhouse along the right side of the park called shanahan's

i heard the brewery tours are worth it, jameson too. anddd the waterford crystal factory down in the south has a ridiculous tour, where you'll hear some old guy talk about engraving the winning team or players name at all the championships around the world, and how he sees like the world series, superbowl, march madness, etc, just getting flown everywhere, but he doesnt follow sports at all. he's just the guy. and it takes like 40 years of practice and experience and apprenticing to ever get to be that guy. that factory was absurd.

try some bulmers too