5 Days In and Around Dublin, Ireland: The Best Itinerary for a Girls Trip
Looking for a detailed itinerary when visiting Dublin, Ireland but want to see more than just the city? We have got the perfect 5 days in and around Dublin. We knew we were going to do 2 nights in Dublin but we also knew we wanted to see more of the country than just the city. The main thing was figuring out how far we were willing to drive since we only had a few days.
I was speaking at a conference at the Druids Glenn Resort which is why we went to Ireland in the first place (I teach marketing for a Financial Technology company). We used the DK eyewitness book to do a lot of research and although we really wanted to go to the West Coast of Ireland, we decided we didn’t want to drive more than 2 hours away the first day after being on an overnight flight.
The map below shows you an idea of our Itinerary, starting at the Dublin airport and driving to Kilkenny and so on.
1.) Day 1: Kilkenny
We started our trip off by driving from Dublin to Kilkenny. Through the DK eyewitness travel book on Ireland we found this city had some amazing history and a castle we wanted to tour. First, we stopped and got coffee and croissants at Cakeface bakery. This place was the cutest little cafe in the downtown of Kilkenny, I highly recommend stopping there if you have the chance. Then we made our way to explore Kilkenny Castle, which was only €8 a person for the self guided tour (Guided tour €12).
After spending about an hour in the castle, we walked down Parliament Street (Main Street) and went into the cutest shops and had lunch. You can read more here for all the details all about what we did in Kilkenny.
2.) Night 1 + Day 2 Morning: Kilkea Castle
From Kilkenny, we drove about an 40 minutes to Kilkea Castle, about an hour from Dublin this medieval castle is one of Ireland’s oldest castles, built in 1180 and now renovated into a luxury 140 bedroom resort. They have everything you could want! Whether you want to relax with a spa treatment or do something active have never tried like Falconry. They also have an 18-hole beautiful championship course with the River Griese as a natural hazard flowing through the Castle grounds and estate.
THE HIGHLIGHT OF OUR TRIP! Seriously my sister and I both agreed this was one of the coolest things we have ever done. Staying the night in a castle was truly everything you can imagine and more.
Kilkea castle is truly the most magical place we have ever spent a night - you can read all about our stay and a detailed review of Kilkea Castle hotel, grounds, food and spa here.
3.) Day 2 Afternoon: Glendalough
Located in the Wicklow Mountains National Park, Glendalough offers walking and hiking trails for all fitness levels, with nine marked routes ranging from a couple of kilometers to 11 kilometers long. You can get a map from the visitors centre or they have a trail map located at the beginning of the trails. A short 5-10 minute walk from the visitor centre is the Monastic Site with Round Tower. This is a major early Christian heritage site in Ireland. It became an important center for religious learning and pilgrimage. We wondered around looking at the headstones and the ruins of this site for about 20-30 minutes before we started our hike, which was more of a walk. We walked along the trail for about 2 miles and turned around. We weren’t following a specific path but there are some short ones if that what you are looking for.
After our hike, we were looking to get water and they directed us to this cafe they had on the grounds about a 3 min walk from the visitor centre outside of the The Glendalough Hotel. The backyard cafe had a variety of options including sandwiches, pizza, salads and a full espresso bar. We got lattes, waters and some french fries to snack on.
-Parking cost was €4 and only a 2 minute walk to the visitor centre.
4.) Day 2 Evening: Bray
We were recommended to visit the town of seaside town of Bray by some locals we met the first day. Since it was so close to where the conference we were driving to was we decided to stop there for dinner. We learned that before the days of air travel, Bray used to be the
We found a spot right on the water called Butler and Barry - which had amazing views of the water but was definitely a bit touristy. They had an extensive menu but a highlight being the wood fire pizzas. We got the Bresaola and they had a gluten free option which was amazing. Something we noticed while traveling all over Ireland was they add an allergen key at the bottom of all menus, which is so handy!
We walked around, stopped at The Palm and had a “Pint” as the locals like to call and had an amazing evening watching the sunset on the water. We were very fortunate to have the most beautiful weather and so many people were outside also enjoying it.
5.) Day 2 Overnight + Day 3: Druids Glenn Resort and Spa
This is where my conference was held. It was a beautiful, affordable resort only about 45 minutes from Dublin City Centre. We spent 2 nights here but I was mostly working the whole time so my sister was the one who got to explore here more.
One morning we did go to the spa and use the facilities. It felt like more of a gym because they have memberships that locals can purchase and use which is a great way to make sure it’s being utilized but because of that, the steam room, sauna, cold plunge, and hot tub are all in the gym area. Not exactly tranquil (especailly but nonetheless is was free to use for hotel guests and we appreciated that.
She spent a day in the spa and got pampered getting a massage. They had an extensive menu of services available including Ginger Salt Scrub, Brown Sugar Salt Glow, Exotic Coconut Body Wrap, Eastern head massage, and of course your normal facials and massages.
She said it was great and the spa area itself is one level above the gym area so up there was a lot more peaceful and very quiet and tranquil.
Her experience: “The spa was beautiful. They had a relaxation room that you waited in while in a robe and slippers. They have tea, flavored water and fruit available you while you laid in these lounge chairs. Then they took me over for a massage and the massage therapist was great in talking me through the process and asking me what I wanted or if I wanted her to focus on any specific areas. After the treatment, they bring you back to the relaxation room and give you this refreshing cranberry water and a raspberry sorbet. They also asked if I wanted champagne or anything else but it was 11am and I also believe that was extra. The whole experience was very relaxing and I highly recommend getting a treatment here.”
6.) Day 4-5: Dublin
We did some extensive research on where to stay in Dublin, mostly through googling hotels in the city centre. We found the Fitzwilliam Hotel Dublin was located on St. Stephens Green and was centrally located for some of the things we had booked to do. The Fitzwilliam exceeded our expectations! It was the perfect location, the cutest hotel and the friendliest staff. We were greeted with welcome champagne! We booked a deluxe premium room that to our surprise had a rooftop balcony that overlooked St. Stephens Green and the city. The balcony was actually very spacious and they had a seating area out there to relax. This was one of our favorite rooms we ever stayed in just because of how nice this balcony was.
Jameson Tour - About €30, we did the 45-minute guided tour (there are other longer options including a cocktail making class) that dives into Jameson's history and production process. It starts with a complimentary Jameson Ginger & Lime at JJ’s Bar. It includes a tasting of Jameson Original, Black Barrel, and the exclusive Distillery Edition. It was a great mix of learning about the history and the process but wasn’t too long or boring for someone who doesn’t normally drink whiskey (aka me).
Bow St. Jameson Distillery
Our guide was amazing and made it fun and they even let us go behind the bar at the end to take a pic. We loved this tour and we are not normally whiskey drinkers. Highly recommend!
Trinity College - We did the self-guided tour at Trinity College and the average adult ticket is £25 euros but does differ on date and time you visit. We did not book it ahead of time and we recommend you do because when we went it was busy (Saturday afternoon) so we booked for a ticket for a few hours from then. Luckily, it was centrally located and so we used those 4hours and explored some nearby tourist activities: National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin Castle, and EPIC the Irish Immigration Museum.
Gaia in The Long Room
Gaia, the spectacular illuminated artwork by Luke Jerram now on display in the Old Library. Gaia features detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface, showcasing the planet floating in three dimensions as it might be viewed from space.
Some of our favorite pubs we visited in the city of Dublin:
Kehoe’s - Fun, lively pub where everyone stands outside and drinks in the alley. Probably our #1 recomenddation. It seemed to be a mix of locals and tourists.
The Long Hall - One of the oldest pubs in Dublin, small little cute place
Oliver St John Grogarty - We walked by this place on a Saturday around 7pm and it had crowds of being dancing in front of a band but wasn’t packed wall to wall. This could have been because the weather was beautiful and people were outside of the pub also but we ended up staying here for hours.
O’Donoghues - More of a local pub with a little bit of a younger crowd with mostly 20s and 30s year old (we were there on a Friday at 9pm).
McDaids - Across from O’Donoghue’s this was your traditional Irish pub and we loved the laid backness and vibe of this place
Temple Bar - The most popular tourist bar in Dublin. So many locals told us not to go there, but honestly we ended up loving it. Yes, it was busy but we were easily able to get a drink, they had live music and people from all over sitting together at tables chatting. It was worth the stop to see for sure (Temple Bar is in the Temple Bar area, so if you come here there are lots of other pubs to explore in the blocks surrounding it).
Lennan’s Yard - We stumbled upon here around 6pm on a Friday evening and it was bustling with people out for happy hour with live music and indoor snd outdoor seating
Grogans(Castle Lounge) - The inside was small and nothing to really write about but we got one drink and took it outside and hundreds of people were standing in the streets drinking beers from this strip of bars. They close down certain alleyways for people to do this. It was so lively and fun and we enjoyed sitting outside drinking a Guinness.
37 Dawson Street - We wandered in here on accident at around 10pm but then discovered it was more of a club. It had multiple floors and was a huge mix of people sitting at tables and people dancing and all ages were in here
Important things we learned on our first trip to Ireland
-Planning to rent a car?
When we booked a rental car we did some research on if we would need the rental cars insurance. Normally we don’t buy this because my Chase Sapphire Preferred offers primary rental car insurance as a benefit. This means that if you pay for a rental car with your Sapphire Preferred card and decline the rental agency's collision damage waiver (CDW), the card's insurance will cover the damage or theft, potentially saving you from using your personal auto insurance. So with that being said, we thought we were covered. Turns out, my ID was expired and I didn’t realize… which should have been no problem because my sister was able to rent the car but they WOULD NOT let me put my credit card down if she was the one renting the card, it had to be her card.
IMPORTANT: If you want to rent a car, they will put a $5,000 hold on your card. NO EXCEPTIONS. Well my sister didn't have enough on her credit card to hold this, and even though I did, they wouldn't let me put my card down. So the only other option was to add the rental company’s insurance for another $38 a day so we did this. Thankfully it still only ended up being about €400 for a 4 day rental which was more than triple of what we expected to pay when booking it. Needless to say, either expect to have a high hold on your credit card or pay more per day through the rental company.
-Going on any tours?
We only booked one tour ahead of our trip and that was the Jameson Distillery. We had a whole list of places we wanted to visit but didn’t think it was necessary to book specific times (and we are not strict planners on vacation). We wanted the freedom to decide when to go or if it was an outdoor thing and it was raining, we wanted to be flexible. For most of the things we went to see or do, that was fine - EPIC Museum, Dublin Castle, but for Trinity College: The Book of Kells they only allow so many people in each time slot so it doesn’t get overcrowded in the museum. So, as you probably don’t need to book it weeks ahead of time, it would be beneficial to look ahead to make sure there will be available times even the day before you plan to go and buy your tickets then.
-What to pack?
The weather very unpredictable. We obviously read lots about the weather when planning our trip. We packed multiple layers, rain jackets, umbrellas, etc. We used all of these items! It did rain one day and drizzle another, but for the most part we got VERY lucky with the weather. Even with that being said, I feel it got super cold as soon as the sun started to set. My sister even bought another jacket to wear because it was so chilly at night (the same day during the day was wearing a skirt). So, no matter the season be prepared and layers will be your best friend!
