Dublin

BY FERRY  Head for Dublin ferry port (which means travelling from Holyhead).  The crossing takes around 3 hours and there is a choice of free or paid for lounge options although the wifi is pretty hit and miss.

It might make more sense for you to depart from Fishguard or Stranraer in which case you will arrive via Northern Ireland or County Wexford.

We use Direct Ferries to see the full choice of crossing options.

BY AIR  Head for Dublin Airport.  You can get a bus into the centre and pick up the LUAS or Dart.  There can be a delay for taxis and the drivers have to tell you if they are taking one of the toll routes.  

BY CAR  Car hire is quite cost-effective (compared with the cost of the ferry) especially if you are planning to explore further afield before and after the wedding celebrations.


THINGS TO DO IN DUBLIN

As you might imagine, Ireland's capital city has lots of galleries, museums and places of interest, including bars and restaurants.

*The 'hop on hop off' bus tour covers all you need to know. 

*One stop you shouldn't miss is the General Post Office in O'Connell Street.  It's the  iconic symbol of Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising. There are still bullet holes around the building.

*Trinity College and the Book of Kells is impressive.

*Temple Bar is a rocking area - rather than a single pub - of Dublin with thousands of bars and restaurants and music.

*Brown Thomas is our version of Selfridges. It is located in Grafton Street which is our version of Oxford Street.

*There are loads of statues and installations including Molly Malone, Oscar Wilde and Phil Lynott. The famine memorial is haunting.

*Guinness is worth a visit. The museum is fabulous and a pint of the black stuff is included in the price of the ticket.

*Out of town, there is Leopardstown racecourse and the Curragh and there seem to be thousands of golf courses.


ENNISKERRY

BY CAR  Your satnav will take you to Enniskerry with no problems.  It was already a really pretty village and really popular with cyclists (there's a section of road called 21 bends - it should be called 22 bends because when you get behind a cyclist it sends you round the bend!).  In 2021, Enniskerry was turned into a Disney location so the number of visitors has multiplied.

BY DART  Our overground train service runs to the pebble beach seaside town of Bray which has a really nice promenade.  Alternatively, another stop further takes you to Greystones, home of the Happy Pear.  From either train stations you can get a bus to the centre Enniskerry or taxi to your final destination.


THINGS TO DO AROUND ENNISKERRY

If you are staying nearby, the local highlights include

*Avoca

*Powerscourt Golf Course

*Powerscourt Waterfall

*Sugarloaf Mountain

*Glendalough Monastic Site

*Bray Cliff Walk (which takes you past Sinead O'Connor's house).

*Johnnie Fox's bar

FURTHER AFIELD - COUNTY WICKLOW

There are some fabulous places to explore and beautiful drives and walks through the Wicklow Mountains.  

Powerscourt Estate is the third best garden in the world (we can only assume number 1 is the Garden of Eden and number 2 is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.  

Powerscourt Waterfall

Great Sugarloaf Mountain

The highest village in Ireland is Roundwood and one of the highest pubs in Ireland is Johnnie Fox's with traditional music nights, Irish dancing and food.

Blessington Lakes are stunning and near Russborough House (which is where we took the baby owl that fell out of the tree in our garden).

Visit Brittas Bay's 5km stretch of powdery sand and sand dunes



FURTHER AFIELD - COUNTY WEXFORD

The unspoilt sandy beaches are amazing.

The opening sequences of Saving Private Ryan were filmed at Curracloe Beach.

Fantastic fish and chips in Wexford.

Oldest lighthouse in Europe is on the Hook Peninsular (stop off at Kilmore Quay for amazing seafood on your way there or back).


FURTHER AFIELD - COUNTY KERRY

We visited Sheen Falls in the south west of Ireland and plan to return.

This is where the highest mountains are.  And gorgeous lakes.  We saw salmon leaping here.