An Enjoyable and Memorable 1 Day Tour Around Dublin and Belfast Area

Of our seven day stay in Dublin, the most memorable time we had was taking the 1 day tour to three famous places around Dublin and the Belfast area. We went and bought our tour tickets at a downtown travel agency a couple of days ago. On the morning of the tour, we took an Uber ( our Canadian Uber app worked in Ireland!) shortly after 6 am and arrived at the Molly Malone statue on Suffolk Street in downtown Dublin.There were about twenty passengers; we got on a tour bus and off we went.

This was a whole day trip with the first stop at the Dark Hedges, aslo known as 'The King's Road for those who are familiar with the Game of Thorn show. This road was lined with 150 huge beech trees planted in the 18th century. After many years, the trees have grown big arching over the road. The day we visited this famous place, it was raining a bit, foggy and misty. It added a feeling of mystery to the place. We had to hurry in order not to get soaking wet. But it was beautiful; we felt as if we were in a medieval forest!

The second stop was the Giants' Causeway - It was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986, Northern Ireland's most famous site. Since the tour bus could not drive us close to the causeway, we were dropped off at the parking lot close to the causeway's restaurant. From there we took a 30 minute walk to see this famous Giant Causeway. For those with mobility issues, they could purchase tickets and ride on the tram.

The Causeway was made from over 40,000 basalt columns during a volcanic eruption some 60 million years ago and regarded as one of the world's most prized natural treasures. According to local legend - this causeway was the remains of a bridge built between Ireland and Scotland by a mythical hunter/warrior Finn McCool. Interesting!

The most exciting part of the day for me was visiting the Titiantic Museum in Belfast. The Titiantic Museum was built to the same height as the ship itself. At the entrance, our tour guide gave us each a White Star Boarding ticket - the one the Titantic passengers received for the boarding of the ship. How cool was that. Once inside the museum, we looked out to the dock and got a sense of how tall the ship was. We took a self guided audio tour and walked through nine interactive galleries where we were introduced to the people and the city that made the Titantic. The most interesting interactive gallery was riding in a cable car taking us through the process of how the Titiantic was made in the factory.

We experienced the hammering and engine sounds, the sights, the smell, and heard the stories of the making of the Titantic and saw the tremendous craftsmanship and skills in building this gigantic vessel. However, we spent too much time on the first few galleries learning about the history and the life and the people of Belfast.

By the time we got to the Titiantic ship itself, we had to hurry and skimped through many interesting exhibits and artifacts quickly.

However, we did see displays on the interior decor of the Titantic and the opulance of the first class cabin and the dining room. It was realistic and awesome! I wished we could have a couple more hours at the museum to explore and learn more about this famous ship.

It was a totally enjoyable day trip. I don't thnk we could have seen so much on our own had we rented a car and driven ourselves. It was one of the best one day tour in a strange city for me. 2 thunmbs up for this tour! RT Dublin, Ireland 062024

The chq Building - Our Most Visited Place in Dublin, Ireland on Our Vacation

Our accommodation in Dublin, Ireland, was located in an apartment along the waterfront in Dublin. We just finished a mission trip in Germany and we needed to come back down to earth and spent the time in Dublin to relax.

Desiring to be close to everything, we booked a room on the waterfront within walking distance to many attractions and the downtown core. Our host advised us to stay away from certain rough areas in Dublin, therefore, we stayed mainly around the downtown tourist area during our stay in Dublin. Enjoying our walk to various attractions, each morning we strolled along River Liffey bypassing many modern and famous buildings located on both sides of the river.

One of these buildings we passed by was the Central Bank of Ireland where we visited an interesting exhibit about the history of banking and coinage in Ireland. It was free admission, courtesy of the Central Bank of Ireland.

One of the places situated along River Liffey we visited most often was the chq Building - ( Custom House Quay) building. It was built as a warehouse in 1820 to store large and valuable goods such as tobacco, tea and spirits. An interesting fact about the chq building - no wood was used in the construction of the building to ensure that it was absolutely fireproof. The chq buildind was made famous by hosting the Crimean War Banquet in 1856 recognizing the contributions of the Irish soldiers. But finding a venue big enought to hold a huge banquet was a problem until Henry Scovell suggested using his bonding warehouse at the Custom House Docks which had the capacity to accommodate 3000 soldiers. A great party took place on Oct. 22, 1856 offering a thousand welcome to the heroes of the Crimea!

The chq building has been renovated and modernized. Today it is an airy, bright, spacious welcoming building with an unusally huge eating area for visitors. We liked the ambience of the place - an abundance of available seats and a variety of food choices offered by the restaurants there.

Finding available seats easily whenever visiting there, we made ourselves comfortable sipping on our coffee, enjoying a delicious meal and immersing in whatever we were reading or doing at the moment. S. bought his book to read while I was afforded the opportunities to catch up on my blogging. Unlike being in a restaurant where serving staff would come up regularly asking if we needed this or that, there was nobody bothering us regardless of the length of our stay. I liked the chq building a lot as it was my retreat from the busy streets of the tourist area, an oasis to where I could relax and concentrate on my writing. It was perfect for us!

The chq Building also houses the EPIC, the Irish Emigration Museum where one could learn about the devastating famine resulting in the emigration of millions of its people to North America. With a multitude of shops, interesting restaurants, creative work space and plenty of seating available to visitors, the chq is one of our most favourite places to visit in Dublin; we highly recommend it to travellers visiting Dublin if you are looking for a place to unwind, relax, read or write! RT, chq Building Dublin, Ireland 062024