My husband, daughter, mom and I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Ireland. I’ll be sending out a longer newsletter for all paid subscribers giving my top recommendations if you’re planning a trip for yourself or family. I always do my due diligence researching a country prior to visiting, but there’s obviously some things I will miss. So for you, my loyal readers, here are the top five things I wish I’d known about Ireland prior to visiting to make your trip go smoothly.
Ireland is one of the few countries that is considered a Pre-Cleared Country. What this means is, upon arriving at the airport in the United States, you won’t have to go through customs. Instead, you’ll go through customs leaving Ireland. So when you land in the United States you can proceed directly to your connecting flight! What this also means is you’ll need more time at the airport. So here’s what you can expect:
You’ll check in for your flight
You’ll proceed to security where you’ll have to remove your liquids and you can have up to three small bags per person. They don’t allow bottle openers or jams or jellies or butter through security but my mom got an empty lighter through. You will NOT have to remove your shoes.
Once through security this will be your chance to eat and buy Duty Free items. You’ll also find a QR code on the monitors that will tell you when to proceed through to the Customs.
You’ll then go through security a second time and will need to take your shoes and jackets off. You can take sealed beverages through here and you’ll present your duty free items. Everything goes through an x-ray machine, but you will not. We didn’t know we could bring sealed drinks through and quickly chugged ours.
Next you’ll go through customs. Once it’s your time to go through customs there are two lines. One for EU residents and one for non-EU residents. You’ll talk to a customs officer, present your passport and declare how much you spent on goods.
Then you’ll be on your way to your gate! There is only one restaurant here and it’s busy so I suggest eating before you go through this procedure.
Everywhere takes contactless payment: Virtually everywhere we went accepted contactless payment so you can either tap your card to pay or upload to apple wallet and tap your phone. Making sure your card is in you apple wallet is nice because you don’t have to take your card in and out of your wallet. There are places to exchange money in Dublin and they don’t charge a fee like the airport does. Also, make sure if going to Belfast or anywhere in Northern Ireland you get the sterling pound instead of Euro as they are governed by the UK.
Be prepared to walk or pay to take the Hop on Hop Off Bus: We stayed right off O’Connell street in Dublin which was a great spot for walking everywhere. There are busses and a light rail, but we chose to spend our time exploring on foot. Just note, you’ll need sturdy shoes as the streets vary from sidewalks to cobblestone. In my opinion, Dublin isn’t a good fit for strollers or wheelchairs as the streets are uneven and crowded. My mom and daughter handled all the walking like champs, but this isn’t the best place for small children who don’t like to walk. If you are limited in mobility I suggest purchasing a ticket for the Hop On and Hop Off Bus which will take you to all the major sites in the city.
Visit the Guinness Storefront Early and buy your tickets from their website: This was a tip from a fellow flight attendant and I’m so glad she told me. I bought our tickets the night before directly from the Guinness website and then we showed up when they opened at 10am. The storehouse is huge and will wind you all the way up to the 7th floor where you’ll get your one free pint. Even if you don’t drink your price is the same unless buying a kids ticket but they do have a cafe and non-alcoholic juices. The view from the 7th floor is amazing and a great place to enjoy your beer, but it will get crowded, hence why you should go early. Afterwards we wanted to get our picture printed on the foam on a pint so we went down to the 4th floor and paid $8 for one pint. I suggest upgrading your experiences once you arrive instead of doing them online. You’ll get your free pint with your ticket regardless, then can pay extra for another pint. Visit the gift shop last so you don’t have to carry everything around with you although they sell most of the things you’ll find there at the gift shops in town.
There’s not a lot for kids to do: Let me preface this by saying, my daughter loved Ireland and she’s 9. We didn’t make it to the zoo, but we went to the Natural History Museum which is free! That being said, there’s a lot of history and walking in this city that your kids might not appreciate. There’s also a lot of pubs and drinking and most places don’t have kids menus. There is, however, plenty of French fries (chips) on the menu which was a highlight for my daughter. We made it fun for her by walking through the park, buying donuts, gelato and bubble tea. We souvenir shopped a lot and she loved scaring the pigeons. She surprisingly really loved the Guinness Storehouse and there was a lot to interact with there. But overall, if you’re expecting a city that caters to kids, Dublin isn’t it. There was a Wax Museum and Leprechaun Museum we didn’t visit…but again these are museums so if your kids get bored easily just walking around and looking at things, be prepared.
As a fun fact, their Irish coffee is whisky and coffee and if you want a Bailey’s and coffee that’s just called a Bailey’s and coffee. Also there’s no such thing as an Irish car bomb drink there. The bartender at Temple Bar did say, however, you can order a half whisky, half Bailey’s shot and it’s amazing.
So there you have it, my top five “Know Before you Go!” I hope you found this helpful if you would like to visit the Emerald Isle. Make sure you are a paid subscriber if you’d like even more insight on how to make your trip to Ireland a success and you can cancel anytime!