TRAVEL

Dublin, Ireland Featuring Staycity Aparthotels

When I mentioned to my friends that I was going to Dublin for a few days, some asked who was getting married and why they hadn’t been invited to the stag do, and the others said ’Oh you are going on a drinking weekend’, but both could not have been further from the truth, as Dublin is a fascinating city just on our doorstep, blessed with a rich history and culture (although I do have to admit some of that does involve alcohol!).

Dublin is the Capital and largest city of Ireland and has roughly 40% of its population, and is a quick hop and a skip away from the UK by plane from a multitude of UK airports. It sits on a bay at the mouth of the river Liffey and there has been a settlement here since before the 7th Century. It was initially established by the Gaels and then followed by the Vikings, and grew so rapidly that in the 17th century it was the second largest city in the British Empire and eventually became the Capital of the Irish Free State in 1922 (renamed Ireland in 1937). The name Dublin comes from the Irish word Duibhlinn, meaning dark tidal pool, referring to where one of the Liffey’s tributaries meets the Liffey forming a tidal pool.

Dublin has had a colourful history which has given rise to a number of its sights including Dublin Castle, Trinity College, and St Patrick’s and Christ Church Cathedrals.

My wife and I arrived at Dublin’s modern and large airport located approximately 10km from the centre and opted for the express bus, which, for a single fare of Eur 8 takes you right into the heart of Dublin and doesn’t take much longer than a taxi. We left the bus at one of the Quay’s along the river and made our way to our accommodation, Staycity Tivoli, to drop off of our suitcases so we could start our sightseeing.

Dublin has many options when it comes to accommodation to suit every pocket, from luxury 5-star hotels to hostels, but our choice wasn’t either of these, but rather a Staycity

Aparthotel which provides all that a hotel suite can offer at a fraction of the price.

Staycity’s Aparthotels are a great hybrid form of accommodation that combines all the benefits of a hotel with the benefits of an apartment, so our ‘aparthotel’ not only had guest laundry, 24hr reception, breakfast, a café and bar, and a gym, they also have much more room, and offer 1- or 2-bedroom apartments with a kitchenette and a dining and sitting area and separate bathroom. This is like having a suite without the accompanying cost, and also allows you to relax in your room in the evenings if you don’t fancy going out, but would prefer to stay in and cook or have a takeaway.

Staycity have a number of different aparthotels in Dublin, all offering slightly different rooms and amenities, but all are modern, stylish and perfectly located in the heart of Dublin, and all a short walk from the sights.

Once we had freshened up and dropped off our suitcases, our first point of call was a sightseeing cruise on the River Liffey with Dublin Discovered Boat Tours. I always think that you always get a better feel for a city if you see it from the water, and here is no exception. You get the boat from the Sean O’Casey Footbridge and travel down the river alongside Dublin’s old Georgian Quaysides, including the 18th Century Custom House, until the boat can go no further for risk of the boat running aground, (the Liffey is a tidal river), and then back up past the Jeanie Johnston Famine Boat to the docklands, where iconic modern architecture sits alongside Georgian warehouses. The guide provides interesting facts about all the sights and our 45-minute trip just flew by. On disembarking the boat we retraced our steps, and revisited the Jeanie Johnston Tall Ship which we had passed earlier on the boat. This is a replica of one of the most famous famine tall ships that made the gruelling voyage ferrying people from Dublin to North America to escape the famine in Ireland, and here you learn about the remarkable stories of her passengers and crew, and experience some of the hardships they endured during their long voyage.

After this we walked back to our aparthotel, in the upcoming area of Libertines, a stone’s throw from the famous Temple Bar area, for a short rest before partaking of the mandatory pint of Guinness, which I am reliably advised is much more creamier than ones you would have in the UK, although I wouldn’t know, as this was the first pint of Guinness I had drunk, and I know it may be heresy, but it will also be my last! Dublin is not short of restaurants and bars for the visitor to enjoy, and you can eat, drink and be merry well into the wee hours if you so choose.

After a wonderful night’s sleep under the fluffy duvet, it was a wrench to drag myself out of bed, but there is so much to see and do in Dublin there is no time to sit inside. Our first stop was Kilmainham Gaol Museum where for over 100 years it has held thousands of men, women and children for crimes ranging from minor offences to some of the most momentous events in Irish history, as it was here that those involved in the 1916 Easter Rising were held and executed by firing squad. The gaol is a little way out of the city and is the only place you can’t walk to from our aparthotel, but it is definitely worth the effort. It closed in 1924, and was preserved as a national monument in the 1960’s, and is a must visit, but be warned, you must book in advance and also as early as possible, as it is extremely popular and if you don’t get in early everything will be booked up and you will miss a real slice of Irish history. It is also where the Italian Job and Paddington 2 were filmed!

After this visit we went to my favourite trip of the day, namely a visit to the Jameson Distillery Bow Street. Jameson’s is a prominent name in Irish Whiskey and their Bow Street site has a number of tours ranging from one showing you its history and how to make the whiskey, to trying your hand at blending a whiskey. We decided on the educational tour which was an excellent way to discover the colourful history of the brand, which dates back to 1780, when John Jameson established a way of making Irish Whiskey, and how the distillery featured in some of Dublin’s most famous events, namely the Easter Rising. Although all production moved from the Bow Street site in 1975 down to County Cork, the tour takes you through the process of making the iconic brand, and how it is stored to make the different types of whiskey, and at its end you get a selection of whiskeys to taste!

After sampling a few of these different whiskeys, what better way to recover than a brisk walk-through Dublin to see more of what it had to offer. Our first stop was the Ha’penny Bridge which was the first pedestrian bridge to cross the Liffey and was built in 1816 to replace the old ferry boats that used to transport people across the Liffey, and I am guessing you can work out how much it cost to cross the bridge, although it is free to do so now. Having taken the mandatory selfie of ourselves on the bridge, our next stop was Trinity College, which is the only college of the University of Dublin. It dates back to the reign of Elizabeth I and was founded in 1592, and as well as being a functioning University with countless students, it also has a number of impressive architectural sights, including the Old Library which houses over 200,000 books, and the must see, Book of Kells. This is the world’s most famous decorated medieval manuscript of the four gospels dating back to the 9th century, and it is truly a work of art. From there we made our way over to Suffolk Street where we visited the statue of Molly Malone, the fictional heroine of the well-known song, who sold her cockles and mussels in Dublin’s fair city.

Our final stop of the day on our way back to our hotel, and right next to Christ Church Cathedral, was the Dublinia Museum, which gave us a taste of what Dublin was like in the Viking and medieval periods by recreating the houses and streets of those times, as very little from those eras remains.

Although almost all of the sights we visited were close together, we did walk double our usual daily average number of steps, and so we were grateful to sink back into our sofa at our apartment and have a few moments to relax before sampling the night life in the Temple Bar area.

Dublin’s night life is legendary, and there is so much to do it needs no introduction from me, so I will just say you will find something for everyone, and after a fairly quiet night we were grateful that it was only a short walk back from Temple Bar to our apartment and our comfy bed.

Our final day in Dublin dawned, and after a hearty breakfast we had one final stop before our trip back to the airport, namely the Guinness Storehouse. To many, Guinness is the national drink of Ireland, but whether you agree with that or not, it certainly is its most iconic, and what better way to immerse yourself in all things Guinness than on a tour where it is brewed? Here you learn to dispel a few myths, namely that Guinness does not use water from the River Liffey in its brewing, as well as the exceptional optimism of its founder, Arthur Guinness, who signed a 9,000-year lease on the St James’s Gate site!

Dublin is an enigma, as many believe it is just a place to drink and party, but from our time in Dublin it is so much more, and you will come away from a visit with a better understanding of Irish history and how it has developed through the ages, and for me if you can do that whilst having a Guinness or two, or a few tots of Jameson’s, what’s not to like!

Website Details

Dublin Discovered Boat Tours: www.dublindiscovered.ie/ Staycity Aparthotels: www.staycity.com/dublin

Jameson’s Bow Street: www.jamesonwhiskey.com/en-us/visitour-distilleries/jameson-bow-streetdistillery-tour/

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