Ireland

I just spent 12 days in Ireland and I wanted to share with you what my trip was like,

Let me start off by saying I did not travel alone, I went through the company EFUltimateBreak where the requirements to travel is to be between the ages of 18-35. The reason I decided to go with this company is because air fair and accommodations are included in the price, not only that but they plan everything out for you so all I need to do is pay and show up.

This was not a standard Ireland trip, this was classified as an active Ireland trip. In my opinion the active trip would have been better than a non active one. I live a very active lifestyle and found during our freetime in the city I would not go to the shops often, instead I would go for a walk in one of the local parks. Because this is an active trip there were a lot more active activities which I will get into further in this post.

Itinerary:

Day 1: Overnight Flight

Day 2: Arrive in Dublin (explore dublin if you have a chance) + Welcome dinner

Day 3: Killarney National Park, Waterfall Walk, and travel to Kerry

Day 4: Hike Carrauntoohil

Day 5: Cliffs of Moher + Travel to Galway

Day 6: Hike Connemara National Park

Day 7: Free day in Galway

Day 8: Bike the Great Western Greenway + Travel to Sligo

Day 9: Hike Slibh Liag (Slieve League)

Day 10: Travel to Belfast

Day 11: Giant's Causeway + Farewell dinner

Day 12: Fly home

Breakdown

Days 1-2 are designed to be easy days due to flights, My original flight to Dublin was canceled so instead of arriving in the morning with most of the group a few of us arrived in the afternoon. Not only that my luggage was stuck on the plane for 2 hours after landing. The only thing we really missed was exploring the city of Dublin. However, on our way to the welcome dinner our tour guide gave us the history of the city and we even walked by the factory. It was great that the trip was designed this way so if your flights did change you did not miss much. The welcome dinner was fantastic, we had guiness stew and it is rich and filling but has such a good flavor to it.

Day 3: This is a 1-2hr bus ride to the trailhead (there are restrooms at the trailhead). Killarney National park is so different from the rest of Ireland. Most of ireland is flat farming land where Killarney National Park is more of a forest. The trees bend in all sorts of directions with moss all over them. There is a mountain within the park called Torc Mountain and this is mostly a stair climb all the way to the top. There are woodplanks that climb to the top of the mountain which make the ascent easier. The view is supposed to be spectacular at the top however as we climbed up we were in the clouds so we did not see much also bring bug spray there were lots of bugs at the summit.

Day 4: Carrauntoohil is the highest point in Ireland. Dont let the short elevation of 3400ft fool you. This hike is no joke! The first 2 miles are on a rock road that lead to the base of the mountain. From there it is 2 miles straight up. There are multiple routes that can be taken The Devil's Ladder is the most common however I can not speak to this route because we took the Brother O'Sheas Gully. This is a very steep twisting and turning up the side of the mountain. You are literally on the side of the mountain and there are loose rocks along the trail. There was a point where if I slipped or stepped to far off the edge I was going down the mountain. The cross at the top is very iconic at it symbolizes community. When we first arrived at the top the clouds were thick and we could not see the surrounding area however the clouds started to lift as we were there so we got a glimpse of the surrounding area. If you hike this mountain bring layers as the temperature is much different at the summit Vs the trailhead. Also there is a pond on the way up if you take brother O sheas Gully. We saw a few people skinny dipping in the pond while we were climbing up and we were already cold so those people must have been freezing. The hike down the Heavenly Gates was a challenge in itself so make sure to save some energy for the way down. The guides ended up bringing us down the bog which seemed to be off trail but the fastest way down so that was fun and interesting at the same time.

Day 5: This is where you see one of the most famous landmarks of Ireland the Cliffs of Moher. They are absolutely beautiful and stunning however there are lots of people in the tourist area. If you want a more isolated view and be away the crowds take the walk to Toolin this is a 4 mile walk that goes along the cliffs. Not a lot of people travel this road so it is very isolated. We took some awesome group pictures here. You do not need to walk the full 4 miles to Toolin unless you want to, even if you go 100 yards down the trail there will be significantly less people.

Day 6: This is one of the other national parks in Ireland Connemara National Park. We did a hike by the name of diamond hill. The reason for this name is due to it shimmering in the sunlight. This is another beautiful spot to see in Ireland. From the top of diamond hill you can see one of the nearby abbeys, the sea, and some of the farm land. Absolutely stunning. If you are not looking for a long hike there are different difficulty trails that lead to different sections but they all seem to offer spectacular views on a good day.

Day 7: This was a free day in Galway, there were optional excursions that were offered to us, one was kayaking and the other was to see a show called Trad on the Prom. I opted to do both of these. The kayaking was amazing, we kayaked down a slow moving river that lead into Ireland's largest lake. We kayaked passed cows grazing and we even kayaked through the reeds of the river which was so much fun. There was a break in the middle of the kayaking journey where the guides brought cookies and warm juice for us to snack on. In between the kayaking and Trad on the Prom I hit the streets of Galway. This is when I went into the local shops and restaurants. Later that evening we arrived at the Trad on the Prom where they were showcasing original music in Irish Tradition and we even got to see Cairde a famous Irish dancing team.

Day 8: This was a relatively easy day where we just biked the Great Western Greenway which used to be a railway. We learned about the history of the area and it was discussed how the pirate queen met with the Queen of England to discuss politics because the pirate queen controlled the island which led to the biggest port in Ireland (so badass). The story behind the pirate queen is "Grace O’Malley (a. 1530 - 1603) is one of the most famous pirates of all time. From the age of eleven, she forged a career in seafaring and piracy and was considered a fierce leader at sea and a shrewd politician on land. She successfully defended the independence of her territories at a time when much of Ireland fell under the English rule and is still considered today ‘the pirate queen of Ireland."

Day 9: Slieve League is described as the Cliffs of Moher except taller. Unfortunately it was clouded in when we reached the top but once we got underneath and could see the cliffs it was magnificent. There is a knife point on one of the trails but it is not required to complete the hike. I would be cautious on this trail, not sure if the guide took us off trail or it that was the trails but we were literally hiking down the side of it an not on a trail but it was a little knarly. We all slipped at some point and there were holes that just went straight down. But it was all fine and dandy.

Day 10: Today was mostly a bus ride however we did get a break when traveling and we stopped at the Titanic museum in Belfast. This is the grounds on which the Titanic was built and where some of Game of Thrones was filmed so we got to walk around the area. The museum of the Titanic is a very cool geometric building and the museum itself inside was very well put together.

Day 11: Today is the geological phenomena known as the Giant's Causeway. These are perfect hexagonal slabs of basalt. The myth behind it is "As legend has it, Northern Ireland was once home to a giant named Finn McCool (also called Fionn Mac Cumhaill). When another giant – Benandonner, across the Irish Sea in Scotland – threatened Ireland, Finn retaliated by tearing up great chunks of the Antrim coastline and hurling them into the sea. The newly-created path – the Giant’s Causeway – paved a route over the sea for Finn to reach Benandonner. However, this turns out to be a bad idea as Benandonner is a massive giant, much bigger than Finn! In order to save himself, Finn retreats to Ireland and is disguised as a baby by his quick-thinking wife. When Benandonner arrives, he sees Finn disguised as a baby and realises that if a mere baby is that big, the father must be far larger than Benandonner himself! Following this realisation, Benandonner rushes back to Scotland, tearing away as much of the Causeway as he can in his haste to put as much distance between Ireland and himself as possible. And thus, the myth of the Giant’s Causeway was born." These basalt columns go straight to the sea and can be as tall as 80ft tall! This is definitely one of the stops you do not want to miss.

Day 12: Was to fly home which many people I was traveling with got stuck when coming back so allow for extra time and flight cancelations do happen so try to have a back up plan if some of your flights fall through.

This was my first time flying out of the country and going to a new country on my own. Overall EF Ultimate Break made it very stress free, they did all the planning and booking all I needed to do was catch my flights and pay. There were times were I was running in the airport because my flight landed and my next flight was already boarding due to delays in flights not due to the company.

I would rate the Active Ireland Trip a 6 out of 5, the beauty of Ireland was spectacular, our tour director Gavin was amazing he was so helpful and understanding of any issues we had and would even join us for a drink at a local bar after and was just a blast, finally the people I met on this trip were spectacular. The accommodations and flights were fine, and a good mix between hotels and hostels.