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Spending a week in Dublin, Ireland (and general travel q's)
Raiden333
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So my friend invited me to come with him for a week in Dublin in May. Pretty excited, had some questions about the town itself and general questions as this is my first time traveling farther than California -> Washington state.
General:
1. How should I take money? I figured the easiest way would be to just bring my debit card, find a bank, and get some of my money drawn out and turned into Euros.
2. Any essentials I should bring for a transatlantic flight that I might not normally think of? My awesome friend is springing for us to fly first class, so we're going to be comfy, but suggestions are appreciated.
3. Is jet lag as bad as it's made out to be? Our flight is pretty well timed to not bother us, but I'm wondering if we're going to be off-kilter for the whole week from the time difference. Difference is 8 hours.
4. Can I bring booze back into the US if I find something awesome? I assume that if I can I'd have to check it, so what would be the best way to keep it safe?
Dublin specific:
A. What kind of electrical plugs do you folks use over there? Will I need a converter to charge my stuff?
B. This is more for people who have visited than live there... Is the Dublin Pass a good deal if we want to do a fair bit of tourist-y stuff? The Guinness storehouse, Jameson distillery, and Kilmainham Gaol are givens, and we'd probably check out the zoo if we got the pass... I'd love to check out some of the more cultural stuff, but might have trouble talking my buddy into it... Already it seems like it'd be paying for itself, but I have no idea how spread apart stuff is. Could we see a fair bit of the Dublin Pass stuff in 2-3 days?
C. Speaking of passes, is the "Freedom" bus pass worth the money, or would we be fine with the "Rambler" bus pass? We plan on using the busses as our primary way of getting around, I'm just sort of unclear on the difference.
D. Any really awesome stuff that never gets mentioned on "lists of stuff for tourists to do in Dublin"?
E. This is more for the locals... Any pubs/moderately priced restaurants we have to try while we're there? We're going to be staying here, and the closer the better. We'd also like to know if there are any pubs nearby there that are open after 11:30 in the week.
F. What's the coolest castle (or castles) in the Dublin area?
G. We might decide to take a day trip out of Dublin one of the days of our week there. Is there anything in the surrounding area that we should make a top priority to see?
Thanks for any answers.
General:
1. How should I take money? I figured the easiest way would be to just bring my debit card, find a bank, and get some of my money drawn out and turned into Euros.
2. Any essentials I should bring for a transatlantic flight that I might not normally think of? My awesome friend is springing for us to fly first class, so we're going to be comfy, but suggestions are appreciated.
3. Is jet lag as bad as it's made out to be? Our flight is pretty well timed to not bother us, but I'm wondering if we're going to be off-kilter for the whole week from the time difference. Difference is 8 hours.
4. Can I bring booze back into the US if I find something awesome? I assume that if I can I'd have to check it, so what would be the best way to keep it safe?
Dublin specific:
A. What kind of electrical plugs do you folks use over there? Will I need a converter to charge my stuff?
B. This is more for people who have visited than live there... Is the Dublin Pass a good deal if we want to do a fair bit of tourist-y stuff? The Guinness storehouse, Jameson distillery, and Kilmainham Gaol are givens, and we'd probably check out the zoo if we got the pass... I'd love to check out some of the more cultural stuff, but might have trouble talking my buddy into it... Already it seems like it'd be paying for itself, but I have no idea how spread apart stuff is. Could we see a fair bit of the Dublin Pass stuff in 2-3 days?
C. Speaking of passes, is the "Freedom" bus pass worth the money, or would we be fine with the "Rambler" bus pass? We plan on using the busses as our primary way of getting around, I'm just sort of unclear on the difference.
D. Any really awesome stuff that never gets mentioned on "lists of stuff for tourists to do in Dublin"?
E. This is more for the locals... Any pubs/moderately priced restaurants we have to try while we're there? We're going to be staying here, and the closer the better. We'd also like to know if there are any pubs nearby there that are open after 11:30 in the week.
F. What's the coolest castle (or castles) in the Dublin area?
G. We might decide to take a day trip out of Dublin one of the days of our week there. Is there anything in the surrounding area that we should make a top priority to see?
Thanks for any answers.
Raiden333 on
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Posts
Blarney Castle and the surrounding Druid Forest is really cool
Eat pub food, seriously, it can be amazing
Have fun you lucky bastard
3. You'll be fucked for 24 hrs
QEDMF xbl: PantsB G+
It will be a little rough regardless, but I was so excited to be in Ireland when I went that I could have probably been up for another day if I needed to
My friend and I are very used to pulling all nighters, going to bed slightly early and sleeping for 10 hours the next day, and waking up right as rain. Sometimes you lose track of time when there are good games going on, we all know how it is.:P
Anyway, we leave California on Saturday morning, and we arrive Sunday morning in Ireland. Would it be smartest for us to just skip sleep until Sunday night?
3. Jet lag isn't too bad; it's just a matter of being disciplined and going to bed when the Irish clocks tell you to, rather than when your internal clock does. If your flight is during Irish nighttime, try to sleep.
A. You're definitely going to need a converter. These can usually be purchased in airports, though. Here's what Irish plugs look like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BS_1363
As for jet lag, what I try and do is wake up my normal time at home, or at least as close as I can depending on the flight, then don't sleep until bed time at the destination. So for example, if I left from NY i'd wake up at 11am like normal then just stay up until 2am Ireland time and sleep till 11am Ireland time. Always works for me, and the people the travel with me... though it's a little rough near the end.
As for the power adapter, they use this stupid thing
They use 220/240V so you're gonna need a plug adapter at least, perhaps a voltage changer depending on what you are bringing. Some stuff like SOME laptops and international cell phones are dual voltage and can work without issue, other stuff not so much. Check on your chargers/plugs for stuff, it should say "input voltage: 100~240v" if it says anything but that you might want to get a voltage converter.
http://www.eaglecreek.com/accessories/security_id/UnderCover-Deluxe-Security-Belt-40021/
I had a huge post (took an hour to write) and then my login timed out and *poof* it died in the interwebs.
I stayed in Dublin for 3 months, for places to go you need to see:
St. Patrick's Cathedral
Church of Christ (both for architectural excellence)
Croke Park (Gaelic sports are held there)
Grafton Street
St. Steven's Green
For the "out of town" trip, roughly 40 miles/68 km, go to Wicklow ("Garden of Ireland") and go the Powerscourt Gardens. It was an absolutely amazing experience and everything there is just so beautiful. I can upload some pictures and post them later if you want them.
Sorry, I really had a ton of info but I'm at work and now pissed that it didn't load.
Also,
Fantasma has the right idea, but there is one you can wear around your neck and under your shirt, it worked really well.
Cptn Pants is right too, you can get the adaptors at Radio Shack, just tell them you need one for the EU. Make them explain to you all the different connectors as well, there are 5 or 6.
If you want some more info later just let me know and hopefully I can provide that (or pictures) when I get home later.
For your flight, if you are flying first class on a major carrier it is likely going to be a vacation in the air. You will have on demand movies, free alchohol, decent food, plug in slots for laptop, etc. I would bring a book but best bet would be to get on, have breakfast, watch a movie, then sleep for a couple hours.
For the plugs, you can buy an adaptor pretty much anywhere that sells even basic travel supplies. I bought a universal one at target that has worked everywhere I've been in Europe and Asia for like 20 bucks, if that. Make sure no one talks you into a convertor, you don't need that, it would be in the 70 to 80 dollar ranger.
Any other questions let me know ...
The whole plane thing, the flight is insanely long and the movie nearly always sucks so make sure you have something that can entertain you ... or you can sleep for long periods of time.
Ummm, that's all I've got for now though.
Sorry the pics are so small ... if you want bigger ones I can try to redo, but you can really see how pretty it is from those.