Tag: Dublin Travel

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Ireland's Top Tourist Destination Has Nothing To Do With Beer

June 8, 2011 at 4:00 PM | by | Comments (2)

It's very easy to stereotype Ireland travel—to say nothing of Ireland itself—as a series of pubs, drunkenness, and the occasional potato farm. We know it's easy because that's almost entirely the picture that Tourism Ireland painted when they did their last social media campaign.

We wrote at the time that the image was a bit unfair, and that neither the country nor the tourists who travel there should be stereotyped. Then we highlighted Ireland, with its gorgeous scenary and summer cultural offerings, as one of the places where you should seriously consider spending your tax refund. Not to give away the ending, but not only were we were demonstrably right, but now there are numbers to prove it.

Figures came out over the weekend on Ireland's top tourism destinations. Wouldn't you know it, and despite the best efforts of frat boys everywhere, the Guinness Storehouse did not take the top stop. That was reserved for the impressive Dublin Zoo, with its 59 acres of plants and animals (by way of comparison, our beloved San Diego Zoo, a widely acknowledged global leader in conservation, clocks in at 40 acres).

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President Obama Gives In to the Touristy Side of Dublin, Ireland

May 24, 2011 at 4:35 PM | by | Comment (1)

What's the single most stereotypical thing you can think of doing as a tourist in Dublin, Ireland? The odds are pretty great that your answers has something to do with either drinking or tracing your Irish roots. The good news is, President Barack Obama thinks the same way and spent his official visit to Ireland over the weekend throwing back Guinness and visiting distant relatives. Of course he also met with government officials and gave a speech to over 25,000 people, but all that has been overshadows by the beer clink heard 'round the world.

Ireland was the first stop on Obama's six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. He followed it up by calling on Queen Elizabeth in London, and will round out his tour by rolling into France and Poland for more official political meetings. Michelle is actually along on this trip—that's her little Guinness up in the left of the above photo—and while Barack is busy at the Group of 8 meeting in France, we hope MObama has enough time for a toast of her own; a little "a votre sante" and Côtes du Rhône.

[Photo: AP]

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Tourism Ireland Unveils Farmville Knockoff To Make You Want To Visit Ireland

March 21, 2011 at 3:11 PM | by | Comments (0)

We've been pretty skeptical about airlines and tourism boards that go all-in on social media, the fear being that "building something shiny" gets in the way of "designing something useful."

There are productive ways of using social media—Twitter for customer service, Facebook for coupon campaigns, etc—and then there's what happens when companies build something just because everyone else is doing it. Creating Facebook games in particular has become a problem, with some travel companies doing very well and others not so much.

The newest attempt at social gaming comes from Tourism Ireland, which hopes to harness the power of Facebook to get tourists to the Emerald Isle. The game, dubbed "Ireland Town," is built as an explicit Farmville knockoff. Users are tasked with creating their own Irish town in between visiting tourist attractions and defeating challenges. Those who get through are entered in a contest for a four-night stay in Ireland.

And here's where things begin to head south.

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Last-Minute St. Patrick's Day Deals to Boston and Dublin

March 4, 2011 at 9:00 AM | by | Comments (0)

St. Patrick's Day is less than two weeks away, so now's the time to make plans. But instead of hitting up your local pub for a beer-fueled evening—which is what you do every weekend anyway—hit up an authentic Irish city, whether it be locally in Boston or in the motherland in Dublin.

Check out some last-minute St. Patrick's Day deals after the jump.

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01-01-11 Travel Deals: Do Dublin for $399

Where: Dublin, Ireland
December 27, 2010 at 3:43 PM | by | Comments (0)

We're a bit skeptical about 1/1/11 being a lucky day, but we look for any reason to travel and the new year is as good of an excuse as any. We'd feel pretty lucky scoring a last-minute trip to Dublin that starts at $399 for four nights.

Aer Lingus is offering the deal, which includes hotel and round-trip airfare on the airline. You'll shack up in the Regency Hotel in Ireland's capital city during your stay.

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Three Destinations to Be Thinking About for Father's Day Trips

May 28, 2010 at 8:38 AM | by | Comments (0)

There's only so many ugly ties and lame golf-related paraphernalia you can buy dad for Father's Day before it becomes a joke. We don't know about you, but we're always stuck on what to get our pops, since he doesn't really wear ties or golf anyway. But we realized that the perfect gift for any dad is a vacation. Who doesn't like a getting away? This year, treat him to a Guinness...in Dublin.

For our Father's Day travel picks, follow us after the jump.

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Losing Time in Dublin, Part 4: Sandcastles, Real Castles, and Thin Lizzy

Where: Dublin, Ireland
August 22, 2009 at 6:17 PM | by | Comment (1)

As we approached our last day in Dublin, we wondered if we had anything left to see. After all, we'd hit the high points in the visitors guide. But I'm glad we had that extra day, because it was just the kind of leisurely vacation day we needed after all that running around.

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Losing Time in Dublin, Part 3: A Long Walk to St. James's Gate

Where: Dublin, Ireland
August 22, 2009 at 5:19 PM | by | Comments (0)

We woke up at around 7:00 a.m. on Monday morning and went to the hotel fitness center, which was well-appointed, and then got cleaned up and headed out for a day of hardcore Dublin sightseeing. Today was the day we would explore the north side of the River Liffey, so we started out with breakfast and coffee at a joint called Panem, just across the river on Lower Ormond Quay. The coffee was good and the frittata was delicious, even though they didn't heat it up.

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Losing Time in Dublin, Part 2: A Tale of Two Menus

Where: Dublin, Ireland
August 22, 2009 at 3:20 PM | by | Comments (0)

We decided to visit a historic old pub called O'Donoghue's, which is famous for helping launch the Irish folk group The Dubliners. We took a table in the outdoor courtyard. The weather was steadily improving, and there was what the BBC forecaster called a "Cornish sun" in the sky, burning brightly but veiled by gray and white clouds. It felt like spring.

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Losing Time in Dublin, Part 1: Beginning at the Pub

Where: Dublin, Ireland
August 22, 2009 at 2:13 PM | by | Comments (0)

We've been back in New York a full day now, so I'd better get my thoughts on Dublin down before they fade away like that last pesky hour of jet lag. After all, time in the Irish capital can seem a blur, and not just because of the ever-flowing pints of stout. It's a city of sensory overload, with so much to behold that it takes a concerted effort not to bump into people on the sidewalk. Okay, the Guinness may be a contributing factor, but Dublin impressed us and exceeded our expectations at every turn, and the five days we spent there were as fleeting as they were fun.

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Where To Find WiFi Hotspots in Dublin (But They Aren't Always Free)

Where: Dublin
July 30, 2009 at 4:45 PM | by | Comments (0)

For power internet users like us, a week in Dublin can cause some serious withdrawal and cost some serious dough. Eircom, the largest telecommunications operator in Ireland, offers over 1,000 WiFi hotspots in Ireland including most McDonald’s and most of Dublin’s public phone booths. The catch is that you have to pay in advance to access them.

At some hubs you will be prompted to make a payment when you open a browser, like in the Dublin Airport which costs around €3 for 30 minutes, others won't let you in at all without being a subscriber.

But when you take into consideration how much most hotels charge for in room WiFi, (we paid €20 a day at the Hilton Dublin Hotel for a connection equal to dial up in 1999) its a bargain.

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