One-day-trips from Dublin

l.e.x.i

Hi,

I'm coming with a group of friends to Dublin for a week next month and was wondering which other Irish cities are worth a one-day-trip? Or better said, which are more interesting for a one day?

I was thinking of Cork, Galway and Belfast.. I know Belfast is in Northern Ireland

I've never been in Ireland before, so I'm taking any advise And I'll be returning to Dublin this summer so I will have time to explore it properly

cosmic

All three are quite a distance for just a day trip. Are you talking about driving there, seeing the city, and driving back all in the space of a day?

I'd have to say Belfast because it's the quickest drive of the three

l.e.x.i

Yes, something like that. But I was thinking of going by train..
and according to this http://www.irishrail.ie/your_journey/printed_timetables.asp it's a 3 hours journey. 2 hours for Belfast.

cem

I would recommend Galway although iv never been to Belfast.

You could get a non stop bus from Dublin City to Galway. I think it takes about 2.5 hours. I use GoBus frequently and find them very good. They have free Wifi and toilets on the buses.

I think there are walking tours you can do in Galway, although they may be seasonal. You could also do a tour from Galway to Connemara or to the Cliffs of Moher or even just stay in the city centre and walk around.

xia

Well, looking at those timetables you could have 8 hours in Galway with almost 6 hours on the train or 10 hours in Cork with 6 hours on the train or 10 hours in Belfast with around 4 hours on the train. That if you get the first and the last train that day.
And depending on where in Dublin you stay you have to take into account travelling to the train station. Connolly (Belfast route) is central, Heuston (Cork and Galway) not that central but the Luas helps.

So it's basically up to you if that's worth it. Or if you're better off going there when you have more time and can stay over night.

I've been to Galway several times and therefor probably prefer it over Cork and Belfast where I only spend hours;) But that's me and I liked both Cork and Belfast as well from what I saw.

southsiderosie

The last time I was in Ireland, I did a whirlwind 36-hour trip to Belfast. It was a fascinating city - I did the Black Taxi Tour, and just walked around on my own all over the city center and down by Queens. You can actually have the taxi tour pick you up at the train station and drop you off at a specific site afterwards (like the Crown Bar). It's a walkable city - it's quite easy to get down to Queens and the Botanic Gardens from the city center on foot - and there are little pieces of history that pop up everywhere. I even ended up stumbling into a photo exhibition on the Bombay Street attacks and it was amazing (http://www.belfastgalleries.com/article.aspx?art_id=2719) - the curator and I ended up chatting away (to be fair, I spent a lot of time chatting with random people, who were generally really friendly and nice).

I've done a day trip to Galway as well, and it is a cute town, but to be honest the highlight of my two months in Ireland was my trip to Belfast. It's small, and complicated and totally fascinating.

l.e.x.i

thanks a lot!

I was looking more for an advice regarding the city, not the traveling one, but all this helps

Flamed Diving

I'm from Cork, there is lots to see and it is small enough to see most of it by foot. What do you like doing when you visit a city?

MementoMori

l.e.x.i wrote: »

thanks a lot!

I was looking more for an advice regarding the city, not the traveling one, but all this helps

Don't know if I'd go just for the day especially if you're time is limited.
If you want to go on a day-trip there are other options besides the cities named

If I had to recommend one I'd say Belfast due to the shortest travel time factor.

Also you might get more info on what the cities have to offer in the relevant region forums.

l.e.x.i

Flamed Diving wrote: »

I'm from Cork, there is lots to see and it is small enough to see most of it by foot. What do you like doing when you visit a city?

Well, I like to see the most important monuments, museums, parks and the city centre.. I prefer to walk, but I will take a bus or a tram if there is something that interests me.

I really don't mind traveling 2 or 3 hours to get somewhere, even if I'll stay there only for a few hours.

I've read about this cities on the internet - wikipedia and some tourist sites, and they all seem very interesting and I will probably visit them all one day, but it's hard to choose which to visit first :pac:

thank you all for your advices, I will look at the sub forums too