of castles & cliffs: a photo essay

Aside from Dublin, it’s a safe bet that the two biggest Ireland musts for most travelers are, arguably, Blarney Castle and the Cliffs of Moher. This is why, after our quick tour of Cork, it was back in the car to hit up these landmarks en route to our three nights in Galway.

To be perfectly honest, pre-Blarney Castle, I was 100% take or leave the entire experience. I definitely had no desire to kiss the stone (namely due to articles like this), and pictures of the castle itself didn’t knock my proverbial socks off.

Post-Blarney Castle? I’m, like, 60% take or leave the entire experience.

The inside of the castle and the pinnacle pebble peck was about as lackluster as I expected. The grounds themselves and the views from the top of the castle, on the other hand? Gorgeous.

For this reason alone, I would say it’s a worthy stop. However, for the price tag (€12/adult, €10/student and people masquerading as such >>this girl<<), I would say… don’t go out of your way. If you’re driving in the general direction, sure! Stop! Have a stroll through the Poison Garden! No seriously, it’s a thing. Otherwise… it’s ok, there are plenty of other castles.

The Cliffs of Moher on the other hand? YEP, yes, beautiful.

AND we saw a whale!

…What, you don’t see him? Oh, right, that’s because my timing was COMICALLY bad and I missed him on camera every. single. time. What can I say, I like to live in the moment and not behind a lens (yeah, no I’m just a moron.) Anyway! Cliffs of Moher: go to them. You will not be disappointed.

And! Tickets for this show are €6/adult and €4/students and scammers. Ok and really, I’m joking about being a scammer. I’m on a student budget too, here.

And that’s that! The process for visiting both sites is pretty self explanatory, so no real tips and tricks to share. We were happy we brought our own lunch to the Cliffs, and it is most certainly very feasible to do them both in one day — a concern we did have initially.

As a reminder, we happily rented a car with Budget, who was hugely interactive on Twitter! This is a forgotten bonus of travel nowadays, but the team was on hand whenever we had any questions. And! If they couldn’t help for whatever reason, they connected us to plenty of people who could.

Next in the Ireland escapades: to Galway!

xo!

the romantic

– As a legally required reminder, Budget provided us with a generous media rate, but all opinions are, as always, my own.