In true fashion, I’m recapping a trip about a month after my return. Life has been crazy busy (in the best way possible) since I’ve gotten back to Philly, so I’m just getting around to sorting through the thousands of photos that I took while we were there. Anyway, as I touched on in my previous post, this trip was inspired by my cousin’s wedding that took place in Crawfordsburn, Northern Ireland. Of course, since my mom, my brother, and I have always wanted to travel to Ireland, we decided to turn it into an 11-day adventure!
We flew into Dublin and out of Belfast as it made the most sense logistically. While we were there, we visited the cities of Dublin, Galway, and Belfast. Additionally, we took insanely awesome day trips out of both Galway and Belfast. I must say, for such a tiny country, Ireland has so much to offer! When I return one day, I would like to travel along the south coast as that was something that we were not able to do given our timeframe. Long story short: Ireland is absolutely stunning and its people are nothing short of amazing.
One thing that I did not expect was the stark differences between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. For starters, Northern Ireland has a heavy British influence. Meanwhile, the Republic of Ireland has a culture that is uniquely its own. Further, while Northern Ireland’s currency is the pound, the Republic of Ireland’s currency is the euro. Lastly, Northern Ireland’s predominant religion is Protestantism, whereas the Republic of Ireland’s predominant religion is Catholicism. They really and truly are two distinctly different countries.
Here’s our itinerary in a nutshell:
PHL to DUB
(Day 1)
↓
Dublin, Ireland
(Days 2 & 3)
Duration: 2 days, 2 nights
Shelter: Airbnb
↓
2.5 hour train ride
↓
Galway, Ireland
(Days 4 & 5)
Duration: 2 days, 2 nights
Shelter: hotel
↓
6 hour train ride
↓
Belfast, Northern Ireland
(Days 6 & 7)
Duration: 3 days, 2 nights
Shelter: Airbnb
↓
30 minute taxi ride
↓
Crawfordsburn, Northern Ireland
(Days 8 & 9)
Duration: 2 days, 2 nights
Shelter: Airbnb
↓
30 minute taxi ride
↓
Belfast, Northern Ireland
(Day 10)
Duration: 1 day, 1 night
Shelter: Airbnb
↓
BHD to PHL
(Day 11)
Stay tuned for a detailed post about each stop of our journey! I can’t wait to share it with you.
In Wanderlust We Trust 
Love it! Beautiful!