A week in Ireland. An Irish vacation adventure with my best friend, her husband, and mine. A fearless foursome ready for anything! Exploring the country one day at a time!
Like most of our vacations, this one also started with a great travel deal. We grabbed a travel package through Great Value Vacations. For $719 a person we received round-trip airfare from Atlanta, 6 nights in a Villa in Adare, and a rental car.
This was actually the first travel deal like this we bought. (Since then we’ve used them to travel to China through Rewards Travel China and are planning a trip to Iceland with Icelandair.)
As far as the international flight, we flew Delta from Atlanta to Dublin. Delta isn’t my favorite airline, especially when it’s a lengthy flight. At least for me, the seats aren’t as comfortable, and they are smaller than other airlines. I felt like I was basically sitting on top of the person next to me. No sleeping on this flight!
We landed, cruised through customs, and headed toward the rental car counter.
Our reservation was through Dan Dooley. It didn’t seem like we could get anymore Irish than that! Dooley wasn’t the only rental company to choose from at the airport, but it turned out to be the only one with a line! Lee, and her husband, Kevin, took care of the rental, since they were going to be the ones doing all of the driving. Kevin even thought ahead and got his international driver’s license! It turns out he didn’t need it, but it looks impressive!
Kevin and Lee decided to upgrade the car since they were going to be driving on the other side of the road. The upgrade gave us automatic so they wouldn’t have to be consumed with shifting and using a clutch. They also got insurance to cover any dings or accidents. (Obviously this will add to the cost of the trip. However it will give you piece of mind and could save you a lot of money in the long run.)
Pro Tip: If you’re renting a car, make sure you know the terms of the rental agreement, and everything the insurance policy covers. For example, in Iceland insurance doesn’t cover a car door ripped off by the wind!
We loaded into the car and took off. Aaaaahhhh! We were in Ireland!!!
We drove out of Dublin and headed toward our Villa in Adare … and my eyes immediately became heavy. I struggled to keep them open. I mean I couldn’t even pry them open! No idea how Kevin stayed conscience to get us down the road.
After driving about halfway across the country, we decided to stop for some breakfast and stumbled on this place, The Gandon Inn. Talk about a great find! According to its website, the Inn is a former coach house from the 18th century that is now a restaurant and hotel.
My three traveling mates ordered full Irish breakfasts. I decided to order a sandwich that sounded pretty good. When it arrived, it was massive and basically a full Irish on a brioche bun. Complete with black and white pudding, if that’s on your “must try” list. (P.S. it is if you’re eating your way through 1000 Foods to Eat Before You Die, just sayin’.)
After we fueled up on our first fabulous meal in Ireland, we fueled up the car and continued to Adare.
The cutest little Irish village greeted us when we arrived. I seriously fell in love at first sight!
There’s a great little main street, complete with pubs, stores and thatched cottages. The cottages date back to the 1820s. Some are now stores and others are restaurants.
After driving around a little, we headed to Adare Manor and our Villa for the week.
We we’re SHOCKED at what greeted us!
We drove through a massive golf course that was torn up and under construction. Apparently crews are overhauling the area in hopes of hosting the Ryder Cup in 2026.
We continued to drive and found the place to check in. They handed over the key and pointed to our home for the next few days.
We opened the door and couldn’t believe what we saw. We basically had a two story home … complete with office, laundry room, family room and a full kitchen. Upstairs were three bedrooms with huge bathrooms. I could have been happy with just handling out at the villa for the week!
Jeff decided to unpack and the rest of us grabbed a nap. Mine turned into a lengthy one!
Several hours later Kevin and Lee lured us out of bed. They’d already been out and about exploring all Adare had to offer. Leave it to them, they found the perfect place for dinner!
We walked into Sean Collins and Sons and my stomach started growling. It smelled AMAZING!! I ordered a steak. It was perfect. It came with fries and this yummy peppercorn sauce. I seriously could’ve licked the plate. It was so good I’m not even sure what anyone else ordered!
We enjoyed a round or two of Guinness with the meal. As we sat near the roaring fire and talked about the coming days, a group of gentlemen walked in, sat down and started playing Irish music. We listened for about an hour … And it turned out to be the perfect ending to our first day in Ireland!