Friday 6 June 2014

Day Trip to Dublin from Cambridge - June 2014


How about a day trip to Dublin without having to brave a Ryanair flight?  Sounds too good to be true.  But it isn’t!  And what’s even better is that the flight leaves from Cambridge Airport.  For us in the East of England this is just perfect.  For me, it was a forty minute drive to get to the airport – for a forty minute check in before the flight, which left at 09.10.  Park right outside the terminal – and for the summer the airport are offering free parking – and walk to the check in two minutes.

No queues, no fuss, no stress – lovely comfortable sofas to sit on and have a coffee with a maximum of fifty other people at a time.  The flights that leave here are on a Fokker 50 propeller plane, that take a maximum of fifty passengers.  In no time at all, the flight is called and we walk the fifty yards to the plane and board.  This is a full service flight, so drinks and snacks are also included, as well as baggage if you have any.  How is Ryanair sounding now??

The one hour flight was smooth, and we left a fairly dreary Cambridge in the comfort of our leather seats.  In a little under an hour we were landing at Dublin Airport – not quite the scene of tranquillity that was Cambridge Airport, but very smooth and slick.  In actual fact, you can use this service as part of a through fare to the USA, and complete all the US immigration in Dublin, and land at the domestic terminal in the states.

We left Dublin Airport for the City Centre – and luckily the weather was holding.  And so it should do in June!  We had a Dublin City Pass, which includes a shuttle service from the airport to the City, and entry into all sorts of places in the City.  Very good value for money.  At a little before 11.00am we were in the City, with the whole day ahead of us.  After a short wander around the streets around Grafton Street and Temple Bar, we made our way over the Halfpenny Bridge to have lunch at The Winding Stair.  Lovely food in a lovely typically Irish restaurant.

After lunch, we had tickets for the hop on hop off bus so we made our way to the Guinness Brewery, which is included in the City Pass.  This was busy!  But when in Dublin.....!!  We did the whole tour, and ended up in the Bar on the top floor to redeem our free pint of Guinness that is included in the entrance.  The poor bar tenders were pouring pints of Guinness like there was no tomorrow – I think a bus load of Japanese had arrived on the top floor at the same time as us – each one with a pattern of a shamrock on the top.  Nice touch!  Not a nice taste though.  Although I am sure the majority of the clientele surrounding me would disagree, as they were all quite happy downing their glass of the black stuff.  I can still say that I had a pint of Guinness – just didn’t drink it!


We then made our way back to the City and then on to the airport for the flight home.  Not quite the forty minute check in here – we did need to be there an hour and a half before the 19.10 flight back to Cambridge.  A very delightful hour on the flight back, and to top it all ten minutes after the wheels hit the runway I was back in my car and on the way home.  You can’t beat that