Rating Dublin’s Popular Tourist Attractions

There are a few places in Dublin that tend to make most people’s itinerary the first time around. There are a lot of famous sites like the Guinness Storehouse you’ll be recommended to visit, required to pay a few Euro for, and all the while be unsure of whether your time is worth each one. I was in Dublin for the 2010 Hoscars and arrived a few days early to do some research for a few upcoming posts and put all of these places on my to-do list.

These are my impressions and if you have limited time in Dublin, this post might help you trim down or add a few items to your travel itinerary.

The Guinness Storehouse

This isn’t the building where they brew the Guinness but it is Ireland’s most popular tourist destination. You won’t actually get to see the process of Guinness being made but if you love the drink you’ll enjoy learning about the history and culture of Guinness. Those who aren’t as enthusiastic about Guinness or beer in general might not find it as interesting for the 15 Euro admission. Buy your tickets online in advance and you’ll save 10% off the price (and cut to the head of the lines).

Dublinia and The Viking World

Dublin has a Viking heritage you can learn about in Dublinia. It costs about 6 Euro to get in and you’ll get to wander around on your own through the museum. It’s not visually impressive but there is a lot of interesting historical information along the walls and exhibits if you’re wiling to take the time to read them. Perhaps the most interesting part is the archeological artifacts, bones, and interactive exhibit on the top floor – great for children and archeology fans.

Christ Church Cathedral

Next to Dublinia, entrance to the Cathedral costs another 3-6 Euro, depending whether or not you can get a student discount. (Looking like a student seemed to be good enough in most cases.) The church is over 1,000 years old but isn’t worth the price of admission. There are plenty of other old churhces that are visually stunning in Dublin and most you can just walk in for free. You might actually get to see the church in action and get a few pictures before you leave.

The Temple Bar

There is no cover charge to get into this famous Dublin pub, located at the corner of Temple Lane. There is live music from 2pm until late and the beer prices aren’t too much more than in other parts of town (6 Euro). It’s not a place to drink the night away as it’s crowded and there are plenty of other nice bars in the area and all over town (a ratio of 1:495) but if you’re strolling around The Temple Bar is a nice place to stop by for a pint. Andrew The Brooklyn Nomad also suggested the Brazen Head Pub which is a good alternative.

Trinity College

College campuses can make for good, free, travel opportunities in many cities and Trinity College is in the middle of Dublin a good location to stop by. While you’re walking around taking pictures, stop by the Science Gallery (free), the Douglas Hyde Gallery (free), and the Old Library (about 8 Euro). The campus is also right next to St. Stephens Green park, a nice walk to add to your day.

Kilmainham Gaol

A large unoccupied prison (now museum) that costs 6 Euro to get in but is a fascinating historical experience. The price of admission comes with a guided tour and you’ll to learn that the prison wasn’t segregated, it was built in 1796, or that prisoners were sent here to die at Kilmainham Gaol for their nationalist ideals among other crimes.

Dublin is a nice city to wander around and has its fair share of touristic destinations. I don’t think any of these places will disappoint particularly if you’ve got a slight inclination toward any of them. There’s also the Old Jamison Distillery and a host of other museums and national buildings to visit in addition to the over 1,000 pubs in the city.

[photos by: (2nd photo) Shadowgate, * mario *, ZaNiaC, Sean Munson]

Photo Essay: Ecuador’s Crazy New Year’s Celebration

This is a guest post by Troy Floyd, a photographer currently living in Quito, Ecuador. Troy got in touch with me recently and I thought his pictures really bring the unusual Ecuador New Year’s celebrations to life. You can read more about Troy, his travels, and see more of his photography at FOGG Odyssey.

Burning the viejos at mid-night

This year I spent New Year’s in Ecuador and found a new celebration and tradition for bringing it in. I don’t know for sure how Ecuadorians took a simple countdown to 12 o’clock and turned it into an excuse for men to dress as women, to take fireworks to the extreme, and to burning of viejos (dummies) as a way of celebrating a new year… but they do. In all of Latin America there is no country that I know of that does it like Ecuador does.

Fireworks going off at midnight

The Streets Of Ecuador At New Year’s

Men dress as women to represent the widows from the year and then beg for money on the streets the night of New Year Eve. It has somehow been taken to a new degree (like all holidays) and now involves men dressed as sleazy as they can, group coordinated dances and a no-holds-bar of not letting anyone by without paying. One can’t walk down the street in any major city on New Year’s night without having a pocket full of change. They guys (I mean ladies) even go as far as setting up roadblocks to stop traffic and they stop everyone. Taxis and buses don’t get by either without throwing a few coins and even seen a ladyboy get inside a bus one time and sit on the drivers lap until he gave him a quarter.

Two guys dressed up as ladies and working the street for booze money!

The tradition now is that the ladyboys (who are straight macho Latin men any other day of the week) is to collect as much money as they can, then go buy as much booze as they can with the bounty. They will party until daylight or until they pass out.

I don’t think this kid was even 14 years old but I guess everyone has a right to get drunk on New Years, so he was out trying to collect money as well.

Viejos

Another part of the New Years tradition in Ecuador is to burn a viejo. It’s basically a dummy filled with wood chips that can be burnt for good or for bad. That night we burned 3 viejos, each good and representing friends I knew. We saw a lot of Michael Jacksons being burned, as I assume they love him and because of his death last year. There were also a ton of politicians being burned and most weren’t for good, as a lot of Ecuadorians are pissed about the current president in Ecuador (as well as Hugo Chavez from Venezuela).

A City Ablaze

Fireworks start blazing at 11:00 pm and don’t stop until about 1:30 am.  It was amazing and I loved getting the photos of them bursting over the city but you would never see this in the USA. I was surprised that 1/2 the city wasn’t burnt down by the next day, as I saw numerous kids (anywhere from 5-10 years old) walking around on their own with Roman-candles shooting them in the streets.

Maybe 1/2 of the shots cleared the buildings as I seen a lot of the kids just flat out pointing them at buildings and viejos burning. Even if there was a fire I doubt anyone cared, as I almost guarantee the fire department was as drunk as everyone else.

I must have seen a 100 Michael Jacksons on the street that night...but this was the best show of the night hands-down! Thriller!!!!

Mask for the viejos. They cost about $2 each and are hand-made.

The viejos without a mask. These can vary from $5 for a small one to $20 for a full size one.

My girlfriend doing the same but in all, honesty, I don’t think we were “directly” linked to any fires (or any that can be proven).

Amigo blasting off a 50 count Roman-candle, thus helping to torch the town!

If you’re ever near Ecuador during the Christmas holidays, make sure you stop off and try to stay for the New Year’s celebration.  You won’t regret it and you won’t ever see anything else like it… PROMISE!

Troy, thank you very much for sharing your pictures with us. You can see more of Troy’s photos from New Year’s on his website FOGG Odyssey.

T-roy is taking an extended holiday from being responsible. Quitting his 6-figure salary job that was killing him with 12hr work days, he decided that this wasn’t the life. He moved to Thailand and spent 3 months living a humble backpackers life and loved the experience so much he kept going. He now resides in Ecuador doing photography work while running his own travel blog: www.foggodyssey.com.

D’olier Chambers Dublin, Ireland

Dublin is a very photogenic city although I couldn’t do it justice. (My pictures looked much better on the back of my Casio Exilim digital camera.) I was in town attending the Hoscars but arrived a few days early to explore. I happened to capture this picture while I was lost trying to get from one end of the city to the other and took it on a whim. The streets tend to curve and names change from one block to the next…plus I’m hopelessly terrible with directions.

D’olier Chambers was built in 1891 by a tobacco company but now houses the Mona Lisa Restaurant on the first floor. I’ll be writing more about Dublin next week, which is a fun city to wander around; until then you can see some more of my photos from Dublin here.

The Book That Continues To Inspire My Travels

Reading and travel are two of my passions and it was fun to be able to put them together in a recent guest post I wrote about the book Long Way Round. It was a pleasure to write How A Long Way Round Shaped Travel for A Traveler’s Library about how this particular book influenced my travels.

I originally heard about the trip (which book is based on) in a magazine my uncle handed me in 2003. The trip was still in the planning stages but it had me hooked and lusting for the road. I actually kept the magazine and still have it as a reminder of the joys of traveling, which can be easy to forget in the modern world.

A Traveler’s Library is one of my regular reads and if you love books and travel it’s an excellent site to keep up on. I hope that you’ll read my guest post How A Long Way Round Shaped Travel and check out some of Vera’s other wonderful posts.

[photo by: Fred Kranich]

Travel Blog Success Launched This Week

World traveler Dave Lee blogged his way around the world in 2007 and is the founder of GoBackpacking.com and MedellinLiving.com (both nominated for 2010 Bloggies). On Monday he launched Travel Blog Success, a community for those looking to improve their travel blogs and potentially use them to earn money for traveling.

More travelers are becoming interested in travel blogging, particularly as a way of earning income to fund part of their travels. Travel Blog Success is a membership site that consists of 12 core lessons ranging from creating a travel blog, the technical details of maintaining a website, and managing a travel blog while you actually travel.

Who Is Travel Blog Success For?

Travel Blog Success isn’t for the casual writer but those of you looking to turn your new or existing travel blogs into a more professional outlet or earn a side income blogging. Dave doesn’t promise that you’ll triple your readership or make thousands of dollars but Travel Blog Success can help your travel blog beyond more than just the 12 core lessons.

• An active community and forum where you can meet other travel bloggers, ask questions, and get advice about blogging and travel.
• Podcasts and audio interviews with other experienced travel bloggers.

Travel Blog Success is a membership site that runs $75 for premium membership and access to all of the lessons, forums, and audio interviews. Dave has pulled together some of travel blogging’s best minds and put together a valuable resource if you’re serious about travel blogging.

You can read more on my full review of Travel Blog Success over on my other blog, Travel Blog Advice.

The Best Comments Of The Month: January 2010

I’d like to thank all of you for commenting and bringing each of my posts to life. These are just some of the best comments of the past month.

• Although I was able to convince Monica to freeze her ass off, I don’t think Heather quite believes The Blue Lagoon is as warm as I say it is.

• Greg Stock recommends Cambodia and the temples around Siem Reap as places to visit on a weak dollar and David reminds us to be flexible.

• Barbara left a ton of useful information about planning an RTW that you should read if you are going to travel around the world.

• I really liked Shannon’s vision board concept on setting travel resolutions.

• You can start to learn how to take a motorcycle trip around the world and connect with like minds by reading Johnny Vagabond’s recommendations.

• Although I personally loved it, I agree with Akila and can see how the Guinness Storehouse wouldn’t make this list.

• Luke says you’ll fill up your backpack no matter what size it is.

• Go for the smaller hostels says Mark H.

I appreciate your comments, thoughts, and insights on each post, thank you!

[photos by: Roberto Berlim]

The 2010 Hoscars Award Ceremony

For the past 8 years, HostelWorld has recognized the top 10 hostels worldwide with the best reviews on its website with the annual Hoscars Awards Ceremony (HOStelworld Customers Annual Ratings). I was invited by HostelWorld to attend this year’s event last week at The Button Factory in Dublin, Ireland. The Hoscars is essentially a big party to honor the hostels that are ranked the highest in a number of categories like Most Improved, Cleanest, and Best Staff in additional to the top 10 overall worldwide.

The Hostel Owners

I was surprised to see how many young hostel owners and staff there were, many of them current or former backpackers themselves. They were very keen on maintaining and improving upon their reputations in their respective categories and the other hostels not on any of the lists were looking toward 2011. The hostel owners and staff take the reviews of their hostels seriously and the Hoscars seem to benefit hostels and hostelers alike.

The Top 10 Hostels Worldwide

I’ll introduce you a bit more to these hostels later in the week, which are overwhelmingly based in Europe. The results were based on over a million user reviews of 23,000 hostels featured on HostelWorld.

1. Traveller’s House – Lisbon, Portugal
2. Rossio Hostel – Lisbon, Portugal
3. Living Lounge Hostel – Lisbon, Portugal
4. Academy Hostel – Florence, Italy
5. Carpe Noctem – Budapest, Hungary
6. The Riverhouse Backpackers – Cardiff, Wales (Also voted best staff. Find out why in this Guardian article by Dixe Wills.)
7. Lisbon Lounge Hostel – Lisbon, Portugal
8. Greg & Tom Hostel – Krakow, Poland
9. The Naughty Squirrel Backpackers Hostel – Riga, Latvia
10. Lisboa Central Hostel – Lisbon, Portugal

I would like to have seen hostels representing a wider global reach. While Europe is certainly a very popular area of the world for backpackers, I’m sure there are excellent and unique hostels from other parts of the world that simply didn’t get enough volume of votes.

The HostelWorld Hostel Conference

The Hoscars were only one part of a 2-day HostelWorld hostel conference revolving around how hostel owners can better use social media to engage travelers. The discussions revolved around what travelers want (i.e. booking very last minute and family rooms) and accommodating the newest backpacking nationalities (Brazilians are climbing the list fast).

Hostel Feedback

Often travelers don’t regard hostels as businesses and neglect to leave feedback online or in person during and after their stays. I tried to speak with as many of the 400 hostel owners in attendance as I could and almost all seemed receptive to comments and complaints – but noted that backpackers in general don’t make their concerns known immediately.

That the top hostels are recognized both globally and locally by events like the HostelWorld Hoscars pushes the receptive hostel industry in the right direction, opens up budget travel to more people, and improves it for current backpackers.

Backpacking Basics Part 5: The Backpacker’s Dictionary

This is the fifth part of 5 in a series of backpacking basics. You can catch up with Part 1 (What Is Backpacking?), Part 2 (Picking The Right Backpack), Part 3 (What Is A Hostel?), and Part 4 (Where To Start Backpacking) if you missed them.

All subgroups have their own lingo, terms that help them bond. Small insiders that evolve, live, and die within a community much like backpackers. These are just a small number of the backpacking terms and acronyms you may come across. There are plenty of local and regional words these are just some of the basics.

Border Run

Backpackers almost always travel on tourist visas. Typically if you’re a citizen of the United States, Canada, or a Western European nation you can enter most places for 3-6 months and get a visa stamp as you enter most countries. You may decide to stay longer, so one way to ‘reset’ the tourist visa is to go to the closest border for a day or even a few hours. Technically you’ve left and when you reenter you get a  new visa for 3 months (for example).

• Keep in mind that border runs don’t always work and if you do too many in the same place you lessen your odds of getting back in.

Full Moon Party

On every full moon in Ko Pha Ngan in Thailand there is a massive party where thousands of backpackers gather to drink the night away. Below is a video that will give you a better idea about what it’s like and if a full moon party is your sort of backpacking experience.

There are “full moon” parties in other parts of the world but this one is where the term came from.

Gap Year

A common term especially in the UK and Australia, a “gap year” is often what’s referred to as the time between high school and university, high school and a “real job”, or university and the “real world”. It’s in this gap year that many Europeans take an extended period of time to travel extensively around the world.

• In the US the term career break is used many times in place of gap year.

RTW

I’ve written more about what is an RTW but basically it’s a trip around the world in one shot. If you want to follow some RTWers getting ready for their trip, search for them on Twitter using the #RTWsoon hash tag.

Travel Blog

It’s not really a backpacking term but it seems like every backpacker now has a travel blog. I’ve got 4 myself and here’s a list of many others. If you’re looking for some advice on travel blogging you can read my other site Travel Blog Advice or David Lee’s Travel Blog Success (coming soon).

Other Basic Acronyms and Terms

• Backpacking – A term with a loose definition, not everyone agreed with my definition of what is backpacking.
• Hostel – What is a hostel has the basic information you need.
• Ready-To-Go Gap – One I made up about the period of time between finalizing plans and actually traveling.
• UL – Ultralight. You’ll typically see this when looking for backpacks.

There are so many more I haven’t touched upon or simply don’t know. @sneha_april suggested ‘daily metro pass’ (if you’re heading to Paris check out the Passe Navigo Decouverte) and Hobo Traveler has more backpacker jargon for you to brush up on.

I hope you enjoyed this series of posts new and old backpackers alike. I’ve got a few more ideas for a follow up in the months to come. Until then, I’m looking forward to your backpacker terms and definitions.

[photos by: MrPhilDog, Akbar Simonse]

Backpacking Basics Part 4: Where To Start Backpacking

This is the fourth part of 5 in a series of backpacking basics. You can catch up with Part 1 (What Is Backpacking?), Part 2 (Picking The Right Backpack), and Part 3 (What Is A Hostel?) if you missed them.

Where To Start?

For those of you who’ve never been backpacking, it can seem an intimidating task figuring out where to go. You’ll have a limited amount of gear with you and you might be afraid of being mugged, getting lost, or not having enough underwear. Traveling in conventional ways, with a suitcase staying at hotels and booking tours makes you feel safer and insulated – because generally you are.

Look at backpacking as an experience like a ‘home’ experience somewhere else. You aren’t as insulated, might cook your meals, forget to wash your socks, and live on a conservative budget. Much of the backpacker experience is “normal” and not a vacation where everything is taken care for you.

That’s what makes backpacking fun. Going to a new place is always a bit scary and good and bad things will happen. Most likely you’ll only have to rely on you – but you’ve been doing that up until this point, and it’s not turned out too bad has it?

Cultural Relativity

Some of the easiest places to backpack are the locations where the culture and infrastructure is similar to your own. If you live in the United States, Western Europe, Australia/New Zealand, and Canada will make the easiest transitions. If you’re Chinese, South East Asia might be more familiar and easier for you to adapt to.

• Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. As different as other places seem, people and life around the world share far more similarities than anything else.
  
• There are some compelling reasons Americans shouldn’t make their first international trip to Europe.

The more you travel though, particularly as a backpacker, the easier it will be for you to notice and adjust to cultural differences no matter where you begin.

Popular Backpacking Destinations

There are some places and regions around the world very popular with backpackers have good infrastructure for travelers in general.

• Western Europe
• Australia and New Zealand
• Thailand
• Costa Rica
• Argentina
• Canada

This is a very small list and there are backpackers everywhere. You’ll almost certainly run into others if you stay in hostels.

The Best Place Is Where You Want To Go

As Mark H (Travel Wonders) so eloquently put it,

Personally, I think people (subject to budget) should go to the place they have always dreamed of going for their first international trip. Whether it be because of your heritage, a fascination with that country, a relative/friend who lives there, a smattering of that language or whatever, you are more likely to enjoy a place that you have a true enthusiasm for and some background knowledge.

The best places to backpack are ultimately the ones you really want to explore or meet your methods and goals. If you’ve got time limitations go closer…sticking to a budget – figure out the best places to travel on a weak dollar. Backpacking isn’t as hard as it may seem and you’ve got more wits than you give yourself credit for.

For those of you who have been backpacking, where are some of the first places you went?

Tomorrow in the final part of the series I’ll give you some backpacking lingo and define some common acronyms that you’re likely to come across.

[photos by: woodleywonderworks, Jon_Marshall, Zhang Erning, cash-if]

Backpacking Basics Part 3: What Is A Hostel?

This is the third part of 5 in a series of backpacking basics. You can catch up with Part 1 (What Is Backpacking?) and Part 2 (Picking The Right Backpack) if you missed them.

Almost an integral part of backpacking and the culture behind it is the hostel. A hostel is basically a low budget lodging option, generally where you share a room with 4-12 people. Hostels are plentiful in many cities around the world and geared towards backpackers offering things that most hotels charge extra for like wireless Internet access and last minute booking.

Why A Hostel?

Hostel rooms in Europe, for example, run about 10-15 Euros a night compared to 80 for a hotel. Most people choose to stay in a hostel for the lower prices, community atmosphere, and their unique character. Hostels are where most backpackers stay if they’re booking accommodations and they’re a great way to meet other people of like minds.

Most Hostels Have…

Hostels, much like hotels, vary quite a bit in their offerings but here are some pretty consistent things you’ll find across most.

• Sharing a Room and Bathrooms – Many hostels do also have private rooms for one or two people for a bit more cost but almost always less than a hotel.
• Booking A Bed, Not A Room – When you book a hostel, typically you’re reserving a bed not a room. That means if you’ll be traveling in a group and want to stay with your friends, depending on how the beds are filled you might not be in the same room. (It’s rare this happens in groups of 4 or less.)
• A Kitchen (For You To Use) – It’s cheaper and healthier to go grocery shopping and cook at the hostel. Most also have a fridge and places to store your extra food.
• Quiet Hours – You might be worried about sleeping in a room with 12 other people but most hostels implement “quiet hours” between reasonable hours of 10pm and 8am. Here’s a guide to sleeping in hostels.
• Free Wi-Fi – The access point is usually open and you don’t have to register or jump through hoops to get online. That makes it much easier to use wi-fi with your mobile device or iPhone without breaking the bank.
• Tours and Local Travel Information – You can stay in a hostel and still take an organized tour if you like and often the prices are lower than booking elsewhere since many hostels work with local vendors.
• Helpful (Understanding) Staff – People working at hostels know many of their customers are on a very tight budget and will let you know where to eat, drink, and entertain yourself for less.

Many people who’ve never stayed in a hostel have a number of misconceptions and one of them is that all the people who stay in hostels are seasoned travelers who never do any ‘regular’ travel stuff. In a lot of ways staying in a hostel isn’t all that different from staying in a hotel.

What Hostels Are Not

Quite a few people are afraid to stay in hostels due to several misconceptions about them. Most of them revolve around the idea that hostels are huge parties full of 20 year old drunk backpackers. While there are definitely “party hostels” and you can easily find out which ones they are by reading the reviews on the site you’re booking through.

One thing to remember is there are a variety of hostels – you can find the right one for you.

How To Book A Hostel

There are two major websites to search when looking for hostels before your next trip. It’s not all that different from booking a hotel on Kayak, Travelocity, or any other online travel agent.

• HostelWorld – Works with over 23,000 hostels around the world and they just rated the best hostels of 2009. (There’s also a Hostelworld iPhone app.)
• Hostelbookers – Also has a large collection of hostels and you can search both to compare prices (sometimes they vary).

Once you do find a hostel you can also try Googling them to see if they’ve got a website and perhaps some special offers for particular dates or if you book directly through them.

The Easy Part

After the first time booking a hostel takes about 5 minutes online. It doesn’t take extensive research and you can get most of the information you need by reading the reviews of the hostel before booking or on sites like Hostelz. Finally, just like anything else, if you’re not happy or satisfied you can ask it to be fixed or for a refund. In the end hostels are businesses and a more normal experience than most imagine them to be.

Tomorrow in Part 4 we’ll get to the fun part of backpacking and some of the best places to start.

[photos by: mikeleeorg, nest hostels valencia, Dolarz]

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