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]

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 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.

The Blue Lagoon, Iceland

The Blue Lagoon is one of Iceland’s most popular tourists destinations and you’ll see the steam rising from the horizon as you make your way from Kefairport into Reykjavik. The water temperature stays a constant 40C (104F) throughout the year, even during the dark winter months. The added cold makes the warm waters even more enjoyable and the small December crowds are another reason you can and should visit Iceland in the winter.

Just be careful and watch your step as you hurry from the showers out to the lagoon, it’s extremely slippery. Also, as is the case with the hot tap water in Iceland, the Blue Lagoon does not have a distinctive rotten egg smell (caused by sulfur). You can seem some more of my pictures from the Blue Lagoon and Reykjavik here.

The Christmas Market In Lubeck, Germany

This was my first time at any of Germany’s famous Christmas markets which pop up around December. The market was active with people shopping for last-minute gifts, drinking punsch (a sweet liqueur served warm), and of course eating candy. I enjoyed the spirit in the market which was bustling, but the punsch…not so much.

Indianapolis City Hall

The downtown area was well designed with an open and clean layout but I must say that Indianapolis is home to some of the strangest people I’ve ever met.

About My Name

I often get confused for being Indian, primarily due to my  name, Anil. Several months ago after my post from the Shiva Temple in Bangalore, India the conversation came up and I thought I’d bring the conversation up here. Although Anil is a very common name in India, it is also used in Turkey. It’s not as widespread and can be given to either boys or girls.

Its meaning, in Turkish comes from the verb ‘anilmak’ which means to be remembered. I had always wondered about the origin of the name in India, especially after my first trip to Bangalore. It seems that I’d get a different answer, anything from “fire” to “flame” – basically heat related.

Priyank was able to clear things up for me and have found Anil is a Sanskrit word, meaning ‘air’.

‘Air’ is a metaphor used to denote speed, sublimity, omnipresence etc, is name of the God of Wind, but all those are interpretations only (and not the meaning itself!)

Many in India find it confusing that a ‘Muslim’ (assumed since I’m Turkish) has a Hindi name. As far as I can tell the origin of the name in Turkish is murky at best and may have been brought over with one of the waves of Mongol conquerors of India. My name has influenced how people see me on my travel numerous times as do all of our names.

Finally, I got an email a while back from a reader congratulating me on my Lonely Planet award. Unfortunately, it’s not me. The author of that travel blog Windy Skies (the winner of the 2009 Lonely Planet Best Travelogue), Anil P., is consequently Indian.

[photo by: drtchock]

Disconnected In Seneca Rocks, West Virginia

Seneca Rocks, West Virginia is digitally isolated, no cell phone service, Internet, or many television channels. It’s getting harder and harder to digitally disconnect while easier to physically travel. The area around Seneca Rocks is great for motorcycle rides and cabin vacations, hiking, rafting, and exploring caves.

Refreshed, I’m now ready to dive back online.

15 Travel Related Things About Me

Reading Erica’s 30 travel related things about me inspired me to follow my own advice on building a successful travel blog and share some of my personal travel habits. In no particular order here are 15 travel related things about me.

1. I am habitually late for flights, buses, and pretty much any mode transportation.
2. I never take pictures of myself when I travel.
3. I enjoy sleeping in airports.
4. My favorite city in the world is Istanbul, which consequently has the best airport I’ve ever slept in.
5. I primarily travel with the small but efficient SwissGear Synergy computer backpack.
6. The longest I’ve ever been without a shower on the road is 22 days.
7. I always travel with my digital essentials – a laptop and encrypted USB drive (loaded with these 12 applications).
8. I am never without a book, ever.
9. No matter how much I fly, every time I get on a plane I feel like I’m pushing my luck.
10. Traveling makes me appreciate everything I have and realize that family and health are things never to take for granted.
11. I can’t leave a hotel room without checking it over and over only to still feel like I forgot something.
12. Due to poor planning, I’ve run out of cash in the worst places.
13. Bargaining is a great way to get a deal – and make a lifelong friend.
14. I missed my first flight ever last December (see #1 above).
15. Although I speak English, Turkish, and French, I always end up in places where none of those languages do me any good.

In case you thought you were off the hook, I’ll be asking some of you to add a few travel related things about yourselves next week. Until then if you’d like to get to know me better you can read my About page, see where I’ve been, or catch up with me on Facebook.

Strolling Around Stanford

On my way between the beaches of Santa Cruz and wine tasting in San Jose, I dropped by the open spaces of Stanford University. The campus is lovely – so many wide open spaces, greenery, with constant activity – I felt smarter for a moment just being there.

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