A Short Break to Dundalk in Ireland

My husband's parents moved back to Ireland in June of this year. They now live in Dundalk, County Louth, which is where his mother comes from. They bought a lovely three bedroom semi-detached house with a drive that faces green fields.

We visited them in September 2007 and thought it had a lovely countryside feel to the place.

Dundalk is approximately one and half hours drive away from Dublin. So, we flew to Dublin with aer lingus from Heathrow airport for just two nights/three days (Saturday to Monday). It was very cheap as we flew early in the morning when the flights are selling for less money. I think it only cost us £100 for the both of us by booking on www.aerlingus.com It is, also, not far from the border of north of Ireland, near Belfast. From Dublin airport we got a bus that took us to Dundalk. It took us one and half hour to get there, but considering that the bus stopped at lots of small quaint Irish towns on the way. During our journey, we got to see what this part of Ireland looked like. There were some small country lanes that we drove down and it was quite a bumpy ride to our destination. Once we arrived, my husband's father was at the bus station to greet us, which was nice. We then walked through the town to get to his house. It only took us five minutes.

Whilst there we went to the Cinema in the evening. The local cinema in Dundalk is small, but they show all the latest films.

The town centre has many shops including Tescos. There are, also, a few good old Irish pubs and we went into one after seeing a film. The pub was free of smoking, as there is a no smoking ban now in Ireland. I thought it was very dreary inside at first until we got talking to a few Irish who were in there having a pint of Guiness. We thought the atmosphere was very friendly and relaxing.

As we walked around, I noticed a B&B hotel called Greengates. They charge 65 Euros for a double per night. It looked lovely from the outside. Here is the webiste http://www.greengatesblackrock.com/index.php

Irel and is now a member of the EU and the money is now Euros. It is expensive over there, but a lovely place to live.

The next visit we take to Ireland, will be to Sligo, which is where my mother comes from. There is more Irish countryside in that part of Ireland and it is further into the South of Ireland where there are some beautiful beaches.