I was a geography minor back in the day, and I love a good map! Plus, I really wanted to log all of the Km/Miles we logged on this trip. We were definitely tired, and we are avid fans of walking, so this may not be for everyone. Walking was a perfect solution for us to get exercise, see as much as possible, and get a feel for the cities we were in. My impeccable sense of direction helped, too. Next time I’m taking my FitBit to really log the miles!
Dublin Day 1 – December 26, 2013
Airlink Bus 747 from Dublin Airport to O’Connell Street. An Adult single ticket is only €6, and it is a quick trip to City Center. Worth it!
Trying to stay awake, find coffee, and food:
After a rest, we headed out into Dublin again to do a little exploring:
Dublin Day 1 Totals: 7.2 Miles
Dublin Day 2 – December 27, 2013
*Note – we went to The Beer Club, JW Sweetman’s, not Messrs Maguire, but Google Maps wouldn’t let me choose that as a destination.
Dublin Day 2 Totals: 8 miles
Northern Ireland and Belfast – December 28, 2013
Walked to Old Church to meet bus, and back after a stop for fish and chips! Also spent a lot of time walking trails at the bridge and causeway Total Miles: Approximately 5 miles
Dublin -> Wales -> London – December 29, 2013
We walked to the ferry port, then took the ferry to Holyhead in Wales, then the train into Euston Station London, then to Waterloo:
We got slightly lost coming out of Waterloo, so I estimate our miles for this day at: 3 Miles
I got our tickets and information about this type of travel from The Man in Seat 61 – his website is FANTASTIC for travel in Europe. He posts videos, pictures, maps, time tables, and everything else a true OCD traveler such as myself can enjoy.
London Full Day 1 – December 30, 2013
We saw basically everything. Approximately 7.5 miles
London Day 2 – December 31, 2013
Again, we saw pretty much everything. Including fantastic fireworks and historic stuff and art. I added 1.5 miles to this day for our time spent walking around the tower and Tate and time spent wading through people after the fireworks. Approximately 7 miles
Last Day in London – January 1, 2014
Last Day in London: Approximately 5 miles
January 2, 2014 – another day of ferries, trains, and this time a cab from the ferry to the flat. We only had one small mishap with the cab; our cabbie misheard us and we almost ended up in the opposite end of Dublin from where we were supposed to be. The only time accents were an issue! We walked maybe 1 mile this day, with train switches and a jaunt up the street to get a frozen pizza for dinner #exhausted
Last Day in Dublin – January 3, 2013
This was the day all those miles were felt in my poor short little legs. We worked through another 5.5 miles, and ended with a quiet evening at the flat so we could catch an early flight back to the states in the morning.
Back to the States – January 4, 2014
We woke up with ideas of walking to the Airlink, but this day was the only morning that there was a downpour of rain. We opted for a cab instead, for which our legs thanked us. To the airport, through customs, over the ocean and Canada, to Atlanta, and back to Knoxville – all in a day’s travel. And I got my froyo fix in the ATL airport, which is always my #1 priority at an airport.
TOTAL TRAVEL SUMMARY
Total Estimated Miles Walked: At Least 44.2 Miles
Sites Seen: All of the major ones. Guinness, Christchurch, Kilmainham, Buckingham Palace, The London Eye, The Tower of London, British Museum, Tate Modern, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and so much MORE.
Costs:
Flights: Knoxville to Dublin, roundtrip $1895.00 total- $947.50/person
Lodging Dublin: $336.00 – 5 nights – $67.20/night – $168/person
Lodging London: $549.00 – 4 nights – $137.25/night – $274.50/person
Rail/Sail Tickets from Dublin->London->Dublin: $254.59 for 2 tickets – $127.30/person
All other costs – Meals, Souvenirs, Admissions, Et al: $1,379.46 – $689.73/person
Total: $4,144.05 – $2,207.02 / person = $220.00 per day per person for everything – not too bad!
But really: PRICELESS
Katie Stringer Clary, PhD 
