I love sea and I love walks, that’s why I love Dublin’s location. Whenever sun shines during the weekend we try to run away from our apartment. I always feel blessed with so many options for a day out.
Howth was our favourite for a long time. It isn’t technically Dublin, but it’s very close, only 23 minutes by Dart (suburban rail) from the city center. So it was really handy when we didn’t have a car.
It is a beautiful village, with great places to eat, weekend market to visit, castle, lighthouse and the most important – beautiful cliffs.
What we usually do is – we go for a coffee, then we do one of looped walks that take from 2 to 4 hours. Then we go to the market, maybe pick up some bread, or veggies, you can grab something to eat as well.
We have lunch either on the market or somewhere in the village. We may do a walk around the harbour (and check how the seals are) and then we head home.
The walks are not too hard, but it helps to have decent shoes that don’t have slippery soles. The paths are well marked and if you are visiting in the late summer or early autumn, you won’t starve as there is plenty of blackberries.
It wouldn’t be Ireland if there wasn’t a golf course.
We would love to have a dog, but since we don’t have conditions for one now, we just admire dogs on walks. Howth is great place for it.
From the top of the hill you have a beautiful view over the harbour and Ireland’s Eye.
We end most of our trips to Howth with fish and chips from Beshoff Bros. The portions are huge! Eating it on a grass or a bench in a beautiful sunshine observing people and dogs pass by is one of simple pleasures that you should try.
When you are in the harbour have a closer look at the water. If you are lucky you should spot other residents of Howth – seals. They are often swimming around the boats looking for some snacks.