julia trotti | youtube photography tutorials
Viewing entries tagged
ireland
Follow me on my instagram accounts:
main account @julia trotti
personal account @juls.trotti
I also have some exciting news because I've started sharing more fashion shoot behind the scenes videos + Lightroom & Photoshop Tutorials on my YouTube Channel! Be sure to subscribe as I upload 2 new videos every week x
You can also see all the final photos from this trip in my Ireland Photo Diary + Travel Guide blog post!
I have previously written travel guides for the European cities of Gdansk, Krakow and Szczecin and today I bring to you my personal travel guide for Ireland! You can see my photos throughout my week roadtrip through Ireland in a few different blog posts including Slane, Kilkenny, Wiklow Mountains National Park, Dublin Botanic Gardens & Howth Cliffs. See the travel guide below!
Getting there // I flew from Gdansk to Dublin airport to get to Ireland. It was a fairly short three hour flight (compared to being used to usually taking 14 hour flights anywhere from Australia!) that went by quickly. The majority of airlines fly to Dublin, both from Europe and across the world. You can also catch a ferry from the UK to Ireland.
Getting around // I spent the majority of my time in Ireland exploring the countryside, which I strongly recommend is best/most convenient by car. You have the ease of being able to go wherever, whenever you want, you can stop the side of the road to take photos whenever you see something interesting (which dan and I did way too many times!) and you're more available to going on spontaneous road trips. On our first day in Ireland, we visited Slane and from there decided to take random roads to explore the island and accidentally almost ended up in North Ireland where all the road signs are only in Gaelic. I feel like I should make a note that the highways in Ireland are smooth and spacious but pretty much all the other roads are SO tiny, they seem like one lane but are two way, you have cobblestone fences half a metre away from your car while you're driving through them and most of the time you can't see around the corner because of all the trees and overgrown shrubbery. If you're not up for the idea of driving in a different country or on the narrow winding roads but still want to explore the countryside, there are lots of coach busses that you can book day tours with that will drive you to different country towns.
If you want to spend most of your time in Dublin, then I would suggest to forget about a car completely and just explore the city by foot. There are so many stores, pubs and restaurants crammed next to each other you would miss out on too much driving through the main streets of the city. Everything seems to be walking distance in Dublin. Dan and I spent a day on one side of the river at the botanic gardens and managed to make our way across to the other side and ended up at Dublin castle without an issue.
Where to stay // The Irish countryside is known for its amazing bed and breakfast accommodations. So without a doubt I would say to go online and look for bed and breakfasts to stay at while in Ireland and you probably can't go wrong. While in Slane we stayed at this gorgeous b&b, they had a cute kitty that followed us around while we took pictures in their huge gardens. This place is a very close drive to all the main attractions in Slane. We also got fed an amazing breakfast when we woke up in the morning, we didn't need to eat for the majority of the day!
In Kilkenny we booked a guest house accommodation, and although this wasn't a traditional bed and breakfast, the owners were very welcoming and would bake fresh Irish bread for everyone every morning and provide local jams, honey and organic farm yogurt for breakfast. We grew to love our little but very spacious room in Kilkenny. It was situated in the most perfect and convenient location, if we ever come back I would stay here again in a heartbeat!
What to do // I can only offer advice for things to do that I personally experienced, so I’m going to go through each of the towns I visited while I was in Ireland!
Slane // First stop is the beautiful town of Slane. There are an abundance of things to do in Slane starting from experiencing the historic town itself. Lined with limestone buildings the town of Slane is built alongside the River Boyne. In and close by to the town you can visit Hill of Slane, Slane Castle, Newgrange and Hill of Tara Tombs, plus so many more! Just take a look at TripAdvisor for the endless list of places to visit! It is worth mentioning that something we didn’t know while visiting Slane is that most of the places to visit you need to have an online pre-booked tour or have your bed & breakfast book you a tour the day before. We missed out of seeing a couple of things since we didn’t know this and were sadly in Slane for only a short time.
Kilkenny // Walking through the city of Kilkenny and visiting Kilkenny Castle is an absolute must! The city is huge with a maze of streets filled with cafes, restaurants and pubs. If you make your way to Kilkenny Castle, be sure to walk around the castle grounds and make your way to the Canal Walk by the River Nore. Nearby are the beautiful gardens of Butler House, a hidden gem tucked away on a side street near the city centre. Lyrath Estate Hotel also makes a great late morning or afternoon getaway, a mansion covered in vines just outside of Kilkenny for a perfect brunch or high tea spot.
Dublin // I personally spent the majority of my time in Ireland exploring the towns in the countryside, so I only had half a day to spend in Dublin. During the day, I visited Dublin Botanic Gardens. There is no entry fee to the gardens, only a small 2 Euro parking fee if you are driving. I couldn't recommend the gardens more! There are around 5 greenhouses with varying themes including a Palm garden, Succulent garden and Orchid House. The grounds are huge and you could easily spend a couple of hours walking around through the rose gardens and getting lost within the abundance of Cherry Trees, Cedar Trees, the list goes on!
If you are just visiting Dublin while in Ireland and don’t want to venture too far away from the main city to visit other towns, there are still plenty of things to do! Howth Cliffs is almost an island, connected to Ireland by two main roads and only a half an hour car or train ride from the centre of Dublin. You can easily spend a day in Howth exploring the small town, eating the delicious fish and chips and spending time hiking in various spots around the island. A few of my personally recommended hikes include the main Cliff Walk, Bailey Lighthouse and Red Rock Beach.
One last spot only a 30-60 minute drive from Dublin (depending where you want to go within the park), is Wicklow Mountains National Park. This is definitely a full day trip where you can spend your time driving around the National Park, pulling over in various spots and going for a small hike. There aren’t too many “official” hiking and viewpoint spots within the park, the gist of the park is you drive around and when you see something, you pull over and make your way towards it. We saw SO many cars pulled over in the most random spots throughout the day, with us being no exception. A few of my more memorable stops in the park include Lough Tay Guinness Lake, Powerscourt Waterfall (although this was the only spot that was extremely busy it was still beautiful), Glendalough Monastic Site, Glendalough Lake and many others viewpoints which don’t even have a name on a map!
I hope you’ve enjoyed my Ireland Travel Guide and Photo Diary! If you have any more suggestions or things that you absolutely loved experiencing while in Ireland, please share them with me in the comments! I was only in Ireland for a short time and would love to go back one day to explore even more of what this beautiful country has to offer.
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset
On our last day in Ireland, we had some free time so Dan and I were trying to decide how we should spend it. While we were flying into Ireland, we remembered seeing these amazing looking cliffs that were close to the city. After doing a little research we headed towards them to explore up close what we had seen from above a week earlier.
We ended up driving to the town of Howth, which is almost an island, connected to Ireland by two main roads. We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking up and down the cliff edges, my fingers running through the fields of purple flowers as I walked along the rocks at the top. I’m so glad we came here, it is just another little spot that feels so special to me after spending some time admiring what was around us. The water looked so blue and icy from the top and the wind was relentless, but Howth was a spectacular spot that I couldn’t recommend more to anyone who visits Dublin.
That night we headed back to the city one last time for some dinner and drinks. We had a date with the airport at 4am the next morning so we didn’t bother booking accommodation. Instead we opted to sleep in our car for a mere 3 hours that night before we had to wake up and head off. At the airport we sat down waiting to board our plane back to Gdansk, sleep deprived and sad we were leaving such a beautiful country behind. I loved Ireland so much though, that I’m sure I’ll be back in no time!
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset
Nothing makes me happier than being on the road, surrounded by trees, fields, clouds, basically anything natural. Ireland is the epitome of this. On our second last day in Ireland, Dan and I travelled from Kilkenny to Wilkow Mountains National Park and spent the day driving around the winding mountain roads, chasing sunlight in between the rain.
We pulled over more times than I can remember, running in the direction of something that caught our eye from the road. Whether it was through fields, pathways or fjords, we explored everything we could during our day in Wiklow. The wind was icy all day even though it was the middle of summer, but I remember I was so happy that the goosebumps on my skin didn’t matter.
One of my favourite spots in the park was a field of grass so vast you couldn’t see where it ended - it just connected back up to the mountains looming in the distance. As I got out of the car, the wind swung my door open sharply and my hair went flying in every direction. Dan and I ran as fast and as far out as we could into the fields, laughing hysterically and giving each other piggy back rides on the way there. When we abruptly stopped running, shoes muddy from the damp grass and wind howling into our ears, it was a moment where life really sunk in. I am me. I am here. I am happy. SO so happy right now. I never wanted to leave.
Each location we visited in Ireland had it’s own little piece of magic that I could easily say every time that “this is my favourite place”. I’ve come to the conclusion that Ireland in general is just a marvel of green and hidden secrets. Every town we visited and every park we explored holds a special place for me. I would go back to Ireland to explore more in a heartbeat.
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset
Dan and I made our way from Slane to Kilkenny one day. We were here to photograph and film a wedding for a lovely couple from Melbourne, Australia! What we though was going to be a small town similar to Slane or other towns we drove though, when we arrived in Kilkenny, it turns out to be an amazing bustling city full of life. Even though Kilkenny is a city, it is still complete with the Irish charm of flowers hanging from the pubs, old buildings, colourful doors and vines crawling on any surface it could reach.
Our first day in Kilkenny was spent at meetings and exploring the city on foot, location scouting for the wedding that was to come in a couple of days. We also decided to take the time to drive to all the locations we had to go to on the wedding day just to make sure we could find them all! In Ireland there are no street addresses, only winding directions telling you to go left at the river, over the bridge, right at the red pub and straight until you arrive at your destination. It was safe to say it was a good idea that we decided to find all the spots the day before because we ended up getting lost a couple of times. On a few occasions we ended up arriving at our ‘destination’ only to realise it was a strangers house, and having to get the help from locals to figure out where to go instead.
The wedding day went amazing. The rain that had been looming the day before disappeared and it was truly a hot summer’s day in Ireland. Alyssa and Michael, the bride and groom, were glowing and we ended up staying at the reception until 4 in the morning. We found out the night afterward at a little get together/afterparty that some of the guests didn’t end the party until 10 in the morning the next day!
As soon as we got to Kilkenny, we started exploring the city on foot.
On our way to morning meetings.
Kilkenny castle.
Location scouting for the wedding.
Our bed and breakfast.
A mansion we went to have high tea at.
Glimpses of the Irish countryside.
Crazy/lazy hair after a long day of meetings, scouting and too much walking around.
Editing pictures in our hotel room.
And here are some photos from the wedding day!
all photos edited with Gdansk Lightroom Preset. all wedding photos edited with The Wedding Collection for Lightroom.
It's no secret that I love greenhouses and glass houses, every chance I get I will visit one! Dan and I had one free day in Dublin, Ireland and while we were looking for things to do I stumbled across the Dublin Botanic Gardens and I knew I HAD to visit! The gardens themselves were beautiful, we spent the majority of our day wandering in and out of the greenhouses and marvelling at all the beautiful plants. The Botanic Gardens also didn't just have one greenhouse, but FIVE of them. So I was definitely in my dream location.
I had become interested in gardening while we were staying in Poland. Dan's aunty has the most beautiful garden in Gdansk where she grows flowers and most of the food they eat on a daily basis. When I got home I told myself that I wanted to try and do the same thing, which has slowly started happening. It's Spring in Australia now and my blueberries are ripening, my Daffodils and Lavender have bloomed and I have so many sunflower seedlings starting to sprout. Being able to wander around the Dublin Botanic Gardens was a wonderful inspiration for me and only made me want to go green when I got home so much more.
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset!
While we were living in Gdansk, Poland, we went on a work trip to Ireland. We ended up extending our flights so we could stay a little longer and do some exploring, and I’m so glad we did.
As we were flying over Ireland minutes before landing, I remember looking out the window and awing at the sights. Dan and I were watching the bright blue water crashing onto a winding cliff edge and an endless green plain as far as we could see. It was nice not to be hit by jet lag when landing in a new country for once, so we hopped straight into our hire car and drove through the countryside to Slane.
The minute we left the airport I was already enthralled by Ireland. I loved the long stretches of road as far as the eye could see and how luscious and green it was wherever you looked. I remember passing through so many towns on our drive from Dublin to Slane, and each town was cuter than the last. The pubs were decorated with flowers and the houses were either painted in bright red or were made out of stone and had bright yellow or blue doors. We arrived at our bed and breakfast that we had booked the night before by dusk. We drove up the winding driveway through huge oak trees and pretty flowers only to arrive and find out we were the only ones staying in this beautiful cottage mansion on a Monday. We spent the rest of the night shooting portraits of each other in the garden where we met a cat that reminded us of Sneaky who we missed so much back at home.
The next morning there was one thing on Dan and I’s list that we had to see. We woke up at sunrise to get ready and made a short one minute drive to our destination. Slane Castle. This has been on both of our bucket lists even before we met each other! Our favourite music DVD that we used to watch while we were in high school was Red Hot Chili Peppers live at Slane Castle - and for some reason we both never thought we’d have the chance to visit the grounds until we were actually there - together! We spent the morning on a small tour of the actual castle and spent some time taking pictures around the grounds.
The rest of the day in Slane was spent visiting the sights. We visited Hill of Slane among a few other spots and purposely got lost while driving on the streets only to stumble across beautiful endless fields, rows of trees, lakes, rivers and front yards covered in flowers. It seemed wherever you turned in Ireland was another amazing location.
We fell in love with asking for directions in Ireland. When you ask a local where something is, they will usually say something like “follow the road to the left, when you see a cobblestone fence keep going straight, turn right at the bridge and you’ll find yourself in the town. When you reach the only set of lights, turn left, keep going straight until you reach an intersection. Turn right and you’ll be there!”. We’d stand there for a minute trying to recall the long, winding list of directions and by the time we’d drive out onto the road we’d already forgotten. But getting lost in Ireland is all part of the adventure.
I’ll never forget the roads of Ireland. They’re nothing like what I was used to at home or what I got used to while in America. In Ireland, (aside from the highways) a lot of the country roads look like they are one way, one lane roads - but they are two way roads! Dan was driving our manual car while we were there, squeezing past cobblestone fences and oncoming locals who were driving just as fast as Dan. Trees and bushes lining the roads, so overgrown you can’t see what’s coming until they are seconds away from you. I couldn’t help myself but to squeeze my eyes shut every time!
We arrived in the town of Slane on a Monday afternoon, so it was perfectly empty for us to explore.
Visiting the Hill of Slane.
An abandoned home or shed in the countryside.
The beautiful driveway to our bed & breakfast home.
Our trusty hire car.
Visiting Slane Castle, something that has been on both Dan and I's bucket list since we were younger.
After more driving around we stumbled across these fields that we made a photoshoot of. The sun set so late in Ireland it felt like the days lasted forever.
Onwards we drive to our next destination.
all photos edited with my Gdansk Lightroom Preset
