A Trip to Killarney – By Yao Xiao – Study Ireland – Stories & Guides from International Students

Yao Xiao is a Chinese student at the University of Limerick who recently went on a trip to Killarney, in Co. Kerry. Here’s what she thought of the place!

For the whole semester, I was always telling myself that I was too busy to do any travel that and I could go to other cites after finishing this assignment. Unfortunately, as all of you can understand, from midterm essays to final term assignments, those works never stopped. However, life is always crazy. I finally had my first trip in Ireland during finals week, the busiest weeks for the whole semester!!!

This crazy idea was made because some of my friends from EFL module would leave at the middle of December, so it is a pity to never do something together, since we have such deep international friendship. (BTW, I strongly recommend you to choose this module. It is designed to help improve students’ English skills, whose mother tongue is not English. During the lecture, the professor concentrates on vocabulary and grammar, which seems to be boring, but is always presented in an interesting way. The most important thing is that you can make plenty of friends from all over the world. This is really amazing! Thanks to this module, I can have this wonderful trip and unforgettable friendships with girls from Germany, South Korea, Portugal and Czech Republic.)

Now, back to the topic. Because some of us have already been to Cork, Galway and other “famous” cities, we decided to choose a “niche” one, Killarney. And after researching, we found that actually Killarney is a tourist destination in Ireland with a wonderful national park. So it is good to have some walk and enjoy the natural beauty during the “suffocative” finals week

How can we go there?

For transportation, the Dublin Coach set one stop at Stables to go there, and the price is just 10 euro. It will take us about 2 hours to get there (the seat is very comfortable, so just take a nap and then that is it!).

How can we find accommodation?

For the accommodation, we booked a hostel on the Internet. Since it is actually a tourist destination, it is not hard to find a place to sleep. According to my observation, there are at least 4 hostels around the city center, and all looked tidy and homey. The normal price for a bed in a dorm is just about 20 euro including a self-help breakfast, which is quite reasonable.

The first thing you cannot miss is absolutely the national park. The natural scenery is amazing. When I was walking, I just felt I was in a primeval forest with all kinds of trees. Although it is winter, some trees are still green, which astonished me deeply. And I think in summer, the scenery will be even more attractive. Also the lake with clear water, the mountain tier upon tier, and also a waterfall within the mountain should not be missed. We even saw a group of deer, which was a big surprise to us!

To appreciate this kind of scenery, you can just walk. (we walked 17 kilometers from city center to the waterfall and then back). It is indeed exhausting, but with the beautiful scenery along the way, it is all worth it. During the walking, we also saw some horse coaches. Sitting in a horse coach to enjoy is also a wonderful experience. Another thing I also want to recommend is the pub in Killarney. So many traditional Irish pubs with live music can be found in the city center. No matter which one you chose, it will not disappoint you. Listening to the sometimes soft sometimes fast-paced music, drinking some beers and chatting with friends or local friendly people, you will be relaxed from all tiredness.

Xiao Yao is a Study Abroad student at UL, studying English Translation and TESOL. Read her Academic Writing Tips for International Students and her Tips for Chinese Students in Ireland