Study Ireland – Stories & Guides from International Students

Follow Emma Webb Mueller, an exchange student from Canada, as she shares her adventures at the University of Limerick and beyond. Join her as she navigates the diverse landscapes and vibrant cities, offering tips and insights for fellow travelers along the way.

Hello to any readers checking out this blog! To get started – my name is Emma and I’m an exchange student coming from a small school called Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, Canada! At the time of writing this – April 2024 – I’m about three quarters of my way through my spring semester at UL and I’m loving it. 

Me posing with a cow (named Bessie by yours truly) on Inis Oirr (Inisheer in English) – the smallest of the Aran Islands just off the West Coast of Ireland! 

Visiting Ireland and Limerick for a semester provides numerous opportunities for you to travel within Ireland but also outside of Ireland if that’s what you’re looking for. Coming from Canada, it can be incredibly expensive to travel across the Atlantic. I promise that coming here for a semester provides the perfect opportunity to explore Ireland, get to know it in depth, and check out nearby countries that might be interesting to visit!  

There are several day trips you can take from Limerick – but to start, I wanted to point out that the University of Limerick offers several weekend trips that are affordable and well–organized. Starting from the first weekend at the end of orientation and continuing for almost every weekend throughout the semester, these trips were a great opportunity to check out Ireland in an easy way. It was as simple as buying a ticket from the UL Student Life Office and showing up outside the Foundation Building at the designated time and date. We just hopped on the bus and within a few hours, we were in a completely new place that we were free to explore! 

The first of these trips was to the Cliffs of Moher! One of the most well-known tourist spots in Ireland, the Cliffs were the first weekend trip after my arrival and were worth visiting! I went on the trip organized by the school, which was convenient and easy, but if that doesn’t happen to work for you, you can easily buy a ticket with a tour bus company to go in your own time. The Cliffs aren’t too far away and are a must-see if you’re coming to Ireland. There are also some other fun spots nearby, such as the Burren and Lahinch Beach, which were worth checking out!

Photo Description: Me and some of my roommates at the Cliffs of Moher! Even though it was windy and rainy, we had a ton of fun and even thought that the weather was perfect and that it matched with the “Ireland vibe”! 

Other university-organized trips included the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula – both beautiful drives known for their famous sites!  

When we went to the Ring of Kerry, we got lucky with the weather and enjoyed a wonderful day viewing the sites! One of the prettiest spots, known as “Ladies View”, was absolutely stunning. We also stopped at many different beautiful views as well as Waterville Beach.

Photo Description: One of my roommates and I posing at Ladies View near Killarney on the Ring of Kerry trip!

On the day when we went to the Dingle Peninsula, we were less lucky with the weather – we had some extreme fog and didn’t get to enjoy the sights – but it was still great to visit the town of Dingle which is adorable! My friends and I visited the aquarium there (the largest in Ireland!) and we were also able to pay a couple of euro to hold a sheep which was honestly life changing.  

Photo Description: Me holding a sheep at one of the stops on our trip to Dingle! 

Both the Dingle Peninsula and the Ring of Kerry trips were school organized for me, but there will also be other options for these trips if you can’t make it! Tour companies such as Paddywagon Tours have routes for going out of Limerick.  

The final trip I took that was organized by UL was to Inis Oirr (Inisheer), the smallest of the Aran Islands! The is one trip that is much easier done when it’s offered by the school as you need to book a bus and a ferry ride when trying to do it by yourself. It can definitely get pricey and complicated when trying to visit but doing it through the school made it a lot easier (and more affordable!) 

Inis Oirr was such a cool experience, with lots of different animals all over the island, beautiful and scenic stone walls running along a good portion of the island, and even a shipwreck that you can walk right up to! I recommend this trip to anyone interested in checking it out!

Photo Description: My friend and I posing next to the Plassey Shipwreck on Inis Oirr! 

UL also offered several other weekend trips that I couldn’t make it on – such as trips to Cork, Kilkenny, and more! There’s a huge selection so you can choose to go to all of them or just one or two, it’s really your call.  

My friends and I also went on some trips of our own, which were simple to figure out. Limerick is really in a good location for getting to other nearby cities and towns and has really solid public transport! 

The first trip that we went on ourselves was to Galway (yes, the city mentioned in the Ed Sheeran song – trust me, we sang it way too many times while we were there).  

A smart tip is to get your Leap Card! These cards are super helpful with the buses within Limerick, but also with getting discounts for buses to pretty much anywhere. For Galway, students with Leap Cards only had to pay 7 euro each way. We booked our tickets through CityLink, and it was easy to find our way to the bus stop outside of the Henry Street Garda Station (Google Maps always helps!). Galway was such a spirited and fun town to explore, and we had a blast. We walked along the Mutton Island Causeway at sunset, which was incredible, and enjoyed live music at The Quays Bar and Restaurant in the evening before our bus.

Photo Description: My friend and I enjoying the sunset on the rocks at Mutton Island in Galway! 

Another lovely spot to check out that’s not too far away from Limerick is Killarney! Killarney is small but has an absolutely stunning national park. You can book a bus there through Dublin Coach for only 11 euro with the student discount! I recommend aiming to travel on a good weather day as you will be outside for most of the time, but Ireland weather is unpredictable, and Killarney will be a great experience regardless of the weather!  

The views around the lake were exceptional, visiting Torc Waterfall was surreal, and getting to go through Muckross House and learn about the history was a great experience! We got a ticket for the Big Red Bus when we got there, which was a hop-on-hop-off tour bus that allowed us to get to the national park easily and got us back to the bus stop later. It was very convenient for getting where we needed to go! 

Photo Description: Torc Waterfall in Killarney! 

Finally, the last day trip that I’ve been able to take from Limerick was to Dublin! I went on the Saturday of St. Patrick’s Day weekend and while it is a bit of a distance to go for one day (2.5 hours approx. each way), it was still a good day trip so I could get back to Limerick for the main event the next day! This is another trip where the Dublin Coach will come in handy – but it’s also very useful for getting to and from Dublin Airport – the ticket to the Dublin City Centre and back was only 12.5 euro.  

Dublin is the most “normal” city I’ve been to in Ireland, but it was still great to visit for a day! Although it was busy for the celebrations that weekend, I still felt very safe and enjoyed the experience overall. I popped by Temple Bar and went to the St. Patrick’s Day Festival that day – it was easy to locate the bus stop as well in the city center. 

Photo Description: Me at Temple Bar on St. Patrick’s Day weekend (AKA very busy!)  

Studying at UL has also made visiting other countries easy as well! Shannon Airport is only 30 or so minutes away from Limerick, which is very convenient. Dublin Airport is about two and a half hours away, but the regular Dublin Coach routes that leave from the UL campus makes it easy and efficient to get to and from the airport. Airlines like Ryanair have extremely cheap flights – even going as low as 15 euro to places like England and Scotland – and Ireland provides the perfect opportunity for you to explore as much as you would like while you’re here! I hope you found my guide to day trips around Ireland useful and informative and that you enjoy your semester at UL!