New eBook Chapter: Outer Coastal Villages

I've been working on the plan for the last few chapters of this short book quite a bit in these last few weeks. I'm almost finished with two more in addition to the one published this week. These chapters usually require some on-the-ground research, and sometimes I have to visit an area more than once to get everything exactly accurate. When giving turn-by-turn directions, I want to make sure I don't make any errors- even in a book that will be given away for free.

That said, this new chapter explores the villages of Dun Laoghaire, Howth, Bray, and Greystones on the coast north and south of Dublin city. These are all an easy (and cheap) DART ride from City Centre and their walking opportunities are great. I recommend visiting one, but not necessarily all, of these villages. The choice will depend on the taste of the traveler in question. Howth has more rugged hiking trails and great fish markets, Dun Laoghaire has a few more village shopping and pleasure boating opportunities, and Bray and Greystones have the fantastic- but less difficult- Cliff Walk and Bray Head hiking trails.

Check out this (and all the other) chapters on the Free Dublin eBook page of the blog.

Feedback is always welcome and appreciated through the Contact page or in the comments section below.

Howth Lighthouse

Bray to Greystones Cliff Walk

After taking a solo trip down to Bray, I couldn't wait to bring Sara down for a walk on the well-known Bray to Greystones Cliff Walk. I even abstained from exploring the Bray Head trail because I knew Sara would want to climb it with me. On a sunny Saturday, we took the train down to Bray to stretch our legs and smell the sea air...

Bray Head from Sea Level

Bray Head is a massive stony outcropping just south of Bray Village. The nicely-kept Strand Road and seaside walk took us all the way from the train station to the trailhead.

Steep steps went up from sea level before the trail became a stony and tree-rooty path.

Bray Head Steps

Along the trail are little step-outs for views and photos. Google+ Photos made this nice little panoramic view with a few of our shots from about halfway up Bray Head.

Bray and the Dublin Mountains

When we got high enough, we could see Dublin Bay and the twin smokestacks of the old power station in Dublin Port. In the far-far distance, we could just make out the Mountains of Morne in County Down, Northern Ireland. I don't know why, but I still nerd out whenever I can look across an international border. If we were climbing those mountains, we'd have the Queen on our money and the speed limit signs would be in miles per hour.

Dublin from 10 Miles Away

At the top of Bray Head, a concrete cross can be seen as a little stick from ground level. At the top it's... a concrete cross. On Good Friday, people climb the Head reading the Stations of the Cross before finishing here at the top with a little service.

Cross on Bray Head

From the top, we got a great view of Bray, Dublin, and the surrounding Dublin and Wicklow Mountains.

Bray Town

We climbed back down to sea level to start the next phase of our big hike that day, the 7 km (4 1/3 mile) walk along the cliffs from Bray town to neighboring Greystones. This walk stays much closer to sea level, and there is very little climbing involved. This is an easier day walk for a lot of people, and the trail was busy with tourists and locals enjoying the nice weekend weather.

A few of the walkers had large bowls of foraged wild blackberries, which are in peak season right now. I helped myself to some of the straggling berries that the less adventurous (or shorter) berry foragers missed.

Cory Reaching for Blackberries

For most of the walk, the trail is on a steep cliff face looking down at the crashing waves and the historic rail line running along these sheer cliffs. Today, the DART commuter train uses these tracks, giving visitors a great view from the comfort of their own seats.

Cliffs of Bray to Greystones

Obligatory Cory-Looking-at-the-Water Shot

As the trail nears its southern end, the cliffs flatten out to open farmland. The last mile or so is a gradual decline through the wheatfields and sheep pastures into the small harbor town of Greystones.

Last Leg of the Trail

At the end, we had a well-deserved snack and drink in small-but-cute Greystones. The DART train terminates at the Greystones station, so hikers don't have to turn around and walk the cliffs again. We caught the train to avoid the extra walking and to catch the view of the sea and the cliffs from the famous Bray rail line that we had seen from the trail.

Bray Summerfest Finale

I was looking for inspiration from the Dublin Event Guide this week, and it came through as it always does. The town of Bray in County Wicklow was finishing up its annual Summerfest with a fireworks display over the beach. Having missed the July 4 fireworks displays in the States this year, I thought I could check out how the Irish do municipal pyro displays.

Bray is about 10 miles from my neighborhood in south Dublin, so I had a bit of a cycle ahead of me. Looking at the new feature in Google Maps bicycle routes, I saw that I had a big spike in elevation between my place in Donnybrook and Bray down at sea level. Tragically, there isn't a smooth and scenic cycle trail following the entire coastline of Ireland. Would that there were.

I didn't know how popular these fireworks would be, so I decided to head down in the early evening to check out the festival and snag a prime viewing spot. I brought down some water, some in-shell sunflower seeds smuggled in from my trip to New York, a blanket, and two jackets. Yes it's August, but it's also Ireland.

I would be assisted with my night ride back by my new helmet-rigged bicycle light. The mounting bracket on my headlight broke a long time ago, and I didn't want to hold the light in my hand for a ten-mile midnight ride, so I zip-tied the light to my helmet. The angle of the light is perfect for an easy look at the road and to be seen by oncoming drivers.

Bike Helmet Light

Down in Bray, the festival was like most other municipal summer festivals in Ireland and in the States. The standard array of carnival rides were cranking and screeching on Bray's seafront park. Many of the rides I had seen already at various Dublin festivals, including my favorite unlicenced airbrush art ride, The Superbowl.

The Superbowl: Just like the real Super Bowl!

Nailed It

The rest of the carnival was booming with kids and families. It looked to me like most of the over-18 crowd was in the seafront restaurants and bars, which is where I'd be if I had tween-age kids playing at the carnival. I walked along the seafront, checking out the rides and the park. Bray has a lovely gravel beach and a concrete "boardwalk" the length of the park. At the south end of the beach and boardwalk it the hulking mound of Bray Head.

Bray Head

For those non-coast-dwellers out there, the word "head" is used to describe a small outcropping of land on a coastline. Bray Head has a reportedly wonderful hiking trail going all the way to the top. I could see people walking the trail in a loop to the large cross at the top. I had time to spare, but I wanted to secure a comfortable bench seat facing the fireworks, and Sara and I have plans to take this hike together later this summer. Not wanting to spoil myself, I decided to wait on the Head hike.

I brought my Kindle with me so I could kill time and watch the sun go down. I was glad to have the fleece jacket, the rain jacket, and the blanket. Even in August, Ireland can be chilly.

August Evening Attire

A saxophone-playing busker set up shop just down the boardwalk from my spot. I listened to him play through his set two or three times, only really noticing when he played three repetitive minutes of Ravel's annoying classic, Bolero.

As the sun went down (over the city, not the water) the beach and boardwalk filled with fireworks-watchers. Tracksuit-clad teenagers not-so-discreetly rolled cigarettes and took long pulls from cans of cheap hard cider right next to me, which really appealed to my inner "Get off my lawn!" self.

Sunset over Bray

The fireworks display, the reason for my visit, was nice, but nothing to write home blog about. The gathered audience seemed impressed. I'd like to watch the reaction of this crowd at the Independence Day fireworks display of any mid-sized US city.

After the fireworks, I hopped back on the bike and pedaled home over the same big spike in elevation. I accidentally took a longer route home, as one of the many roundabouts was missing a sign for the regional road that I needed. As I pushed on through unfamiliar empty streets at midnight, I thought to myself, "I should have expected this..."

I was never worried, though. After all, there are a lot more signs for Dublin than there are for Bray, so I knew I would find my way home... eventually. One more adventure in the books, and on the blog.