Dan and I visited Ireland’s Cliffs of Moher for the third time last December, when we spent the week between Christmas and New Years in Ireland. We got a bit of commentary from people telling us not to go to the Cliffs of Moher in the winter, but we had a great time with better weather than our prior visit (a May trip). Moral of the story – don’t let the time of year put you off from visiting stunning the Cliffs of Moher!
Some cow friends made en route to the Cliffs of Moher.
Dan and I spent a few days between Christmas and New Year’s in Galway, Ireland. This was our third trip to Galway, and we had a lovely time, despite it being winter. This article shares information on what we did and some tips for visiting Galway between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Galway on December 27th!
Galway is decorated beautifully for Christmas and Christmas decorations, with the exception of the small Christmas market on Eyre Square, stay up through New Year’s, possibly longer. As such, this is a great time to just stroll around Galway, take in the decorations, and simply enjoy the town. And that is just what we did. We didn’t have too much planned for our three days in Galway, but we ended up doing some shopping, some pubbing, some sightseeing and a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher.
Galway decorated for Christmas – with blue skies!
Sailboats with Christmas lights in the River Corrib.
Dan and I spent last Christmas, as well as my birthday (!), at the absolutely lovely Mount Juliet Estate with seven other family members (9 total!). Located about 15 minutes outside of Kilkenny, Ireland, Mount Juliet is an Irish country estate with a world renowned golf course, multiple restaurants and bars, and enough activities to keep one busy for a week. It is also part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection (a surprise plus for us!). All 9 of us had a lovely time and found Mount Juliet to have something for everyone, particularly those of different generations. This post reviews our stay over the holidays as part of Mount Juliet’s Christmas Package. However, in short, Christmas at Mount Juliet was just perfect – the decorations were gorgeous and the staff took care of everything. We felt our stay was worth the cost and the food was excellent!
Christmas at Mount Juliet Estate!
As mentioned Mount Juliet is a grand estate with lots to do for all ages, but I’m first going to talk about the actual hotel. For purposes of the hotel itself, the hotel is split between two buildings: the Manor House, the original home on the property, and Hunter’s Yard, the former stables. We stayed in Hunter’s Yard, and I was happy with our decision. Guests of either building can freely use facilities in both; vans and golf carts shuttle passengers between the two if walking is not feasible or preferred (but its a flat, paved 5 minute walk between the two).
Hunter’s Yard in gingerbread form.
As Christmas was essentially cancelled in 2020, Dan and I moved up our planned Costa Rica New Years Eve trip to leave on Christmas day, spending and working a few days in San Jose before moving on to the La Fortuna area, our original NYE destination! You can read about our experience in San Jose here. In La Fortuna, we spent most of our time at the Tabacón Thermal Resort and Spa, which has lovely, amazing thermal pools. This article details our experience at the Tabacón.
Arenal Volcano in La Fortuna, Costa Rica.
For those unfamiliar, La Fortuna is a small, touristy town about a 3 hour drive from San Jose. The centerpiece of La Fortuna is the Arenal volcano, which towers over the town and is quite magnificent on a clear day (which apparently doesn’t happen that often). La Fortuna’s surrounding area also offers lots of adrenaline-fueled jungle activities, including white water rafting, zip lining, and rain forest hikes. However, due to the Arenal Volcano, the area around La Fortuna also has lots of less-adrenaline fueled thermal springs – or water sources naturally heated by the volcano. Since we love a good hot spring, we decided to stay at one of the resorts planned around said hot springs. We opted for the Tabacón Thermal Resort & Spa because it looked very nice online and is part of the Hyatt hotel network.
The Tabacón Thermal Resort and Spa is a resort complex located about a 15 minute car ride from downtown La Fortuna. While you cannot easily walk between the Tabacón and La Fortuna, there is plenty in the Tabacón complex to keep guests busy, from four restaurants, to a lovely pool, a shop, lots of space to walk around, complete with wildlife and perfectly manicured grounds, to the amazing hot springs, and guests will not want for activities to fill the time. Indeed, guests could stay here for several days without leaving, if that is what you are look for, or simply leave the resort and go into town, making the Tabacón a good choice for may types of travelers.
Welcome to Tabacón Thermal Resort and Spa!
