Following the recommendations of, oh, pretty much everyone we’ve met here, we’ve been to Howth twice. It’s a suburb of Dublin, jutting out into the Irish Sea, and it’s one of the loveliest places we’ve ever been. Here’s why!
Location, Location, Location
Howth is full of cuteness: there’s a castle (sort of), cliffs, two lighthouses, seafood restaurants on the water, a harbour, a mass of rhododendrons, and ice cream. There’s even a transport museum if that’s your thing. We like big cities, no doubt about it, but on our first and also our second trip here we found ourselves wondering what it would be like to spend a couple of months in one of those glorious houses on the hill. (That won’t happen – they are well out of our price range.)
There are several walks around the peninsula, ranging in length, and offering gorgeous views. But even if you aren’t a hiker, the walk around the harbour, which keeps you close to civilization, has a number of wild little bits, including several whimsical sculptures. Speaking of whimsy, a family of seals hangs out by the harbour, very conveniently located to the fish shops, just in case anyone wanted to buy them a snack. They are exceedingly photogenic and happy to wait for you to get just the right shot.
Food in Howth
Ah, and about snacks: we’ve already mentioned ice cream. There’s an open-air market with good gelato from Amore (we’re picky about this from our Italian gelato-eating!) and a variety of baked goods. There are also a ton of restaurants featuring seafood; our favourite so far is Octopussy’s Seafood Tapas, for the obvious reason but also because their dishes are mostly small – which means you can try a bunch – and inventive. We’ve tried just about everything and think the whiskey scallops, the shellfish platter, and monkfish and prawn curry are the best. A number of the wait staff have married Italians (we’ve been practicing our language skills with them!) which means they are also picky. And they’ve got a fish shop next door which is also pretty darn amazing.
That, in a nutshell, is why we like Howth so much. As we said, we’ve only been there twice, and there are a number of treasures still to eat, err… explore. So we plan to go back again on the next sunny day and probably the one after that too. (Really, it’s not all about the food!)
