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3 nights before tour in Dublin April/May 2026

Posted by (Midwest USA) on

Hi, My husband and I will be starting a 10 night tour of Ireland starting in Dublin on Sunday, May 3rd. This will be our first visit to Ireland!

We will be flying in from the Midwest USA Thursday morning arriving close to 8 a.m. We will take the bus to Malahide. We have one night reserved at Malahide Guest Rooms. We are planning on a tour of Malahide Castle that day. I have not bought tickets yet. Would you advise to buy the timed tickets ahead of time for the end of April? Does anyone have lunch or dinner recommendations?

Friday
Check out of hotel-bus to Dublin hotel, (we will check beforehand to see if we can store our luggage) the Grand Canal Hotel.

RS Dublin City Walk Part 1 -St. Stephen's green, Mansion House, Grafton Street, Trinity College, The Bank of Ireland, The Grand Boulevard, Molly Malone the Bank bar, Dublin Castle (tour), Dublin City Hall, Christ Church Cathedral, the River Liffey, Millennium Bridge, Temple Bar, Ha' Penny Bridge. We would also like to visit Chester Beatty.

EPIC or St. Patrick's Cathedral

Dinner/music

Saturday
Kilmain Gaol- will buy advance tickets 28 days in advance

Archeology/National museum
National Gallery

Dinner/music

Sunday
EPIC or St.Peter's
Meet Group at 2p.m.

Any thoughts on our plan? I know it's a lot for a couple of days. I have a hard time figuring out what to see and what to save for our next visit. We like to see a lot and are pretty quick looking at museums. I have many restaurants saved on google maps but haven't decided exactly where to go yet. Thank you!

Posted by
615 posts

For dinner in Malahide we enjoy Scotch Bonnet. Enjoy your visit!

Posted by
542 posts

We took this tour in 2017 and had a wonderful time. You may want to check with the RS office on what sights the tour will include (I'm assuming this is a RS tour you are joining, but maybe not.) Our RS tour included Kilmainham Gaol - but perhaps that has changed. Prior to the tour, we went to the National Museum and really enjoyed it. Same for Chester Beatty Museum. Whatever you do, have a splendid time!

Posted by
17 posts

KimberlySEA- Thank you for the recommendation! I saved it and will plan on it for arrival day. It is close to where we are staying too!

Posted by
17 posts

KC- thank you for your reply. I wasn't clear but it's not a RS tour. Our tour really doesn't see much in Dublin, just that first evening, then we leave in the morning. It's nice to hear the positive reviews of the National Museum and Chester Beatty! Yes, it looks like so many good choices in Dublin! We have been talking about visiting for years so it's hard to believe it's actually happening soon.

Posted by
3521 posts

Suggestion for Friday: take a tour of GPO (Post Office where the rebellion started). It helps put history in perspective when you visit Kilmainham Gaol on Saturday.
Ticket hint for Gaol tickets: be online as soon as the website ticket opens IRISH TIME. My neighbor bought our tickets since I was in England. It took her three tries within 15 minutes to get tickets. She tried for morning tickets but ended up with afternoon.

I found Chester Beauty Museum disappointing. I spent longer in the cafe sitting by the reflective pool than I did in the museum. 14 Henrietta St tenement museum is much more interesting.

Posted by
1648 posts

You can take the DART from Malahide to Grand Canal, quite close to your hotel. Should be faster and easier than the bus.

Posted by
17 posts

Horsewoofie- thank you for your reply. I will add the GPO to Friday. It is very close to where we finish our walking tour.
Yes, I will set my alarm to buy the Gaol tickets. I did this for attic tickets for the colosseum last year and I was so glad that I did.
Thank you for your thoughts on the Chester Beatty and Henrietta St. Museum. I was debating about the Henrietta Museum- I will see where I can put this, actually it looks like we could add this right after the GPO. It looks like I may need to move EPIC to Saturday.

Posted by
17 posts

G3rryCee- thank you for noticing that. We will plan on using the DART that does look more efficient.

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