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4 Days in Dublin

We're spending 18 nights in Ireland, beginning with 4 nights in Dublin. The first day will be a blur of checking in to our apartment, getting some groceries and trying to stay awake until 8 p.m., so we'll have 3 full days to see the city. We're staying just across the river from Trinity College, so pretty central, and we both like to walk, and we anticipate doing a lot of it! I'm not a beer drinker, but my husband does like beer, so we'll want to visit some pubs and maybe even the Guinness Museum, but we're not on a big pub crawl. We'l also like to hear some local music are are morning people and not night owls, so is there an option? Local concerts?

Also, with only 3 days in Dublin, we'll want to be picky about museums, but I think the Book of Kells/Trinity College and the archaeological museum - anything else? Do we have time to do a daytrip to Newgrange?

On day 5 we'l pick up our rental car at the Dublin airport then spend 3 nights in Kilkenny, 2 nights in Kinsale, 1 night at Kenmare, 3 nights in Dingle, 4 nights in Galway, daytripping as far north as Connemara and County Mayo before driving back to Dublin, spending our last night at the Dublin airport Holiday Inn. Any suggestions welcome!

Posted by
3561 posts

I would not miss the Kilmainham Gaol tour. It was a highlight. Book in advance online.
I have not done the day trip to Newgrange, but its on my list!
Music will be at many of the pubs in the evening. Temple Bar area is very popular.

Posted by
7 posts

Thanks! As for the music, what I was trying to AVOID was a late night at the pub, but we still want to hear some local music! I'm not sure that will be possible, so we just might have to sleep in one morning!

Posted by
8880 posts

Not "local music", but Riverdance is back in Dublin this summer if that sounds like a treat you might enjoy.

Posted by
72 posts

In the Temple Bar area you have a very good chance of hearing music without staying up too late.

What do you plan to do in Dingle? Three nights would be a night too many for me. You could add a night to Kenmare and see the Beara Peninsula. IMHO, of course!

Posted by
7148 posts

Dublin isn’t that large so 3 days in my opinion is more than sufficient. I’d use one of those days for that day trip you want to do. We did the book of Kelly/trinity college and that took up some time. We went to the Guinness brewery but didn’t take the tour since it is pricey and neither my wife nor I drink beer. In the evening there was live, free, local music at the Oliver St. John Gogarty bar. Very lively and we didn’t have to stay out late. Other bars also had live music.

Posted by
7 posts

I added an extra day onto our Dublin stay just to get over jet-lag - the older I get the more I hate it! We will be heading to Kenmare (and the Beara Peninsula) after Dublin. Some have suggested an extra night in Kenmare - but I really thought I had the lodgings nailed! Should I re-think our time in each place???? Here's our itinerary again:

  • Dublin 4 nights
  • Kilkenny 3 nights
  • Kinsale 2 nights
  • Kenmare 1 night
  • Dingle 3 nights
  • Galway 4 nights
  • Airport hotel 1 night
Posted by
409 posts

artnbarb,

regarding late nights in pubs; as Anthony Bourdain pointed out in his segment on Dublin -- pubs close early in Ireland!! You don't say when you'll be there, so I don't know if it's tourist season or not. But in the season many pubs have 6 pm trad sessions on Sundays.... so that might help!

I'd suggest instead of 3 nights Dingle, doing 2 there and 2 in Kenmare (or Sneem) so you have more time to see Iveragh peninsula (Ring of Kerry). Some cram it into one day, which is silly. If you want to take advantage of the Skellig Coast region of the RoK you'll go mad doing it in a day.... it will be drive drive drive rush rush rush.

You don't tell us about yourself in your profile so we don't know what to suggest. Do you like art? horses? nature, walking, photography; beaches; farms; culture; history..... recommending things that you're not into, well......

Susan
Expat in Waterville/Skellig Coast

Posted by
7 posts

I'm asking now f I can add a night in Kenmare, but have not heard back. Lots of places I wanted were already booked

In regard to what we like, a hearty YES to everything you mentioned! We LOVE beautiful scenery, and anything ancient/quaint/charming. Love small villages. Love good food. Love history, and art. Not particularly religious, interested in beautiful architecture. We're from Kentucky so we hope to stop by the Stud Farm on or last day as we drive from Galway to the Dublin airport Holiday Inn Express. Hoping to dispel all the "Philomena" impressions I have of the country and fall in love with Ireland like everyone else!

Posted by
1162 posts

If you have 3 days in Dublin you’ll have time to go to Newgrange. We did a hill of Tara/Newgrange tour and you’ll be back in Dublin for an early dinner. You actually get to go inside this huge burial mound! I expected it to be damp and musty but it wasn’t. It was fascinating to think they were built thousands of years ago.

Posted by
135 posts

Christ Church in Dublin has an extended tour to take you to the belfry and ring the bells---narrow winding stairway up but so worth it!. We enjoyed the Guinness tour--I am not a beer drinker but hubby is so we did the whole thing. Tip from a cabby---add Ribena (black currant cordial) to the Guinness to take the edge off. Great advice since it made the draught palatable for me and I enjoyed several half pints on our 10 days in Ireland. The bartenders on the top floor at Guinness knew exactly what I was asking for and watching them carefully and efficiently pour the pints was interesting. The Famine memorial is sobering but a good reminder of some dark times---easily seen on a stroll along the river Liffey. We did find Dublin harder to navigate than other large cities--lots of construction and roads were not well marked. Newgrange was one of the highlights of our trip---imagine being in a 5000 year old tomb. Beautiful and interesting!