Dublin in a Day

What matters here is what matters to you, not anyone else. What are your top 3 "must sees" in Dublin? What are your interests?

I have to tell you that if I had limited time, I would definitely skip the Book of Kells. Small space with a crowd of people around it and a bit underwhelming. Instead I would substitute a tour of Dublin Castle which I found far more interesting.

https://www.dublincastle.ie/

One fun thing we did was to go see Riverdance while we were in Dublin. The Gaiety Theatre was a great venue and I don't think there was a bad seat in the house. https://riverdance.com/tours/dublin/

We found the goal very interesting. I found Guinness very boring, but I don’t drink any kind of beer. My husband liked it. It’s not a tour per se, you just walk in a circle up to the top bar passing exhibits with each step of the brewing process. A lot of reading. I would think a Guinness at a pub would be just as good. Dublin castle was a better use of time. We also did a quick tour of St. Patrick’s. We missed the book of Kelly’s, too crowded. But we did have great fish-n-chips by Dublin castle at Leo Burdocks. A definite don’t miss in my book.

Thanks, I'll look at this Dublin Castle site. We would definitely like that.

I don't like beer either, but my husband really does and loves Guinness, so I'm thinking we shouldn't miss that. I saw there is the Jameson Whiskey distillery there and it has a tour, so might look into that. I guess it depends on if we do enough of that in Scotland and don't need more of it.

I'm about to watch a Rick Steves special on Dublin, so maybe I'll get more ideas there as well.

You hit my Top Three. Kilmainham Gaol drips with Irish history, which is what I wanted to see. FWIW, Guinness and Kilmainham are not far from each other. We walked from one to the other in 15 minutes, but there are buses.

Trinity College, of course, is right downtown, and just walking around the downtown is nice too. If you're interested in Irish History there is also the General Post Office, Four Courts and Dublin Castle. For just a pleasant walk there is St. Stephen's Green, the Haypenny Bridge and O'Connell Street. For social life there is Temple Bar.

I recommend the National Archaeology Museum and the Chester Beatty Museum which are also both free. The Chester Beatty is one of the best rare book collections in the world. They also have a very nice cafe as well. It is right behind the Dublin Castle. so you could combine the two attractions. I think the National Archaeology Museum is a must if you are interested in Irish history. It was probably my favorite attraction in Dublin.
https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Archaeology/Visitor-Information
http://www.chesterbeatty.ie/

@darrenblois and @Ciao_Jane, both of your posts are very helpful! All of those things sound like things we'd be interested in. I appreciate the suggestions. Now to narrow them down!

I highly recommend this 2 hour historical walking tour https://historicaltours.ie/https://historicaltours.ie/. It meets right outside Trinity College gate so it would be convenient to do after Book of Kells and library if you go there.

I found the Guinness tour more interesting than I anticipated because the history of that firm has been intertwined with the history of Dublin since 1759. However, if I only had one day, I might not choose it.

If you happen to be going in summer months, it stays light until almost 10 pm, so you could squeeze in some self-guided walking around on the first evening.

Get up in the morning and visit Trinity/Kells, then go to Guinness, then wander through Temple Bar hitting a few pubs. If you walk between Guinness and TB you can pass the castle and a couple of historic churches.

Walking tour is a great idea. I'm sure RS has one. Will have to double check the book and then decide if we want to do it on our own or guided.

We usually love to do a food tour in a city like this but I haven't heard much talk about that in Dublin. Have heard about group pub crawls, though. Any opinions about doing a pub crawl on our own or a tour?

We are going in June so will take advantage of the longer days!

That sounds like a great plan for the day, @KBK. Thanks!

You'll be fine pub crawling on your own - especially in Temple Bar where they're concentrated.

The things we liked best in Dublin were Kilmainham Gaol, the National Archaeology Museum and the Trinity College walking tour. The Book of Kells was OK but you only see one page and it can be hard to see that if the crowds are too big. The attached library was wonderful though. We were not terribly impressed with the Guinness "tour". The view from the bar at the very top was nice but the bar itself was quite crowded and the "free" pint included in the price of admission was not worth the time and expense--go to a nice pub and have a pint instead). As someone mentioned, though, Guinness is quite close to Kilmainham. If you decide you really want to do both go to Guinness first--Kilmainham is a rather sobering experience and you might not be in the mood for Guinness afterward. Also be aware that (at least in the before times) tickets to Kilmainham were often sold out well ahead of time so plan in advance! You should also consider the Hop On Hop Off bus--we found it very helpful in getting around and it stops at most all of the important sights in Dublin.

Good to know we can take on the Temple Bar area on our own. Thanks!

Thanks for the tips, @PJ! Will do Guinness before the gaol if we decide to do it. Someone else said you spend a lot of time sitting in traffic using the HOHO, so we'll have to think about that.

The Little Museum of Dublin was a very worthwhile 1.5 hours, located just on the northwest corner of St Stephen's Green, so pretty close to Trinity College

Thanks! I'll look into The Little Museum.

We've added on a third night now and are doing a day tour to the Cliffs of Mohr. We're excited to see more than just Dublin!

We had several days in Dublin, but you asked about a food tour. We did one with Secret Food Tours and enjoyed it.

I'll look at Secret Food Tours. Thanks, Susan!

Hello from Wisconsin,

Slow down.

Well the Guinness Brewery is definitely not worth a minute's time. The cliffs of Moher are other other side of the country. This would be like someone flying into Milwaukee (forgive me) and wanting to see Lake Superior. You drive forever just to have the wind blow in your face. I say, fly into Dublin and be glad you are in Dublin. The Gaol is a good place to go. Take a long slow walk from St. Stephens Green across the Liffey and up O'Connell street to its top. Along the way are many good things to see. Many people miss Moore St Market behind the famous Grand Post Office. The gaol is a bus ride away with the bus originating near this path but on the south side of the Liffey.

Don't forget a pint of Guiness in Dublin. Between St. Stephen's Green and upper O'Connel there are side streets that off up nice pubs.

If you can't slow down and enjoy being i Dublin try a day trip into the Wiclow Mountains to see Glendalough. That way you only spend a couple hours riding between chances to breath Irish air.

wayne iNWI

The Cliffs of Moher day tour from Dublin is a VERY long day, something like 13 hours. You spend most of your time on a bus. Depending on your interests, consider taking a day tour to Glendalough, Powerscourt Gardens, Kilkenny or Newgrange instead.