Early arrival in Dublin

Downtown restaurants offering breakfast will be open, at least some of them, by the time you get to your hotel and leave your bags in storage since your room probably won't be ready. You can check the first departures for the hop-on hop-off tours, which will be more efficient before the mid-day crush of tourists slow down the routes.

Under similar circumstances we did almost exactly what Southam recommended. Stashed our bags; found the ticket office (O'Connell St., near the Spire) for the combo HopOn/HopOff-CityBus ticket (we need city bus to get to/from our B&B outside city center); had a nice breakfast at a cafe inside a mid-sized department store a few blocks west on Henry Street (don't recall name; but you'll see plenty of options); then rode the HOHO bus for a few hours getting oriented, perhaps napping a bit. After a pub lunch, we did the RS recommended Trinity College tour before heading back to B&B to check in. (Baggage, passport, etc. took very little time at DUB; very efficient.). You might also consider booking (in advance) the Kilmainham Gaol tour (covered by Heritage Card, btw) for that morning since you'll have plenty of time. It's very interesting -- if grim -- and is on the Red HOHO line.

Coincidentally, I was about to ask the same question with an additional query. I may not be able to drop off my luggage until 12:30 at our AirBnB in central Dublin after our 5 a.m. arrival. Does anyone know of any options for what to do with luggage after these early arrivals? We are arriving on a Sunday and I do see that most places do not open for breakfast until 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. on Sunday and Hop-on Hop-off begins at 8:45 or 9 a.m. though my biggest concern is what to do with luggage for our family of 4. Any ideas/suggestions appreciated.

Gradevine,

I would contact your Air BnB host and ask them. They've probably dealt with this issue before. (Hopefully they will give you access early, at least for luggage access.)

Regarding what is open on a Sunday: Not much, but a few coffee places are open. "Insomnia" is a chain with lots of locations, and they were open by the time we arrived in the city at around 6:30 am on a Sunday.

Good luck and have fun!

Thanks for the info. I will check it out.

There seems to be more than one HOHO bus company. Which did you use?

Regarding which Hop-On Hop-Off bus to take, I have seen preferences for the DoDublin Green bus since at least half of them have live commentary from the driver which can make for a more lively and entertaining ride, while all of the red bus have recorded commentary.