Places to stay while in Dublin and biking in Dublin

Posted by deborahlenorekaplan on 07/15/24 09:14 PM

My husband and I will be in Ireland at the very end of September for 7-10 days (we're still finalizing our plans).

Where to Stay: We'd like to spend 3 nights in Dublin. We've never been to Ireland, so we don't know the best neighborhood to be in. While we're in Dublin we want to take walks, go to pubs, learn and see some history, and hear traditional Irish music. We'd like a location where it's not far from and easy to get to the various places we want to go whether walking, biking or taking car service or public transportation (we are from NYC and used to getting around a big city via bike, walking and public trans.). We'd like to stay somewhere with a reasonable nightly cost, clean, comfortable bed, friendly. We don't want fancy, or high cost. Basically low to mid range price.

Biking: How is biking in Dublin? Is it easy to rent bikes? Are bike helmets available? Are there bike lanes? How safe is it vis a vis cars, etc.

Thank you!

Posted by KD

07/15/24 09:37 PM

698 posts

Dublin is so walkable; I don't recall even seeing bikes anywhere when we were there. Maybe I just wasn't looking for them, but I just remember seeing bus lanes everywhere, so not sure where bike lanes would be.

Posted by valadelphia

07/15/24 10:26 PM

4713 posts

There is bikeshare, and there are some bike paths. https://www.dublinbikes.ie/en/home
But I'd first just go look at a site like Booking.com and see what comes up on the map for your dates, price range, and other parameters. The map function enables you to choose good locations.

Posted by Trotter

07/16/24 12:48 AM

1524 posts

The area around St. Stephens Green and Trinity College is probably the most central part of Dublin City Center. That's where most of the action is in terms of pubs, sites, restaurants and shopping. Naturally, it's also the most expensive. But if you go north of the River Liffey, off of O'Connell Street you will find that hotel prices are much lower and still within walking distance of Trinity College, St Stephens Green, Temple Bar, Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and museums. Six years ago I stayed at Wynn's Hotel, https://www.wynnshotel.ie/, and was quite comfortable. Further north, on Upper O'Connell Street, there's a Holiday Express. If you go east along the river there's a Hilton Garden Inn. Friends have stayed there and liked it. Alternatively, look south to the Ballsbridge and Sandymount areas. It would be about a 2-3 mile walk to Trinity College or you could use the DART train which is sort of a cross between a subway and commuter train.

Edit to add: Re car service. Uber and Lyft do not exist in Dublin. The Uber app will work but it will just call you a taxi. It would probably be easier and faster to just find a taxi rank.

Posted by TexasTravelMom

TX, USA

07/16/24 01:01 AM

4546 posts

Public transportation is really good and the busses are easy, either with just a tap card or a LEAP card. I used Free Now a few times while there last month, as well as a taxi rank - it depended on where I was beginning. I can’t help with areas, as I stayed at a hostel and then in Trinity College summer accommodations (highly recommend this when it’s available).