Dublin Tours and Attractions

Kimberly, Here's a few comments on some of the sights in Dublin.... > Kilmainham Gaol - it's a significant place in Irish history. As I recall, you can reach it on one of the Hop On/Hop Off Bus tours. > Hop On / Hop Off Bus tours - these provide a good "overview" of the important sights in a few hours. > Guinness Storehouse - I don't consider this to be too significant historically, but it's kind of fun to walk through the facility to see how Guinness is made. Having a "free" pint in the Gravity Bar is the "reward" at the end of the tour. There's often a VERY long queue to get in, so I'd suggest picking your time (perhaps right at opening time of later in the afternoon before closing?). Happy travels!

Attractions? Kind of makes Dublin sound like Disneyland.
Read up on Dublin. Rick's book is very helpful. Provides insight and practical information.Taking a leap of faith and suggest you'll enjoy Temple Bar, The Guinness Storehouse and shopping along Grafton Street. From an historic POV, The Book of Kells at Trinity College, Kilmainhame Gaol, the Custom House, St. Michan's Church, Christ Church Cathedral, the Post Office, Dublin Castle, The Four Courts, and Ha'Penny Bridge might be of interest. You should also consider tours of Newgrange and Glendalough.

Here's a link to Rick's page on things to see in Dublin, you can't go wrong with this
http://www.ricksteves.com/tvr/dublinrse208_scr.htm It's a pity you're not arriving a couple of days earlier, you could have gone to see the Leinster Hurling final in Croke Park, a fantastically skillful game played with hurleys (camán) and ball (sliotar). If anybody reading this are over here in Dublin around then it is well worth a visit. Here's a clip of a hurling match, featuring my home county Clare, quality is poor but it gives a flavour of what you might see. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWdYVl14SU4&feature=related Enjoy your stay with us

There are also day trips to Glendalough and Newgrange that are run by Bus Eirenn(?). We picked up tickets the night before at the downtown bus station for the Newgrange/Boyne Valley tour. It was cheap, well-paced (stopped at Newgrange, Battle of the Boyne sight, Trim Castle, and Hill of Tara), and the bus driver - while not a tour guide - did tell you everything you needed to know to see each stop. We didn't take the Glendalough tour but I expect it would be a nice day trip also.

We really loved Kilmainham Gaol - it had some really interesting history on Ireland's fight for independence. Guiness isn't cheap, but we still liked it. The museum is thorough and the bar at the top has the best views. Definitely would take a day to go north to do Newgrange - really cool. I defer with Rick Steves on one of his highly recommended sites, No. 29 Georgian House. It was just OK, I thought. I believe he gave it three pyramids, which is a must see. Meh.

Just to show you how opinions can differ, I loved the Georgian house tour - and hated Guinness and thought it was a huge waste of time and money. It all depends on where YOUR interests lie.

Would Grafton Street be the best place to buy souvenirs?

I cast a vote for the Archaeology Museum in Dublin. Not only do they have some stellar exhibits is it an amazing building! I can't believe I haven't heard it discussed more. It feels like a Roman Spa building or something converted into a museum and it's free so take a flier on it and check it out. Also support Newgrange and Knowth - those are some amazing sites and they do a good job with them. The Trinity walking tour - which includes the Book of Kells and Long Room library - was interesting and the guide was amusing. It is a very small cost over seeing the other things themselves and is worth the upgrade if you're going to see them anyway. Christ Church stood out even after seeing a ton of churches during the trip. Don't miss the crypt underneath for more stuff. The "castle" tour was okay but probably best for people deeply involved in Irish history. You get to see the excavated remnants of the old castle under the current buildings but not a 'castle' in a sense most people mean.

Kimberly, you will find souvenir stores all over. Grafton St might be a bit more expensive than, say, O'Connell St, but you will pretty much find the same things everywhere.

I agree with Nancy, we did not like Guinness at all, waste of time and money. Thought highlight of Dublin was the Gaol, if it is not reachable by hop on tour, can take city bus there. It was closed one day a week but can't remember which day. If you can get to Newgrange, it is very worthwhile.

Agree with sites already recommended. We did visit and enjoyed the Guinness Storehouse. I thought the displays and history of Guinness beer was interesting. We also enjoyed the view of Dublin from the top of the building, the Gravity Bar. It's a lively place where we met, chatted, and compared notes with people from different countries. There weren't lines to get in when we went, which was later in the afternoon. Thanks to Tod for recommending the Archaelology Museum-have put that on the list for our next visit to Dublin. Have a great time.
Barbara

Forgot to add, we purchased souvenirs at some of the stores on Nassau St. near Trinity College (Kilkenny and the House of Ireland) and also at The Temple Bar Trading Company. Grafton St. has stores which offer souvenirs, too.
Barbara

I'll add a recommendation for the Archaeological Museum. One other nice thing about it is that it's not too huge. You can see everything in a couple of hours.

About 5 years ago I went on a day trip to Dublin with my family (8 of us total). I really enjoyed the Guinness Storehouse. Guinness has been a favorite beer of mine for a long time. I thought the storehouse had amazing displays, which my entire family loved, even though I'm the only one who regularly goes to museums. We did a hop on, hop off bus and I can't quite remember anything else.

Having just gotten back from Dublin, I highly suggest getting tickets for the Hop-on/Hop-off bus and seeing the Guinness Warehouse (my husband loved that) and he learned how to properly pour a pint - there is an art to this. We both loved the tour of Kilmainham Goal, very informative and our tour guide was a wealth of knowledge. I personally love the tour of 29 Georgian house. It's interesting to learn how people lived back in the day, just know you can't take pictures there, you would have to buy postcards of each of the rooms. I brought my Rick Steves Ireland guide with me everywhere I went, very helpful. Make sure to tour the Temple Bar area too. Also check out Trip Advisor, there it lists the best places to visit and tour. It just depends on what your personal interests are. You might even try to get a day trip out of Dublin to visit the Great Causeway, or Cliffs of Moher or going down to Blarney and kissing the Blarney Stone. At every opportunity, I interacted with the locals - they are a wealth of knowledge and extremely pleasant. Enjoy your trip and be ready to have a great time! Patty