Never traveled and 2 1/2 free days in Dublin

Tabitha, it would help to have a bit of additional information about your trip. For example, are you flying from Boston to Dublin for only 2.5 days? As you've never travelled before, I'd suggest pre-reading "Europe Through The Back Door" before you leave. While it's mostly concerned with the continent, there are good tips in there for "general travel" in Europe. Which books and travel guides have you read? You might try and find a copy of Rick's "Snapshot Dublin" book in your local stores, or you could order it from this website. When are you leaving for this trip? There's MORE than enough to keep busy with in 2.5 days in Dublin! Is there any way you could arrange slightly more time (even another half day)? Cheers!

Tabitha, visiting the Kilmainham Gaol is definitely important from a historical perspective. As I recall, you can get close to that with one of the hop on/hop off Bus tours. Take the official tour in the Gaol, and then catch the next Bus. BE SURE to allow at least one evening to take in the Temple Bar District, as it's a lot of fun, and of course always nice to stop for a pint of Guinness while there. I agree with the others that with only 2.5 days, you don't really have time for day trips. Keep in mind that you'll also be dealing with jet lag, so probably won't be up to best "touring speed". Good luck!

And it sounds like you have a list in your head of what you'd like to do, but you're not sure if you can do it all. Can you post what you want to see?

There will be more to do in Dublin than time available so I would rule out day trips out of town. Dublin has some great walking tours/pub crawls that aren't very expensive - not exactly a day tour but it's a good orientation (depending on the topic of the tour) and fun.

Sorry i was going to post more but didnt want to ramble. I actually arrive in Tuesday am at 5ish from Logan so Im guesstimating getting to the hotel at 10 Im there until mid-day Saturday but the person who im traveling with (and isnt helping plan) really wanted to do a day at New Grange and a day at Wickelow so Wed/Thur we're out of town. We cant extend on because we booked one of those fly/hotel deals. Im into anything and everything which is why im having trouble. i definitely want to do the jail (yes i know thats not how its spelt but ill really botch it if i try) and graffin st and as many historical sites as possible. Im big into sights if i couldve figured it out and had time i probably woulve planned a trip to the cliffs of mohrer or the aran islands. i literally picked up a book and highlighted about 90 things and i know thats not reasonable. Ive read about 6 different books/guides and some suggest skipping things like guinness and others say dont skip. I definitely want to find a great place to pick up some gifts/sweaters for my mom. im reallg active so i want to make as much of this trip as i can as i probably wont be back for a long time

Definitely take a hop-on, hop-off bus tour that first day. It will give you a good intro to the city in about 90 minutes. The ticket is good for 24 hours, so after making the loop once just get off at things you want to see and get on the next one when you are ready to move on.

I second Nancy's suggestion of the hop on/off bus. My personal favorite is Newgrange which I would not miss EXCEPT that I don't know about it for November. Better check the hours, etc.

We talked with Mary Gibbons tours and Over the Top Tours and they were able to help us juggle out the 2 days and ensure that they would do tours those two days. I was thinking of the hop on hop off and what about the Dublin pass, is that worth it? I feel like a kid in a candy store.

Tabitha says in her second post that the two day trips are IN ADDITION to the 2.5 days in Dublin, not included in it (though day #1 is really only a half day, and you fly out Saturday midday so that's a half day, also - that leaves Friday as your only full day). Because of your timing, I'd save the hop-on, hop-off bus for Friday early morning so that you can use it as transportation the rest of the day. Kilmainham Gaol is going to take at least a couple of hours by itself. Tuesday afternoon you could spend wandering Grafton St, Trinity College, and the Temple Bar area. Wed and Thurs are your day trips. Friday take the bus tour, see Kilmainham Gaol and perhaps a museum or something else that you spy from the bus, and/or do a walking tour. The city center is small and you can really do a lot in a day and a half.

There is always the Guinness brewery Tour (half joking). You may just enjoy wandering around from Trinity down to and along the river, some interesting bridges and pubs

NANCY, I guess I misconstrued the details in the OP and subsequent replies, that it was 2.5 days in Dublin PLUS the day trips. Still, that's a very limited time frame for seeing a lot of sites. BRIAN, I noted the fact that you're "half joking", but the tour of the Guinness Storehouse is interesting to a point, but not THAT interesting that I'd recommend it for such a limited time frame. I've seen the queue run right around the corner at times, so one could waste a lot of valuable travel time waiting. The highlight of the tour is basically only the "free" pint in the Gravity Bar. Cheers!

You mentioned Newgrange which was interesting. My wife and I liked Knowth better. If your entry fee isn't included in your tour, you may want to see about getting an OPW card there. It will cover about half of your cost just in Knowth and Newgrange. See what other sites are of interest to you in Dublin and you may find it worth buying. Dublin Pass didn't seem to be worth the money for a real short stay. I'm not familiar with any of the Wicklow tours but many go to Glendalough and Powerscourt. We liked Gendalough but never went to Powerscourt. November may be a tough time for both. In Dublin I recommend a half day at least at the National Museum of Archeology (free). Go on the Musical Pub Crawl (10 e) one night and plan on hanging out in the Temple Bar area one or more nights. See if any of the other Dublin tours interest you. There are many. The Ireland Patriot and Literary Tours seem to get the most favorable comments. We liked going to the Chester Beatty Library (free) but weren't real impressed with Dublin Castle (OPW). Trinity College is a good tour and you should definitely see the Book of Kells (about 15 e for both). The Gaol (OPW) is worth the trip and if you don't want to spend the money and time for the hop-on-hop-off bus you can take a city bus for about 1.30 euro each way. It's about a 2 mile walk and goes close to the Guinness Brewery tour spot (no brewery, just a tour). We never went but some people like it. Walk around the older parts of Dublin. Go through Merrion Square and St Steven's Green. Number 29 Georgian House (can't remember the cost) was interesting but not a must do. I found Rick's book on Ireland to be pretty much right on and especially helpful for a short visit to Dublin. We ended up meeting Rick's coauthor (Pat O'Conner) at our hotel. A tour was forming the day before we left.

Ken, please explain what an OPW card is.

OPW is Office of Public Works. Ireland has a card (OPW Card) that you can buy at any OPW site. They cost 21 euro for under 60 and get you into the better sites in Ireland for no extra cost. They are also good for a year. They are a much better bargain than the British version. In my experience, they cover the better sites and are a good way of finding good sites in any area where you have some free time. If you go to Newgrange and Knowth you will pay (I think) about 12 euro so you get a head start on justifying the card. Trim Castle is (I think) 6 euro so it's close by and a good site that's easy to see if you have a car. The best parts of an OPW card is that you can go to the front of the line at most sites (Kilmeainham Gaol is a great example)and it's good for a full year so if you go back to Ireland within the year it's still good.

Hi Tabitha My husband is from Dublin, and we go back regularly. Wonderful city! Don't stress too much, no one in Dublin does. Grafton St. is THE shopping street, if that is your thing. I love history, so Trinity College is a must, you can view "The book of Kells" there. Outstanding. Parnell Square houses the Writers museum, showcasing the likes of James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, etc. These are all in the same general area. Dublin is not really a huge city, not sure where you live. We are in Toronto, so small compared to us. Soak up the "Irish charm", make sure you have a pint of guiness in a pub! Slante.