The first timer’s guide to exploring Dublin

‘When I die Dublin will be written in my heart.’ – James Joyce.

The secret to visiting Dublin…

I’ll let you into a little secret about visiting Dublin for the first time. Ignore anyone who tells you to avoid the ‘tourist traps’. For once, I think they’re wrong. Here’s why.

Dublin does the touristy stuff really well. There’s a reason that the Guinness Storehouse tour has been named Europe’s best tourist attraction in the past. It really is that good! And this is coming from a woman who really doesn’t like Guinness all that much!

And when you’re foot sore and weary from a day exploring some of Ireland’s top attractions, Dublin also does restaurants and pubs very well too. I mean, it wouldn’t be the Irish capital if it didn’t do pubs well, right?!

This small capital really does have it all. Add in the fact that Dublin is extremely walkable, owing to its small size, and it isn’t as expensive as I was told it would be and you have yourself the perfect destination for a long weekend away.

What You Need to Know

Getting There and Travel around Dublin

You can fly directly and cheaply to Dublin from around the UK. Upon arrival, there are a couple of great options to get into the city itself.

If you have the cash, then you can take a taxi anywhere in the city. We took a taxi to our destination and it cost €33. The journey took about half an hour and we paid by card, although double check this is available before you jump in. The taxi rank is immediately outside arrivals on your right.

Alternatively, you can take the direct 747 bus to or from the city centre. It cost us €7 per person one way and was an efficient and economical way to travel. You need cash to pay but the driver does give change. The bus stop is immediately outside arrivals to the front left at the airport. We took our bus from O’Connell Street, near the city centre, on our way to the airport at the end of our trip.

Once in Dublin, I’d recommend walking if possible as the city is small and you’ll get to see more. Alternatively, there is a bus network or the Luas line. Uber is also available with either ‘black cab’ or metered taxi options. We chose the ‘black cab’ option one evening and had the best Uber experience ever, with massage seats, disco music and flashing lights! Totally random but so much fun after a few drinks!

Where to Stay in Dublin

I stayed in two different accommodations during my stay, one an excellent mid-range hotel and the other a more budget-friendly hostel.

Jury’s Inn, Christchurch.

There are two Jury’s Inns in Dublin. We were booked into the one near Temple Bar, in the Christchurch area of the city. It’s a chain hotel, found in cities around the UK and Ireland, with clean, well-maintained en-suite rooms and a really good breakfast available. Room prices start at €107 without breakfast, but I’d recommend paying a bit extra and having the breakfast (our bill came to €117 per person per night). I was upgraded to an Executive room free of charge upon arrival, which was a pleasant perk.

Gardiner House Hostel, Mountjoy.

For the final two nights in Dublin, we stayed at Gardiner House Hostel. It’s a ten-fifteen minute from the city centre and is one of the nicer hostels I’ve stayed at, with breakfast included in the price. The breakfast was actually really good by hostel standards. We had pancakes one day and there was the usual spread of toast, cereal, tea, coffee and juice. Our room was a six-bed female dorm and was light, airy and not at all cramped. It came with an en-suite bathroom, though there are bathrooms elsewhere that you can use if desired. We paid £140 for two people for our two night stay (£35 per person per night). If you want to stay in a hostel in Dublin, I highly recommend this one.

Where to Eat in Dublin

Maybe we just got lucky, but I don’t think we had a single bad meal while we were in Dublin! Aside from breakfast, where we ate at our accommodation, we ate out for every meal and they were all good, without exception.

Pinocchio Italian Restaurant, Temple Bar.

An Italian restaurant with excellent pizza and pasta. Very good service, delicious food and reasonably priced. Centrally located in Dublin’s main tourist area, so easy to head for a night out after eating if desired! I had four cheese pizza which was very good.

Shakshuka, Rathmine.

We really stumbled across this restaurant! It’s a BYO so remember to bring a bottle and settle in for some delicious Israeli / Palestinian food. A little away from central Dublin, but worth visiting if you’re in the Rathmine area. Lots of vegetarian choices available.

Eatokyo Noodles & Sushi Bar, Temple Bar.

As we fancied noodles and were in Temple Bar, this was the obvious choice for dinner. Excellent food, good portion sizes and another BYO, which helps to save money! There’s a great range of vegetarian dishes, as well as meat and fish.

Mulligan and Haines, Dame Street.

If you want some traditional Irish food, this is an excellent pub to visit. It’s a bit of a tourist trap, but E said that her Irish stew with mashed potato was very good and my vegetarian option was surprisingly flavourful. We both drank Guinness made light beers, plus hot whisky and Irish coffees are on the menu.

The Church Cafe, near O’Connell Street.

We only drank coffee here, but this cafe is legendary and a big tourist hot spot in Dublin. I’d recommend visiting, even if just for a coffee or drink. It is a beautiful venue, with the old stained glass windows and some religious icons still on the walls from when the building was a church. We were given a 2-for-1 voucher on drinks at the Leprechaun Museum just down the road, so it may be worth popping in there if you want to sniff out a deal!

Where to Drink in Dublin

Of course, you can’t visit the capital city of Eire and not go for at least one or two pints of Guinness (or your tipple of choice!). Ireland is renowned for its fantastic drinking culture, with lots of live music venues and plenty of fun to be had. Temple Bar is the obvious area of Dublin to go to, with a wealth of bars, pubs and clubs to visit all packed along quaint cobbled streets.

We visited two bars – Bad Bobs and The Auld Dubliner. Both had their charms. It was a Saturday night so everywhere was packed out and we weren’t really dressed for the occasion, but we had a few drinks and enjoyed the live music in both venues. Of course, there are literally hundreds of other places to spend your time and money, so wander along Temple Bar and take your pick!

Visiting Trinity College Library

Before we even arrived in Dublin, I knew I wanted to visit the world-famous Trinity College Library. A must for book nerds, Harry Potter fans and anyone even remotely interested in history, this beautiful old library was top of my list of places to go.

I booked our tickets online before we went. As the Book of Kells was not on display, we got a 15% discount on the usual price. Our tickets cost €12 each. Having a pre-bought ticket meant we could hop the queue and go straight in when we arrived, a bonus as it was pouring with rain!

The library was everything I wanted it to be. As one of Dublin’s top tourist attractions, it was busy, but not overwhelmingly so. There was plenty to read about the history of books and the library, and the library itself was as good as I’d hoped.

We spent about an hour and a half there altogether. We wandered up and down the library’s length, reading everything and laughing at the lettering on the bust of Shakespeare, which looked more like they’d spelled ‘Shake F. Pear’ (that well known playwright!). It was the perfect start to our Dublin adventures and I would highly recommend visiting.

A must-visit destination: the Guinness Storehouse

We initially didn’t plan to visit the Guinness Storehouse. I wasn’t hugely interested, not being a big fan of Guinness, and E was returning to Dublin soon after our visit so had planned to go then. However, as the rain set in, we realised we couldn’t simply loiter in a pub all day, no matter how cosy. We decided that a visit to the Storehouse would actually be a great way to avoid the weather. Tickets booked online, we set off.

To our amazement, we would literally bowled over by how awesome the Storehouse is. Neither of us expected to come away from our tour saying it was one of the best things we’d done in a while! As it turned out, we spent over three hours deep-diving into the wonderful world of Guinness! From start to finish, our time there was really great!

The tour is hugely interactive, with lots of video displays, buttons to press, sensory experiences and plenty of information to take on board. There is even a waterfall in the middle of the tour! You can do a Guinness tasting session, learn how to pour your own perfect pint of Guinness and end your tour in the Gravity Bar, famous for its 360 degree view across the city.

While the tour didn’t exactly change our minds about Guinness (I’m still not a big fan), we none the less left singing the praises of the Guinness Storehouse. The tour is perfect for anyone and everyone, is very accessible and really good value for money. Tickets start at around €19 per adult and include the cost of a pint of Guinness, plus the taste session as well. For three hours and a pint, that’s excellently priced.

My Dublin Takeaways

Yes, there are other tourist attractions in Dublin that I imagine are really worth visiting. However, if it’s your first time to the city and you only have a day or so available for exploring, I don’t see the harm in hitting up the obvious destinations and indulging yourself in Irish food and Guinness. The attractions and places we visited were all, without exception, really well done. We consistently went away feeling we’d gotten excellent value for money and that we’d had a great time.

Despite my initial reservations about visiting the Guinness Storehouse, it actually turned out to be the highlight of the trip. And while I’d usually be the first to advocate visiting lesser known areas of a very well-known city, in this instance I literally cannot fault the obvious tourist destinations. They didn’t even seem too busy!

Having spent three nights in Ireland’s awesome little capital, I can confidently say that it’s the perfect short-break destination. You will not be disappointed if you visit!

NB: I was not photographing with my blog in mind over this weekend, as you might be able to tell! Sometimes, it’s much better to switch off and just have fun! And if you’d like to read more about my Irish roots, why not read about Allihies, my ancestral home?