How to Spend a Weekend in Dublin

A lively, atmospheric town with an interesting history, Dublin is a great place to experience quintessential Irish charm. Explore Ireland's capital on your weekend and get an insight into life along the Liffey River.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Hotel reservations
• Rambler ticket
• Tour bookings, if required
• Credit card
• Passport, if coming from abroad
• Visa, if required

1. Visit the Dublin Tourism Office and get information about ongoing bus or walking tours for the next two days. You may have to book some in advance. Get a free bus map of the city from the Dublin Bus Office. If you want to explore the city on your own, buy a Rambler’s ticket. This will allow you to travel on all Dublin Bus scheduled services, including the Airlink bus. Or you can get a Short Hop ticket from the Rail Travel Center or any DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) railway station, allowing unlimited travel on Dublin Bus, suburban rail and DART services.
2. If you want to explore the city on your own, buy a Rambler’s ticket. You can travel on all Dublin Bus scheduled services, including the Airlink bus. Or you can get a Short Hop ticket from the Rail Travel Center or any DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) railway station, allowing unlimited travel on Dublin Bus, suburban rail and DART services. Given its small size, much of Dublin can be explored on foot.
3. Take the Dublin Ghostbus Tour, if you feel up to handling some gory story-telling. Starting at O’Connell Street, you will learn body snatching techniques in St Kevin's Graveyard. Visit St Audoen's and the haunted Forty Steps and discover that Dracula was, after all, a Dublin homeboy.
4. Head for Temple Bar, South Great George’s Street or Camden Street, where some of Dublin’s most interesting and varied pubs are located. Sooth your frayed nerves with drinks and an excellent meal at a traditional Irish pub to the accompaniment of live music, dancing, literary readings and stand-up comedy. This is a good opportunity to get acquainted with the locals.
5. Set out after breakfast on the Dublin City Tour. Beginning on Upper O’Connell Street, this will take you around 16 city sights for an hour in an open top bus. You can hop off and on at any point in the journey, which is great if you want to explore any particular sight at your own pace.
6. Go on the South Coast and Powerscourt Gardens Tour, which will give you a grand introduction to Dublin’s beautiful southern coast from the Dun Laoghaire promenade and James Joyce’s Tower at Sandycove to the Wicklow Mountains, picturesque Enniskerry Village and the amazing Powerscourt Estate.
7. See the Celtic Gold collection in the National Museum and the Picasso and Caravaggio at the National Gallery. Visit the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. Look around the Guinness Storehouse and Old Jameson & The Chimney.
8. Stroll across St. Stephen’s Green and visit Dublin Zoo. Go for a cruise on the Liffey River and visit Kilmainhaim Goal. Explore O’Connell Street and learn more about the Easter Uprising. In the evening, join the Dublin Pub Crawl at Duke’s Pub on 9 Duke Street and hear performances from some of the best Irish literary artists.
9. Spend Sunday morning visiting Dublin Castle, Trinity College, Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Visit the Dublin street markets in Temple Bar, Henry Street and the posh shops in Grafton Street.
10. Buy souvenirs or just stroll around admiring Dublin’s Georgian architecture. End the day with a relaxed drink at Ryan’s Victorian Bar in Parkgate Street, or join the revelers at the Sugar Club on Leeson Street. Pubs and bars are open until 1 a.m. or later on weekends.

Tips & Warnings

• Dublin is directly accessible from most British airports, many European cities and from North America. From elsewhere, go first to London and make your travel arrangements from there.
• DART trains are good for traveling between the north and south parts of the city and to the suburbs.
• You can book most tours online in advance.
• Dublin has various festivals happening throughout the year. Check if any of them coincide with your weekend.
• The Rambler ticket is not applicable for Nitelink buses, ferry services and tour buses.
• Traffic is very heavy in Dublin, so renting a car won’t be worth your while.
• Taxi fares can be expensive.
• Cycling around town is not a good idea. There are no cycling lanes and most places prohibit cycle-parking.
• The DART trains are crowded during rush hours

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