How to Time Your Trip to Dublin

Dublin is known around the world for its literary giants and fine stout. Travelers who actually make it to Ireland's capital are captivated by the 18th-century architecture, quiet city squares, good-humored atmosphere and other charms that are not so easily exported.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Travel Clothes
• Foreign Language Phrase Books
• Local Guidebooks To Dublin
• Maps
• Airline Tickets
• Travel Services
• Cameras
• Film

General Considerations

1. Expect wet and exceptionally mild weather in Dublin, with the Gulf Stream and warm southwesterly winds moderating the seasons. Freezing temperatures are rare, but visitors should bring warm clothes and raingear regardless of the season. The average low in January is 34 degrees F, and the average high in July is 69 degrees F.
2. Check out what festivals, attractions and live performances are happening.
3. Take care of your flight, transportation and accommodations (see Related eHows).
4. Check the weather forecast for Dublin shortly before leaving, and pack accordingly.

Attractions and Seasonal Events

5. Put on something green for the St. Patrick's Festival, which lasts five days in mid-March.
6. Listen to great international blues musicians at the Guinness (previously Temple Bar) Blues Festival in July.
7. See innovative and experimental international films at the Dublin Film Fringe. It's based at the Irish Film Centre in October; call [phone] for information. (Don't forget to first dial the international access code, 011.)
8. Don't miss the theaters; this is the country that produced Yeats, Shaw, Wilde and Beckett. Check to see what's playing at the Abbey, Peacock, Gate, Gaiety, Olympia and New Eblana.
9. See Dublin's famous landmark, Trinity College. Established by Elizabeth I in 1591, its library contains the epoch-making 8th-century Book of Kells.
10. Learn more about Dublin's most famous author, James Joyce. Visit the tower where he lived briefly in 1904; it will be recognized by anyone familiar with the first chapter of Ulysses. There's also a James Joyce Centre, which leads organized walks of Dublin. Call the tower at [phone] and the Centre at [phone].
11. Tour Dublin's excellent museums, the foremost of which are The National Gallery, with more than 2,000 paintings, and The National Museum, which displays early Irish artifacts. And don't miss the Dublin Writers Museum, with information on Joyce, Shaw, Yeats, Beckett and many others.
12. Swig a few glasses of Guinness right from the source when you take a tour at the Guinness Brewery, where your admission fee includes two glasses of Ireland's best brew.