Plan my trip to Dublin!

[halfwitpicker]

So me and DH have a rare child free weekend in Dublin. Staying in the city centre.

We plan on visiting the Guinness museum, and hopefully Trinity College.

I want to avoid temple bar.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Museums? Day trips? Is it worth hiring a car for a day and doing a road trip? Is that even feasible? I'm sure all tourists say this but I'd really like to see some of the real Ireland, not just the tourist bits.

Any museum/restaurant/pub /coffee shop recommandations are most welcome ☕

When are you coming over?

Between Xmas and New year.

I've been to Ireland twice before (Dublin and Cork) but it was 15+ years ago, but DH has never been (he's French, so he's excited about the accent, the beer, etc)

Isabella s restaurant on South Anne st - fab - just back from there tonight.
Round the corner- cafe en seine pub - just done up, amazing.

I love Dublin! I’m from the north so it’s always a nice trip. Especially this time of year. We have some friends down there and we love in and out of the city.

If you’re into shopping you won’t be lost.

Temple bar is very hit and miss anyway. Although last time I was there, in buskers bar was an great singer and it was actually a relaxed atmosphere if that’s even possible.

Where are you staying?

Some hotels have lovely spas. There’s also lots of walking tours. There’s phoneix park, it has the zoo and Dublin castle.

The mood I’m in personally though.. find a nice cosy bar with a big fire, and just watch the world go by

In the city kilmainham jail is very interesting.
kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie/

If you want to see countryside but not travel too far, glendalough in Co. Wicklow is beautiful. And just over an hour away. Oh stop in avoca for for a lunch on the way.

Harbour Bar in Bray is amazingand you can get the DART there

We're staying on O'connell Street Upper.

The jail looks fab!

The mood I’m in personally though.. find a nice cosy bar with a big fire, and just watch the world go by

^^

This is what I'm after for sure... But which bars/pubs? I don't want to end up in somewhere super generic.

Not sure what the DART is, will have a Google.

Hmm part of the fun of it! The shittier the better I say 😂

Ooh just googled the DART, didn't realise how much rail infrastructure there was

I really liked the Brazen Head when I visited - we wound up there three of the seven nights we spent in Dublin.

OP, hop on the DART and head south towards Bray. And get off at Dalkey. It’s a beautiful village by the sea, lovely pubs and shops, and you can see a bit of ‘real’ Ireland. There is a stunning, and I mean stunning walk there. Along Vico Road. Views it across the sea are amazing, and you can gawp at the multi millionaires homes.
I’ll go against a previous poster and say although Glendalough is nice is a real tourist trap. I wouldn’t bother for just a weekend.
Have a lovely time.
Henry Street is a very working class, well known street in Dublin. Market stalls and inner city folk, it’s definitely a slice of a different type of ‘real’ Dublin.
Are you in the Gresham?

Tje Brazen Head pub is the oldest pub in Dublin. The dart is a great and you can get a ticket and hop on and off , Dun Laoghaire is a nice stop to get off for a walk on the pier

I was meant to say the oldest pub in Ireland, not just Dublin .

Thanks for all the replies, lots to think about

What we’ve done in the past is take the tourist bus and gone to different parts along the way. The tickets valid 24hours.
We’ve also got a train to Bray. This was in the spring and the weather was beautiful.
We’ve also done Temple bar, St Stephens green, shopping, drinking etc.
We’ve been several times, and always found stuff to do.
Oh, and the Jameson distillery 🥃

Get the train to Dalkey on Sunday morning (prob from Pearse or Grand Canal Dock depending on your hotel).

Get off train, walk into the village and go to the CornerNote cafe for brunch. Ask for directions to the Vico/Killiney Hill.

Basically walk down coliemore road to the harbour, up the hill, keep walking up - and you're on the Vico. Keep walking up (don't take the left hand fork to Bono's house) instead bear right past Enya's house. Then walk down the hill back to the village. Have lunch in the Magpie or Finnegans. Get Dart back to Dublin, or walk to Dun Laoghaire and catch the train from there, via Sandycove (James Joyce museum/Forty Foot) and grab an ice cream at Teddy's.

That's the real South Dublin experience. Have fun!

And you can get the dart north to Howth - a little fishing village. Good pubs there are the bloody stream and a byo pizza restaurant which is sort of half outside but covered and has big beds and swings to sit on callled the dog house.

Ooh yes, Howth for a fish platter on the harbourside! Yum!

peruke.ie Cocktail bar - dark Corners and amazing cocktails

The Vintage Cocktail Bar (in Temple Bar admittedly but not your typical establishment in that location)

The Long Hall on George’s Street - beautiful and authentic. It’s across the road from the gothic wonder of George’s Street Markets which leads into historic Powerscourt House, now a bijou Shopping Centre.

Dublin Castle is a fantastic tour , just a few minutes from Trinity, grab a take away coffee and cake from Queen of Tarts coffee shop beside the Olympia theatre on Dame st ,then go across to Dublin Castle and sit in the amphitheatre gardens at the back of the castle and enjoy them before doing the tour .

Both Christ Church Cathedral and St Patrick’s Cathedral are worth visiting although I think St Pats has the edge .

For a quirky look at more contemporary history The Little Museum on Stephen’s Green is a delight.

Bewleys on Grafton Street for the Harry Clarke windows. The Nat Art Gallery has a great collection and the building itself is lovely. Pop into the Museum on Kildare Street - around the corner from Trinity and Nat Art Gallery- to see the bog bodies, the ecclesiastical collections and the gold hoards.

All these places are pretty much around the corner from each other

dollardandco.ie For breakfast or brunch
Avoca at the bottom of Grafton Street is nice for a browse as well.

If you do get out to Howth try booking Aqua Restaurant, great food and great views

www.google.ie/amp/www.thejournal.ie/love-lane-temple-bar-street-art-4086443-Jun2018/%3famp=1

Oh and just down the lane at the Olympia theatre is Love Lane, really worth a look

For a real Irish experience, it doesn't get much more real Irish than Gerrys cafe on Montague Street. Very classic full Irish breakfast place.

The ghost bus is a lot of fun if you're looking for an evening activity.

A bit of time to stroll through Stephens Green or Phoenix Park would be lovely, they are beautiful spaces. In the Phoenix Park, the Phoenix cafe is a lovely spot to stop. Around Stephens Green, Hatch and Sons is good but the prentiousness ruins it imo. The National Gallery is nearby and the restaurant there is nice (but it's been a while since I went).

You mentioned beer - does your dh drink whiskey? I've heard that the Irish whiskey museum and the Jameson distillery have very good tours. Guinness is very touristy of course, but I enjoyed it a lot. It's also worth considering.

I wouldn't go near the Brazen head if I were you. It's fun, but if you want authentic Irish it's not the place to be. Very touristy and busy. There are lots of interesting pubs in the city to explore.

Oh, and I definitely second the museum. The bog bodies are incredible.

The museum at the old GPO is fascinating as is the Epic museum of emigration. Both well worth a visit.

If your husband is into beer you need to go to the following pubs

Cassidys
The brew dock (fab food)
Underdog
I Milligan grocer (fab food)
The grave diggers after a tour of Glasnevin cemetery