Short break. Why is Dublin so bad

[IfIShouldFallFromGraceWithGod]

I'm looking for a city break and Dublin was on my list. It scored highly on the worst holiday thread, can anyone tell me why

Its like a shoddy workman blaming their tools!

This thread is ludicrous now. I knew a woman who went to Dublin and met somebody who wasn't in a good mood.

FGS

I went to Dublin once and would never go back. It was run down, dirty and yes, boring. Not really sure why we went tbh. I've heard Belfast is nicer.

This thread is bullshit now. Total pile on.

Do people go to other places looking for something 'uniquely' [insert nationality here]?

Do they expect the natives to perform a certain part?
Do they expect not to find people all over Europe doing exactly the same things everyone else in the rest of the first world does, having the same preoccupations, watching the same TV shows...
Are Scandinavians really all about the hygge? All of them, all the time?
Are Italians all somehow connected to the Cosa Nostra?
Are all Parisians impossibly chic and soigné, all the time, all over Paris?

If I went to London as a tourist I would certainly see whatever sights I was interested in. But would it be fair for me to expect Londoners to present the class binary of Upstairs Downstairs or Downton Abbey or Mary Poppins for my entertainment? The British class system is something unique to Britain, so why not?
Should I expect to bump into cheery Cockney Pearlies speaking in rhyming slang all over the East End? Costermongers selling jellied eels?

If you're a tourist and you feel the answer is yes then you should really give their heads a wobble. Nobody owes you a performance to match your ill informed expectations. Stereotyping is a slippery slope.

I fucking LOVED Dublin. Walked my feet raw doing a whole day by myself, then did a day in the company of local and visiting friends. Dirty? Shut up. Expensive? Shop around, fools. I used public buses and they were great. Do buy some naff tourist gifts in Carroll’s... your friends/fam definitely want Guinness tea towels and shamrock pants. 😆

So true @mathanxiety

Haven’t been there for ages but we really loved it. Arrived late in the dark and saw deer in the headlights grazing in Phoenix Park. That was a good start. Loved the Georgian doors and Trinity College with the amazing Book of Kells. One night we were sitting beside Kiefer Sutherland in a restaurant!

That's nice to hear, Shoutmomma.

Just remembered the Vintage Cocktail Club in Crown Alley (Temple Bar) is lovely. As you're all going to Belfast or London from now on, I won't need to book.

They make pants out of shamrocks?

In other cities, there is a visible police presence that you don’t see in Dublin. Thieving from bags, bag snatching, constant annoyance from addicts and beggars means it is impossible to sit outside a cafe, and generally having people in your face ALL the time is intimidating. The board walk is simply off limits to anyone other than users. People can’t walk to their bus stop after 10pm at night without people asking for money or shouting things at you. So many parts of the city are awful.

Hmm. I’ve lived here for 34 of my 37 years, went to college in the city centre, lived in the inner city on both sides of the river. I don’t recognise the Dublin of your description at all.

Pierre
If you want sandy beaches then certainly the north side of Dublin is the place to go. South side beaches tend to be gravelly and sand tends not to be the fine variety.

But if you want fantastic coastal scenery then the south side is the place to go, with the exhilarating cliff walk in Howth the honourable north side exception.

The view of Killiney Bay, the city of Dublin and the Dublin and Wicklow mountains from the top featured in 'Once' and 'My Left Foot' if you want to skip the walk up the paved path to the summit. The cliff walk from Bray to Greystones (or Greystones to Bray obv) offers a good stretch of the legs and the experience of just you and your thoughts and the sound of the sea. All of this is free and within easy reach thanks to the Dart.

Again accessible by Dart, you can rent a sea kayak at Bulloch Harbour, or take a boat tour to Dalkey Island and see the ancient Christian ruins of St Begnet's church, a cairn burial site, two holy wells, and the Martello Tower that was constructed using stones from an old druidic stone circle that once graced the ancient Bulloch settlement. If you're self catering maybe you would like to buy a fresh lobster or some crabs or mackerel early one morning from the working fishing boats that use the harbour.

Or visit Coliemore Harbour, where you can also embark on a tour of Dalkey Island or paddle around in a kayak, or just sit and watch for dolphins and seals. Jump in and ply the bracing waters if you time the tide right.

You can also swim at Sandycove further north along the coast south of Dun Laoghaire, or at the Forty Foot if you prefer not to wade in and you feel like thumbing your nose at the patriarchy.

• from the top of Killiney Hill...

@GeorgianaDovesHouse - well, to be honest we get the leprechauns to make them. You've discovered a secret we've had for centuries!

"The board walk is simply off limits to anyone other than users."

Thats a fair point. As a Dubliner it would never cross my mind to go on the boardwalk. I know its off limits. It always was. I'm sure there are streets in every city that would be known as a spot for users. You just know not to go there. Unfortunately a lot of the twee touristy things you see advertised are all in rough areas where you would never go if you knew better. It seems to be the done thing to try to rejuvenate a dodgy area by bringing tourists there. The marketing is the problem, not the city. You're being sent to all the wrong areas.

It just seems silly to complain that the presence of rock that has been there for 475 million years means sandy beaches are not available on both sides of the city.

Or to insist that a feature that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site trumps everything else. Well yes, the Giant's Causeway and the Antrim coast are incredibly impressive. But dissing one set of volcanic rocks while singing the praises of another is petty one-upmanship.

Hmm. I’ve lived here for 34 of my 37 years, went to college in the city centre, lived in the inner city on both sides of the river. I don’t recognise the Dublin of your description at all

There are well known pick pockets near the GPO. Venture past Henry St and you find people strung out. The little park behind the Jervis Centre had to be removed due to being taken over by addicts. Go either left or right at the top of O'Connell Street and its grim and intimidating. Talbot St is simply awful. The security guards in the shops are constantly running after people. Dunnes Stores on Talbot St is surrounded by alcoholics drinking cans. The streets north of the Liffey are full of cheap phone shops selling sim cards with notices for 'unlocking' (presumably stolen) phones. The board walk is full of people looking to fight or drug addicts harassing normal people trying to go about their business. Go down the quays and see drugs being openly bought and sold. You have to avert your eyes in case they see you looking at them and shout or follow you. Go past ChristChurch and onto Thomas Street and its bloody awful. People shouting, crappy shops, more addicts. The red Luas is very very intimidating so much so that people prefer to rattle around on the buses instead. Go towards the 3Arena and turn a corner into Eastwall and you may find yourself with a strong police presence as they try to safeguard the streets from gangland shootings. Temple Bar is rip off tourists territory. Much lauded Bewleys on Grafton St is ridiculously expensive. When I was last there, I ordered a slice of apple pie and a coffee and it cost over 9euros. It was nice but it wasn't nine euros nice. Walk down Baggot Street and there simply isn't much there but it certainly feels better and safer to walk around there as you would hope to be the case as it leads to the embassies. There are huge problems in Dublin. Listen to the radio Joe Duffy if you are unaware of them. Incidentally one of the things Ireland does best is provide excellent radio news and shows so anybody can tune in on internet radio.

In other cities, maybe because they are bigger and areas can avoided, this isn't the case. In Dublin there is an overall feeling of unease in the city centre streets.

Perhaps some people say this all adds to the 'character' of Dublin. It depends on what you are used to. I never got used to it.

It's funny, I'm quite a jumpy nervous easily scared person. Yet I don't find the red Luas line remotely intimidating and feel quite safe on it even fairly late at night. And the last time I felt uncomfortable wandering the streets was in O'Connell Street in 1995, when I did see a steady stream of pretty intimidating types.

Agree that the boardwalk is terrifying though.

@mathanxiety Personally yes I go to places to see unique things. And no not stereotypes. So I went to Berlin to go to museums about East and West Berlin, the wall and the Nazis. I went to Budapest to go to traditional baths, I went to Paris to go to the louvre and eiffel tower.

Math

That sounded like straight out of a tourist guide book! Yes there are nice walks around the Dublin coast. But it remains true that one set of volcanic rocks can be more a lot more spectacular than another, one coastline can be stunning while another is a bit tamer. I'm not talking about the Giant's Causeway, impressive though it is, when I refer to the Antrim coast. There is so much more to it than that. I'm not going to give a compendium here though.

The sandy beaches on the North side of Dublin, like Bettystown, leave me a bit cold, sorry. . Not doing one-upmanship, it's just my view.

As for swimming around Dublin, there were times this year when swimmers couldn't go in because the sea was so dirty with pollution. I have family members who live in Dublin, are keen sea swimmers, and can't wait to come up north to swim in the clean and clear Atlantic.

Expensive, dull and unfriendly

Honestly Doyoureally, you sound pretty sheltered if you genuinely find the red Luas line ‘very very intimidating’, or Talbot St ‘simply awful’. I’m guessing what you mean is that they’re both frequented by a large number of working class people, which is certainly the case.

one coastline can be stunning while another is a bit tamer. I'm not talking about the Giant's Causeway, impressive though it is, when I refer to the Antrim coast.

For real beauty go to West Cork and Kerry. It is breathtakingly stunning. Utterly spectacular. Sparking clean but very very cold so bring wetsuits!

*sparkling :).

Just don't go to Temple Bar with a T shirt slogan of Mother of the Bride/ Groom. You'll be flinged and turned until you can't bloody stop.

So welcoming and friendly, no trouble.
I was absolutely dreading it tbh, being middle aged and having managed to go through life without attending a hen party.
Dublin was the best place for a good friendly party. Piss up
There is plenty of history too, I like to take photos of lovely old buildings, I wasn't disappointed and whilst walking through the cobbles there's Molly Malone statue. Ok, nobody knows if she actually existed, but there's rumour of a loose connection to someone buried in the nearby grave yard, that has other famous names.
The hotel we stayed at did regular trips to major attractions in Ireland, the Americans we met were using it as a base.
I loved Dublin. Does what it says on the tin.