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

@sorrpwfulmystery We were passing through Dublin, stayed one night and had a full day there. I looked on tripadvisor and google, just as I do for other cities. That is usually enough to highlight lots of places we want to go to.
Galway is lovely though, we really liked that.

I'm Irish not from Dublin and it's grand but it's a bit dirty and lots of addicts in the centre
I still njot it but I'm only an hour away

There are much nicer small towns in the Dublin suburbs

I come from a city with theatre, restaurants, cinema and great pubs, better than Dublin.

Struggling to see how you can make that claim based on just one day in Dublin! How many theatres, restaurants, cinemas and pubs did you visit in a day?

Hmm, it is expensive and Temple Bar is super busy but there's lots of fab stuff to do in Dublin. I visited the gaol, the PO, the Guinness factory, Trinity. Then I did a literary pub crawl (which was great fun) and went to the theatre.
I prefer Belfast but Dublin is good for a busy, lively weekend.

I find it bizarre that people think there is nothing to do in the city. I have lived in the city for20+ years and it pisses me off because there is so much going on that I keep missing cool things.

A guided tour of glasnvien cemetery is a must, as is kilmainham goal, the presidents house in the stunning Phoenix park.

Henrietta street amazing, the Georgian house museum over in beautiful merrion square. The dead zoo, and the big bodies in the national history museum.

This is not mentioning all the exhibitions, shows, plays, music, comedy shows.

There are amazing restaurant, cheap to eye watering expensive.

Dublin is no more expensive than London and it's expensive as make it.

Just stay away from templebar

I've been a few times and the main issue I have is the expense but also it made me realise I prefer continental cities, with their cafe culture. Sounds ridiculous but Dublin isn't different enough.

@sakura I did not visit any except a restaurant. But just looking at trip advisor top rated restaurants gave me this impression about restaurants. And when you google independent cinemas the cinemas that come up also show many of the blockbusters. My local independent cinema shows a lot of unusual films. Why would I want to as a tourist go and see a film I can see anywhere?

Similarly with theatre, when I was there I saw the big shows being advertised. As a tourist what I would be interested in is something like the play and pint initiative which shows something different. There may be something like that in Dublin, but I am not aware of it.

I see those defending Dublin saying people need to research it more, but most people do what I do and have a quick google and look on trip advisor. That has worked for every other City in Britain I have made a short trip to or weekend trip. If it does not work for Dublin but there really are fabulous places, then they need to be better advertised to tourists.

Also those talking about the park - yawn. There is an amazing gardens in NI I visited, that blew me away. Phoenix Park is the kind of place that if I lived in Dublin I would visit a lot with my family and really appreciate it. But as a tourist I want to see something different.

And yes Dublin is expensive. We paid a lot for a not great b and b, but it was one of the cheaper places to stay.

Its great if some people love Dublin as a tourist. But I am with the many who say they were disappointed by it.

@elizabethdraper Most people visiting Dublin like I was will have flown in and if there for a weekend, will not have a car. The jail did look interesting. But I remember when we looked it up it was a relatively long and complicated journey by public transport, so we did not go. I also think there is a big difference between cities being good to live in, and being good for tourists.

Where I live has great restaurants, a brilliant independent cinema, great pubs etc. But I think it would be a boring place as a tourist. Tourists want different things from people who live there.

I went there some years ago, looked around the shops, explored generally, visited the Irish Gallery, pubs etc. Bought lots of Guinness cheese. Always wanted to go there again. Missed the Guinness Brewery as it had just closed for the season but still plenty to do for a long weekend.

I think the problem with Dublin is not so much the city itself, but people go expecting to experience authentic Ireland without doing any research and end up pissed off that they finished up in Temple Bar paying €8 for a shit pint of Guinness.

I lived there for a few years and it’s a great city if you know where to go, ie avoid the tourist traps.

Previous posters are right about the increase in visible homeless people. Some parts of the city can feel quite unsafe, but I think that’s unfortunately the case for most big cities.

I’m pleased to see Belfast getting such good reviews- I’m local and have always (totally biased!) thought that it had a bit more charm than Dublin.

Ok Jenny, so you've formed a view based on a vague overview of tripadvisor rather than actual experience. By the way, we do have independent cinemas like the Lighthouse and IFI, but who goes on a break away to go to the cinema anyway?

There have been cities I've spent a day or two in before and didn't get a good impression (namely Copenhagen and Budapest) but ended up back there again for work or an event and I found them so much better second time round. You really can't judge any city in a day.

Also Kilmainham Gaol really isn't difficult to get to on public transport from the city centre.

Yy I went to the gaol by public transport or a sightseeing bus (I can't remember - it was after I went to the Guinness factory ) but it was easy to get there.

I was disappointed by Dublin. Firstly, at the Brexit exchange rate of €1.08 to £1, it is very expensive for British visitors.

Secondly, perhaps my expectations were unrealistic but I expected a mini-London with loads of interesting stuff to see, do and eat. Instead, I found that Dublin was much more like provincial British cities, eg Leeds or Nottingham.

I've lived in dublin, As to the fact there's nothing to do. I suggest looking up the Dublin free events guide. All-day every day in dublin there's is multiple free events, afternoon and evening - theatre, tours, poetry, performance art, talks comedy and so so much music, and that's just the free events. Many venues in dublin have a "live music 7 days a week " policy. I've never been anywhere with such a multitude of different types of music playing at a local level every night.

a mistake I see again and again is people just going to the tourist area called temple bar. Its horrendous, so expensive, full of tourists and fake charm and any Irish you meet there will be more than likely working and sick of tourists. Otherwise irish people have the reputation of friendliness for a reason. I find it strange that there's a complaint that it's expensive, what do you expect from a place with such a strong economy and a population with high wages. Everything is pretty fairly priced if you're living there. Avoid the tourist area and you should be fine.
Within 45 minutes drive maximum from the city centre you can either get to the howth cliffs or to the Dublin wicklow mountains. There's also public transport that will get you there. It also has the largest inner city park in Europe with wild deer everywhere.
I can't think of another city where you could walk some cliffs,in the morning, climb a mountain (a not very steep one) in the afternoon and be back in time for dinner and a concert /play in one-day, and on any day

I hope you enjoy yourself :)

I can't think of another city where you could walk some cliffs,in the morning, climb a mountain (a not very steep one) in the afternoon and be back in time for dinner and a concert /play in one-day, and on any day
Glasgow

I live near Dublin. I hate when friends come to visit and want to go there . I never know what to do with them unless we have planned a show , etc.
Just wandering around is not much fun. I found it overpriced, rather dirty and run down. A bit embarrassing to take tourists around.
Outside the city can be lovely , but most people on a weekend don't have cars.
Find Belfast a bit the same.

I love Dublin, but it is one of the few places that I have visited that I just would not want to live there. I am one of those that visits somewhere and that’s it, I’m imagining my whole life there and looking in estate agents windows, I just did not get that with Dublin.

I'm surprised that some people are shocked that a capital city is expensive. Would they be shocked to discover that Paris or London are expensive? Also, I don't understand the comparisons earlier in the thread with Belfast. Belfast is in the UK.

Dublin is expensive but not as expensive as Copenhagen. I went to Copenhagen for 4 days and came back feeling that it wasnt a patch on Dublin. People who said there's nothing to do didn't put much effort in. I liked Copenhagen though.

people forget that wages are high in Dublin, I think an average full time salary is around €45k

I loved Dublin! Can't wait to go back. A beautiful city with so much to do. But maybe the difference is that my SIL is from Dublin so we avoided all the tourist spots and she took us to her favourite places.

I'm Irish and know Dublin very well, I have lots of friends there any have visited many many times. TCD, Book of Kells, Kilmainham Gaol, all great. And the pubs are wonderful, especially if you have a Dublin friend to show you the best ones. But I'm not a fan. It looks dirty, the junkies are intimidating, its expensive, and it rains a lot. I always recommend Cork instead. I've lived in Belfast, Cork and Derry and would definitely recommend Belfast or Cork (or Dingle!) over Dublin.

I kind of felt the NI tourist board had sold Dublin too well

The NI tourist board wouldn't be selling Dublin at all because it isn't in NI. It's hard to take someone's opinion seriously when they don't even appear to know what country they were visiting.