Advice for 3 days in Dublin - scoping out for a move from UK.

[Hiji]

This is for my DS who is attending open day for TCD on Sat 2nd Nov.

We have the Friday and Sunday to get a sense of the city he would experience as a student if he got in. Saturday is the open day.

Any ideas where we should explore / focus on to inspire as well as a reality check?

Bit worried that that weekend will be a bit mental because of Halloween?

We have a hire car so can stay outside of the city - if anyone has any recommendations for cheaper area / accomodation (probably north of the city).

Also we are veggie - so any veg friendly restaurant reommendations would be welcomed.

Halloween is on the Thursday so it'll all be over by Friday, wouldn't worry about that.

I can recommend Shouk in Drumcondra, just outside the city centre, for fabulous food. It's not veggie exclusively but they do fabulous middle eastern food which is great for veggies. And if you do go that far, go to a pub called Kavanagh aka The Gravediggers. They also do lovely food- tapas with an Irish twist and plenty veggie options to choose from.

Have you booked accommodation? Where will you be staying? You definitely don't need a car if you're planning on just exploring the city centre. They're making it very difficult to bring your car into town now, you'd find public transport easier.

Dublin is very expensive. I hope you have a kind auntie you can dust off for him to stay with for his time in Dublin or else you'll need deep pockets to pay for accommodation. The positive side of studying in Trinity is that it's bang in the city centre so he could live pretty much anywhere.

Get the Luas from Stephen’s Green to Milltown. Then walk up Temple Road to Dartry. Trinity Hall is there and if he looks for student accommodation that’s where he could well end up not on the campus in town. Then walk to Rathmines, plenty of places to stop for lunch or coffee and that will give him a good feel for the area. Pop into the Swan Centre and check out dunnes stores for grocery’s. Lots of students cycle to Trinity from Halls. I think it may be just too far to walk but there are plenty of buses.

Thanks very much.

Not booked accomodation yet - just thinking where would be best.

Have already booked a cheap car for the weekend as we might try to catch up with family who live north of Dublin in Dundalk.

On the northside you could consider:

Malahide (Grand Hotel) -seaside town, train line to city centre, nice restaurants

Drumcondra - (Bonnington hotel, Skylon hotel) closer to city, regular buses, quite studenty some restaurants (shouk as previously mentioned is good for vegetarian)

Southside you could look at the Clayton Hotel Leopardstown which is along the luas (tram) line or Marine Hotel Dun Laoghaire for the train.

These are just a few options but might get you started.

In terms of what to do you could explore the area around Trinity- Grafton St, St. Stephens Green etc. Cornucopia is a nice vegetarian restaurant near Trinity.

You could go to Rathmines ( a studenty area) where you could go to the lovely Stella cinema and eat in Bethlehem restaurant.

Kilmainham jail or EPIC museum would be good for a bit of history.

Botanic Gardens, Phoenix Park, Malahide Castle, Sandymount Strand all nice for walks.
Howth is a nice village to visit.

Brother Hubbard is nice for vegetarian brunch. They have a few locations. Nutbutter on Grand Canal Dock is a nice vegetarian option. The Bord Gais theatre is close by if you are interested in that.
Almost all restaurants have vegetarian options so you would not have to worry about sticking to only vegetarian ones.

You will find Dublin quite expensive compared to the UK.

Thanks we will be busy. Just booked hotel in south Dublin - near Dart and we can park the car there and use it if we want to go further afield.