3 days in Dublin in November - any quirky suggestions and inspiration please.

[Hiji]

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/craicnet/5168574-advice-for-3-days-in-dublin-scoping-out-for-a-move-from-uk

We are off with our DS for a Uni open day in Dublin on Sat 2nd Nov. We will have Fri and Sun to explore the city - would like an inside track on living there reality as well as some inspirational places to visit which are not touristy.

Also if there are any veggie friendly restaurant recommendations in the city we would be grateful. Also any accomodation (cheap) north of the city centre as we have a car - would be welcome.

We paid for a tour of Glasnevin Cemetery, It was excellent. And next door to the Botanical Gardens.

First off there are pockets of the North Side of the city that are very dodgy. Be careful around Parnell Street, top of O'Connell Street and streets East of O'Connell Street. I'm not going to diss the entire North Side - much of it outside the city centre is fine, but South side is much calmer, nicer and well, just better (well most of it!).

Which University? Trinity, UCD, TUD, DCU etc. Two of them Northside (not bad areas) two on South side (nice areas). There are other third level colleges all over the city too.

For slightly quirky (not mass touristy) things try-

The Little Museum of Dublin
No. 14 Henrietta Street (old tenement house restored and recreated) and their tour of Northside Georgian Dublin.
Take the DART train to Dun Laoghaire a seaside town about 30 mins journey South from city. Great walk along the pier and lunch/dinner in one of the many restaurants.
DART to Malahide similar journey North, sea again, and go to Malahide Castle and grounds. Very nice place.
Walk around Merrion Square and the Iveagh Gardens.
Take the bus or DART to Sandymount, walk along the seafront, go into the village for a pub lunch. Then walk to Grand Canal Square - great for people watching and DART or walk back to town.
Get the bus to Enniskerry and go to Powerscourt Waterfall.

Avoid Temple Bar.

There are tons of other things, but I'd be here all night. Hope your visit goes well.

Oh and just to mention there are new traffic restrictions in the city now, which means that driving is a bit of a nightmare and parking is quite expensive and hard to find, which is why I keep saying bus and Dart. There is a tram also called the LUAS. I'd encourage you to get a LEAP visitor card for ease of use of all modes, it's like an oyster card. Once outside the city driving is fine.

Veggie restaurants, Govindas, and Cornucopia are my two recs.

Vegetarian friendly restaurants

https://cornucopia.ie/. Funnily vegetarian. A little canteen style but excellent food. More of a cafe.

Good for lunches casual. 2 minutes walk from Trinity.

The far end of trinity: https://napoli.ie/

Not vegetarian but veg friendly and good.

Also https://www.dunneandcrescenzi.com/. For good Italian.

Accommodation north side

Try https://www.mapleshousehotel.ie/ for something more guesthouse than the chain hotels. Otherwise any of the offerings on booking.com will be much the same and it just depends on where and what's on.

Try the Brazen Head pub also
Good places to eat in Howth village in the north also but quite fish- heavy

Fully, not funnily vegetarian!

Thanks very much - its for Trinity .... didnt know that traffic restrictions have changed recently - we normally just shoot through heading West from the ferry.

We are flying in so was thinking having accomodation out of the city towards the airport.

But just doing some research and see that Trinity Halls are quite far south - so will probably need to check these out at some point.

Most places in the city have a decent enough veggie option nowadays but Milanos is still my go to (Pizza Express over here)

We did the Vintage Tea Bus tour recently, it is a nice tour without being too long.

I will have a think of other ideas!

Cross post- Trinity Halls are southside so maybe stay somewhere near Rathmines or Ranelagh?

Edited to add- Ranelagh is on the Luas line. Rathmines has a decent bus network

No reason at all to stay north side . MOLI ( the museum of modern Irish literature ) is great and cheap
And a beautiful historical building

Dublin Transport Plan: Everything you need to know about new traffic rules on the quays | Irish Independent

We have family in Louth so might catch up with them at some point so thinking north of the city.

Also as its Halloween on the Thursday and maybe half term ? is it likely to be v busy?

Stay in Rathmines/Ranelagh on the Southside, very close to Stephen’s Green and loads of good local pubs and restaurants …MOLI and Iveagh Gardens for a stroll, cocktails at Sophie’s on rooftop of Dean Hotel, do a walking tour of Trinity, take the DART out to Dalkey or Howth by the sea, Glasnevin Cemetery and Kavanagh’s (Gravediggers) pub … enjoy the visit

This is a very old fashioned opinion of Dublin. There are very many lovely parts of the north side and some very bad areas in the southside. The inner city north side is not the nicest but I would not say southside is any nicer overall. I have lived in both and actually prefer the nothside. Traffic on the southside is a disaster and I just find the nothside a lot calmer and friendlier overall.

I did generalise that's true, but the post was aimed at a visitor who has two days to see the city. S/he would not have time to appreciate the nuances and differences between places like Clontarf and Sheriff Street.

It's different when you live there.

Or Pearse St and Sandmount??
This is a public forum and will be seen by not only the OP. There are plenty of lovely places to stay on both sides of the city.

I am actually interested in the nuances of Dublin - more interested in the quirky, creative or shabbier, edgy bits with local character really. I really hope he loves it because I would love any excuse to explore. I did a term at UCD decades ago through the Erasmus programme well before Dublin changed with the Celtic Tiger. We spend a lot of time on the west coast with family so an Irish urban experience will be different.

I didn't say there weren't. I said to be careful around the bad spots, as most visitors are not always aware of where they are. The black spots in Dublin City just happen to be where I mentioned in my post, right in the centre, and few visitors would realise this on their first visit. These blackspots are on the Northside of the city centre. The South city is largely leafy and well, nicer! Anyone can see that.

Every city in the world has hotspots like this. Better to be forewarned than painting a rosy picture that can catch visitors off guard. There have been many instances of visitors straying into dodgy areas in Dublin and being assaulted and robbed. Native Dubliners know where to avoid.

I did acknowledge that both North and South suburbs have nice areas, it is the city centre areas that I emphasised.

We've booked a Maldron Hotel in Booterstown - for no other reason than it was good value, had good enough reviews, we can park the car and its near the Dart and not too far from Trinty Halls. Think we will explore southside on Fri - then as the open day is Sat mooch around the city centre that day and then head to north side ahead of our flight on Sun evening.

Marsh's Library I would like to visit again but dont really want to go to any tourist attractions (will have plenty of time if h gets in at other times) more walking tours through interesting neighbourhoods to get a sense of the atmosphere.

Yes fair enough, the south inner city is much nicer and safer than than the north inner city.

A good place to wander around is the Thomas Street/Meath Street area, called the Liberties. It's where the College of Art and Design is so has many creative types knocking around. It is one of the few places in Dublin that has a genuine feel to it, a population that has lived there for generations, now mixed with newer arrivals. There are market stalls along Thomas Street, and old style butcher and bakery and the popular Liberty Market etc. on Meath Street. Go to Francis Street for all the antique shops. Nearby is Guinness brewery, the IMMA (Museum of Modern Art) situated in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, and the Iveagh Buildings built by the philanthropic and benevolent Guinness family for the poor of Dublin.

You might enjoy a stroll around that area.

That sounds great @halava - right up our street - thankyou.