Dublin recommendations for five days with my 12 year old daughter

[againstalloddsss]

After a tough couple of years, my 12 year old daughter and I are off to Dublin for 5 days for the last week of May.
We are staying near Dublin Castle and I wondered if anyone had any recommendations of any must sees/do and any nice places to eat (Italian especially).

Dublin city itself has loads of museums, there the art gallery, leprechaun museum, chester beatty, trinity college to see the book of kells, Dvblinia and the wax works. Epic is a must do, really good as is guinness storehouse. I would keep away from the zoo - a zoo is a zoo is a zoo and not sure why anyone would go to dundrum on a holiday... The stella cinema might be a good one, nice seats or beds and your own tables with table service, a very posh cinema experience!

If you want to take in a show there are the bigger ones The Gaiety, Olympia and then smaller ones like The abbey and The gate theatre all in walking distance from where you are staying. The ambassador might have something on to your liking or the Academy hotel near there too.

There is also The convention centre, Bord gais theatre and Dreampoints with loads of things on be it 'experience' days or shows. Shopping wise you cannot go wrong with Grafton street really for designer brands but also some quirky little shops around there and inside stephens green shopping centre itself and of course you have St stephens green itself which is a lovely walk around.

Thanks everyone for the great ideas. My to do list is getting very long……

Get a Leap card and head south on the Dart for spectacular coastal views.

Go all the way to Bray and hike up Bray Head. Stop in Sandycove on the way back and dip your toes in the sea. Go to Dun Laoghaire and get an ice cream cone from Teddy's.

You can also go hiking on Killiney Hill (Killiney station) for views from the movie 'Once' and a nice stretch of the legs.

Posting so I can find this later. Will be in Dublin this summer with my 13 year old daughter. She has a competition so I’ll have some time on my own during the day sometimes and then my husband, son, his parents and his aunt and uncle are meeting us for a few days after the comp. Any thoughts on easy options for 9/13 year olds and older people with slightly challenged mobility very welcome!

One of my favourite trips close to Dublin is to Newgranhr, a Neolithic passage tomb you can go into. There is a good interpretive centre too.
It is older than Stonehenge or the Great Pyramid of Giza but not very busy.

Get the dart to sandy cove - pretty beach, swim at the forty foot, lovely high street with nice places to eat

The dart is the Dublin tube , there is only one line

We were there are Easter.
Little Museum of Dublin is excellent.
The teens loved Eddie Rocket’s Diner too (there are a few around).

Epic museum and world of illusion are perfect for a 12 year old. Agree Dvblinia and Viking splash are also great. If they're on social media you'll probably have to bring them for a spicebag at some stage!

@PurpleThistle7 where abouts in dublin is the comp? The city or a suburb? North and south are fairly vast places.

@ChimneyPot love Newgrange but it would be a pain in the arse for her to get to without a car from Dublin.

OP are you planning on going further than the city centre? I am sure many of us can direct you around. The luas is quite handy around the city and some suburbs and we have the dart that can bring you as far as Belfast or as far as Cork and everywhere in between if you want but it will be extra cost cash wise and extra time taken out of your trip too. If you could rent a car it definitely would be a bigger benefit IMO but again it does depend what you want to do or where you want to go.

@Itsanewdawnitsanewdayitsanewlife4me - the competition is at the convention centre but my in-laws are staying at the other side of Dublin so up for whatever. We were planning on the zoo as my kids love animals and there’s plenty of places to sit down but haven’t gotten any further yet.

5 days is a very long time in Dublin - there’s not a huge amount to do. How about a day trip up to Belfast? Trains and buses take ~2 hours and are very regular.

I don't think 5 days is long at all, we could easily plan an itinerary to take that many days without leaving the county (well, maybe a trip to Wicklow - Powerscourt/Glendalough)
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Would certainly leave the city centre though.

The house museum 14 Henrietta Street is absolutely fascinating.

Depending on what you are looking for, Emerald park is a theme park and has animals there too so that could also be an option : Emerald Park | Ireland's Only Theme Park & Zoo
Best of luck in the comp :)

Thanks. I hadn’t quite decided, but looks like we will go out from Dublin. Probably to the coast. Looks like plenty of choice.

The Dart runs only in the Dublin area (also a small bit of North Wicklow) but there are other trains running to Cork, Belfast etc. The train stations in Dublin are Heuston and Connolly. (Trains to Cork run from Heuston, trains to Belfast from Connolly.)

Newgrange is amazing, well worth a visit. You have to be quite organised to get tickets as they get booked up really quickly when released.

@Tooearlyjigsaw yes sorry I meant to say train not dart!

Get the dart to howth and get traditional fish and chips there then get the boat back.

I agree. It’s terrific. And a great overview of Irish history. My teen really enjoyed it,

I agree on trying to get out of Dublin, Glendalough is absolutely beautiful.

It’s actually worth going up to Belfast and doing the black cab tour and the titanic museum. Both of these would appeal to teens.

I’d do;

Day 1. “Fun” tour like the Viking bus tour and Henrietta street in afternoon (book this, it’s great)
Day 2. Bus Trip to Glendalough
Day 3. Train to Belfast, titanic museum and black cab tour.
Day 4. Kilmainham jail. Nice lunch: stroll through Irish museum of modern art gardens and the Luas into city centre to shop.

The tea bus is brilliant. Get a tour of Dublin while having an afternoon tea. Highly recommend

Also before you book anything OP mention on here and some of us get discounts on different things when you book like with a thing called Rorys travel club and insurance rewards and things. I certainly would pass mine on anyway.

That’s kind, but I’ve already booked up lots of things to ensure we didn’t miss out.

But thanks again.

The Little museum of Dublin in Stephens green is fab. Very funny tour guides and very pacey so suits that age group. We also enjoyed the splash tour.
If she enjoys a walk then hop on the Dart to Kiliney beach if it's a nice day.