Which is better for kids - Dublin or York?

[nwilson12]

Looking to do a UK city break for 3 nights on my own with 2 children, 11 and 13.
Live in Scotland and only want to travel 2-3 hours, train or fly.
Which would be better for kids? Dublin or York?
Or somewhere European that's not too expensive? Done Paris recently which we liked.

Any suggestions?

York, I went to Dublin nearly 20 years ago and there wasn’t much to do other than drinking and visit to the Guinness factory. Dublin is firmly on my being there done that not returning list.
York there is Castle museum, railway museum, river boat trip, hole in wand, ghost walk. Lovely streets to wander and the city walls. Rise is great for brunch, could book Bettys for afternoon tea and Wheldrakes is a great cafe.

Thanks for more suggestions. I live near Edinburgh and we've been to Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, London.
Eldest likes planes, military and youngest likes football and gaming 🙄
I would like somewhere that we will all enjoy but that doesn't take too long to get there as it's just a Fri after school, back Mon.

There's not actually that much to do in Dublin and it's expensive

I'd pick York! And I'm Irish in Ireland.

I live near York so I would say York! I've been to Dublin a couple of times and it strikes me as a more 'grown up' city, whereas York has masses of things for kids. The museums are great (the Star Carr exhibition is still on if you're into prehistory), Jorvik is fantastic, there are lots of chocolate specialists, the Minster is worth a poke around (although it's pricey!) and there are lots of open spaces and river walks/boat trips. It depends what you are interested in. But I'd say York, definitely.

Not necessarily, there is a ferry from Newcastle to Holland.
I live in Dublin and would say York!

@northernstars still 2hours +!!

I live in York.
Loads to do, Jorvic Center, Bar Walls, Railway Museum, River Cruise and self drive boats for hire, York minster, the Castle and Castle Museum, picnic in Museum Gardens to name a few

The flight from Edinburgh to Berlin is only a couple of hours and it's a really interesting city with lots of museums and historical sites that might appeal. There's even a computer games museum!

It takes me 3 hours to Newcastle outskirts if the traffic is good but I dislike boats so a ferry is out.

I’d choose Belfast over Dublin any time

We did consider Berlin but it was getting a bit pricey just for a weekend although does look good so on the list for another time when we can go for longer.

York of the two. It’s nice, grand for a very short visit, we have been a few times on the way to other places but don’t stop there just for York, iykwim. We’ve children aged 4-14. Not great for an overnight though from what I’ve heard, family went recently and found the hen/stags quite hard and they couldn’t relax.

We live in Dublin and it’s fantastic for children but not the city centre (we’re hardly ever there), more the beaches and mountains and woodland around, and the amazing parks but you’d need a car.

If you want a short flight, go to Bergen! By the sounds of your children’s interests, they’d absolutely love it! Science museum, maritime museum, incredible natural history museum, it’s so much fun! expensive but self catering helps keep the costs down. There is a fab comic/gaming shop on the harbour.

I agree, Belfast is fab and my dc still talk about the weekend we had there when they were teens.

out of Dublin and York I’d say York, hands down.

Unfortunately I couldn’t agree more with previous comments about Dublin, went a year ago and aside from the Guinness storehouse there wasn’t much to see or do apart from day drinking. We did go to the book of kells at Trinity which was ok, had a complete tourist rip off of an afternoon tea on a vintage bus tour and did some shopping too. Ended up booking bus tours to giant’s causeway, cliffs of Mohar and Belfast as things to do which were good but very long days. We also had a vegan in our group and food choices for them were very limited / repetitive.
I went to York / Jorvik as a kid and still have very good memories of how fab it was

@NaturWilde sounds great but unfortunately flights end from Edinburgh early May, not sure why and Easyjet/Ryanair don't go there. Will add to the list for next year though.

Cambridge and Duxford museum?

York is great I think especially if anyone likes trains as the national railway museum is awesome ( even for people who don’t realise they like trains)

then the Viking stuff

and the museum where they have a street of old Yorkshire life was liked by mine also

and it’s a lovely compact city to wander around - river and walls and such

never took mine to Dublin so can’t comment there

Have a look at Eden camp. It's about 20 min drive rom York, your eldest will love it if he's into military

If you go to York, something a bit left field is the Cold War Bunker. My dc (13, 16) loved it. It could appeal to your child who is interested in military history. It does have a proper English Heritage website, but it's not downloading right now. It needs to be booked though, as it's not open every day or they can unit take 15 or so visitors at a time.

York also has Eden Camp military museum not a million miles away if you’re travelling by car.

I'm Irish and while parts of Dublin are great (pubs especially), York, without doubt - far nicer, better weather and lovely cafes etc.

@CamillaMacauley would plan to get the train to York but looks like there's a bus that goes to it.

I like Dublin but it isn’t a great place with kids imo , as a lot of the fun in it is the craic in the pubs!! So would say York

York My kids LOVED the Jorvik museum