Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Dublin’s Temple Bar (see photo) area is along Fleet Street between Westmoreland Street and Enstace Street including the alleyways on both sides. You can walk across the River Liffey on Dublin’s famous Ha’penny Bridge to get to Temple Bar (see photo above). On the other side of Enstace Street in Meeting House Square, you can visit two interesting sites – the Gallery of Photography and the National Photographic Archive (both free). On Saturdays there is a food market here.

We were glad we did a hop-on / hop-off bus tourof Dublin giving us an overview of the city. We purchased a combination ticket for the tour and Guinness Storehouse tour to save some money. We choose the local Dublin Sightseeing, although the CitySightseeing Dublin tour also offers a similar tour and is recommended by people.

On the hop-on hop-off tour running every 8-15 minutes, we received a nice narrated overview of Dublin’s center of town (see below for more) as well as some attractions further out like the beautiful Phoenix Park - Europe’s largest city park more than twice the size of New York’s Central Par). It is nice to jump off to see the Guinness Storehouse because it is a few minutes walk. Many other tours (both bus and walking) are available in Dublin.

Dublin is home of Guinness beer and we had a good time on the Guinness Storehouse tour (see photo). This is where 3 million pints of Guinness are made every day. You can learn how to do the perfect Guinness pour (should be done in no less than 2 minutes) and be certified that you have “crafted The Perfect Pint of Guinness” (see photo of Wayne being certified). 

Ireland’s premier college, Trinity College(free - see photo) is worth a quick visit for a view of Georgian architecture. The Science Gallery (free) on Pearse Street is highly rated for its unique and interesting displays of the relationships between science, art, and the world we live in – it was closed when we visited setting up for the next exhibit so you should contact them to be sure something is going on. For a fee, you can visit the Old Library and the famous Book of Kells. If this is of interest to you, you should be aware you will only see 2 pages of the Book of Kells and waiting in line is standard.

Within blocks of each other are many attractions... For a bit of history, you can drop into Dublin’s City Hall for The Story of the Capital presentation. For lovers of rare books, the Chester Beatty Library (free) has an amazing selection on display. Dublin’s two major churches (Christ Church Cathedral and St Patrick’s Cathedral) and the Dublin Castle are all available for viewing. Dublin’s Castle is mostly reconstructed with sparse furnishing and we were told that it was not very interesting to view – you can walk into the courtyard and gardens.

Dublin is very proud to be the home of so many famous literary giants. Fans of Oscar Wilde will enjoy his reclining statue in Merion Square (see photo), one of the most elegant parks in Dublin.

For museum lovers, Dublin has several very goods one such as the National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology (free) and Museum of Natural History (free).

We enjoyed staying at Dublin’s historic Wynn’s Hotel  - a bit of luxury in the middle of downtown Dublin. It is a well-priced elegant hotel with a very central location just minutes walk to many of Dublin’s main attractions (Temple Bar, City Hall, Dublin Castle, Grafton Street, Trinity College, theaters, and public transportation to the airport). The rooms are updated and modern in this historic hotel and the staff is very friendly and helpful. The cooked-to-order breakfast is done elegantly in a beautiful room (see photo) with good service.