Things To Do In Dublin - Mini Guide

Dublin has the best of both a small town and cosmopolitan city: It has the great easy going people you can only find in small towns, but the variety of nightlife you only find in big cosmopolitan cities.

You can easily spend a week here strolling around, talking to people and enjoying the ‘happenings’ in town – which seems to be every day.

There are heaps of things to do in Dublin, both for those who enjoy pub culture as well as literature and history.

Getting Around:

Dublin is a fairly small city, which makes it perfect for sightseeing. You rarely need to take the bus or “luas” (tram), but they do run frequently and are cheap if you’re lazy

Things To Do:

• Visit The Medieval Part of The City:

The medieval part of Dublin dates back to 11th century, and is a nice part of town.

Bring a picnic or buy some takeaway food, join the locals down in St Patricks park and watch time fly by on the clock of the beautiful St Patricks church.

Christchurch cathedral is also located in the medieval part of Dublin, it’s a really old cathedral, founded in 1030 it is one of the oldest buildings in Dublin. It costs 7 Euro to go inside, but there are free concerts quite often which are worth a visit.

• Walk The Golden Mile

Pub crawl is very popular in Dublin, but you don’t have to do it with an organised tourist group. Locals do it every weekend along the Golden Mile.

The real name of the street is “Victoria Street”, but it has been nicknamed “The Golden Mile” because there are countless of bars along the street, and it has become somewhat of a local tradition to try to drink at every pub in one night.

Few people have ever made it to the end of the Golden Mile: will you?

• Get To the Bottom Of The Stout and Whiskey History:

Alcohol is an important part of Irish culture, and the tour of the Guinness Storehouse is the most popular thing to do in Dublin. If you’re a big fan of beer or Guinness this is definitely worth a visit, and for the 15 Euro entry you get a free Guinness to enjoy with the best view of Dublin.

Jamesons Distillery which produces the Irish Whiskey also has tours for visitors, and they cost around 13 Euro.

However, those who aren’t very interested in beer and Guinness often don’t think it’s worth the entry fee. We didn’t go there ourselves for that reason, but thought it would be good to mention it since it’s so popular.

• Visit Trinity College

50% of the population in Dublin are under 25 years, in other words, there are a lot of students in this city, and Trinity College is the most sought after place to study.

This is for a good reason, as this college educated some of the most famous Irish people ever – Samuel Beckett (winner of the Nobel Prize) and Jonathan Swift for example.

It’s a beautiful college with amazing buildings, and the old library (where you’ll find the book of Kells) and a sports arena where they often have games.

Because there are so many young people living here many of the things to do in Dublin are perfect for a younger crowd.

Places to Eat:

- Leo Burdock Fish and Chips - oldest place in dublin. They serve big portions with the thickest french fries. Outside their door is a long list of hundreds of celebrities who have all bought fish n chips from there – be one of them!

- Eddies Rocket – This restaurant have a really cool interior designs a la 50′s style, with a juke box and everything – who doesn’t want to have their burger in the 50′s?!

- Gallagher’s Boxty House – This place sells Irish traditional food. Their Irish style pancakes with filling are awesome, around 16 Euro.

- Lolly and Cooks – A visit to George’s Arcade is a fun thing in itself. You’ll find stalls selling lots of fun things like hand painted converse shoes, and, best of all – the best cupcakes ever. Lolly and Cooks is a little stall there which specializes in cupcakes. They cost about 2,5 pounds each (box of 6 for 12 pounds) and come in all colors and flavors.

- Walk Inn Noodle Bar –  Many pubs and restaurants will blow your food budget, but this little take away show sells noodles for 4.50 and spring rolls for 2.50.

Places to Drink:

• Fitzsimmons Sport Bar – The Irish are as crazy about sport as the British, this place gets packed with sports fanatics and a great atmosphere whenever there is a game on.
• Stags Head – this is the oldest pub in Dublin, which is worth a visit for that reason only. It was featured in Guinness 250th anniversary ad
• Shebeen Chic – quirky pub with live music, great people and fun interior and things hanging on the wall to look at.

Budget Shopping:

With all its pubs Dublin can easily blow your budget, so it’s good to know where to get the cheaper things in the city.

• Cheap Clothing: If you need some cheap clothes Penny’s is where you should be headed. It has really nice clothes for a good deal.
• Cheap Beer: If you want to bring some beer to the hostel, Londis is the place which has the cheapest beers.
• Various Things (hygiene, umbrellas, food): Camden Casket is a shop selling everything you need and don’t need. Toiletries, drinks, candy, underwear, can food etc. It’s all found here, and often for a quarter of the price.

Where to Sleep:

Times Hostel at Camden Place offers some great accommodation in a perfect location.

The rooms are cosy and clean with private bathrooms, and there is a big kitchen with all tools you need to cook your own food.

The staff are very friendly and easy going, you can ask them about anything and they’ll try their best to help you out (plus free calls!).

The best thing about the hostel however, are all the events they have during the week; pancake mondays, pub crawls, pool competitions, ice cream days etc.

Hope you have a great time visiting Dublin!

(photo credits: lyng883 - infomatique - twicepix)