Rich and I enjoyed 48 hours of couple time in Dublin, Ireland this summer. It felt pretty sophisticated after 15 years of family vacations and the odd romantic weekend close to home!
You know that you have reached a new stage of family life when your vacation involves rendezvousing with your teenager in Europe after she has spent three weeks on a summer program with other American teens. That’s exactly what we did after our three days of adult-time.
Dublin is a great destination for a kids-free couple weekend. While you can’t see everything, you can get a good feel for the city in three days. And you can take advantage of the excellent restaurants and vibrant pub scene to give your 48 hours a decidedly grown-up feel.
Here are some ideas for where to stay, things to do and interesting places to eat and drink.
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Two Great Hotel Possibilities in Dublin
The Perfect Romantic Dublin Hotel
We normally prefer to stay in local hotels but the stylish Morrison Dublin, a Hilton/Curio hotel, is hard to beat for couple time. It’s right across the Millennium Bridge from Temple Bar, which gave us the convenience of a location in the city center without that neighborhood’s noisy nightlife.
This boutique hotel feels urban and cool, while still being comfortable. It has excerpts from Irish literature and music scrawled on the walls and lots of big windows, high ceilings and natural light. Our relatively compact king-bed room had a spacious feel thanks to those details.
It was comfortable, with a built-in couch, room to keep our suitcases out of our way and a sleek modern bathroom. A small box of truffles appeared in our room on the first evening of our stay; good chocolate will always score points with me.
The room rate includes a breakfast buffet, where you can assemble a full Irish fry up if you want to, or just choose your favorite parts of it, which is what I did.
They didn’t have brown bread, an essential morning food in Ireland, in my opinion. But they had Guinness stout bread, a more-than-okay substitute. They also had mini meat pies and the usual cereal, yogurt and pastries.
If a buffet breakfast isn’t your thing there are a handful of coffee shops, bakeries and cafés between the hotel and O’Connell Street Bridge.
Style & Location on a Budget
On a subsequent stay with my teen I booked Point A Hotel Dublin/Parnell Street, a newish hotel on Parnell Street with a young and helpful staff.
The room was compact but stylish and designed efficiently with big window, so we didn’t feel cramped or in the other’s way. The coat-hooks by the door were especially handy for keeping the room from getting cluttered. It’s a fine option for a couple looking for something stylish and moderately priced.
The lobby lounge and bar area was cozy, with a gas fireplace and couches, plus tables where you could settle in with your laptop if you need to work while you’re there. If you have time to chill out at the hotel, this is a fine place to relax with a coffee or a pint of Guinness.
Parnell Street marks the northern border of busy central Dublin and the location was better than I thought it might be. It was a ten-minute walk to O’Connell Bridge. We could catch green Luas tram on our corner and the red one just a few blocks away and that took us almost anyplace we wanted to go.
The restaurants we ate in on Parnell Street were less expensive, more local and more laid back than you’ll find in Temple Bar.
If you book the hotel through its website they’ll include free breakfast with your room rate, which is nice a nice perk. But even on Expedia you can add breakfast to your reservation for just a few dollars per person.
Your Plan For 3 Amazing Days of Fun Dublin Activities for Couples
Welcome to the New Dublin
I spent nearly a month in and around Dublin as a teenager. I returned for a couple’s weekend about 15 years later and then again in 2023.
Dublin has changed dramatically over those decades and mostly for the better. On my first visit ,the city was known for bland boiled food and a steady exodus of highly educated, underemployed young people.
By 2000 its E.U. membership had turned Ireland into the Celtic Tiger. Dublin was holding on to its workforce and stylish restaurants were opening, featuring by chefs that took pride in Ireland’s wonderful local meat, seafood, dairy and produce.
Today, Ireland’s capital is a global city. It has a robust tech sector, it imports labor from other E.U. countries and you can find food from all over the world.
We could still find a full Irish breakfast and good fish ‘n’ chips. But we could easily have chosen French, Japanese, Chinese, Thai or Italian food had we wanted to. We also ate our share of gelato and artisan ice cream in flavors like Irish brown bread and chocolate whiskey.
This is a round-up of things we enjoyed over two short visits. It’s more than you can do in a weekend, but it gives you enough options for a busy romantic weekend with a mix of sophistication and plenty of lively craic*.
3 Essential Activities for a First-Time Visit
Absolutely go to the Guinness Storehouse
The Guinness Storehouse is a fun-house dedicated to all things Guinness. You journey upward through several floors where you learn in great detail how Guinness is brewed. One floor celebrates its spring water with an artful waterfall (below). Another has fun celebrating the “My Goodness” ad campaign where various animals steal a zookeeper’s Guinness.
The coolest thing I learned is that the mix of yeast the brewery has been using since at least 1906 contains strains that are otherwise unknown.
But the real reason you go, though, is to get to the Gravity Bar on the top floor. Its glass windows offer a 360-degree views of Dublin.
Your admission ticket includes a pint of Guinness, which really is creamier and more malty than anywhere else I’ve had it, probably because it’s as fresh as it gets. And the bartenders know how to pour it properly.
We lucked out with a sunny day. Sipping a perfect pint while admiring the distant Wicklow Mountains or the rooftops and church spires of Dublin was highly enjoyable.
Tip: It’s Dublin’s most visited attraction, so get tickets a few weeks in advance. Opt for a weekday if you can. It’s always busy, especially during the summer. But Dublin fills up on the weekends and is popular for destination bachelor and hen parties. There were quite a few large groups on the Saturday afternoon we chose.
“Experience” the Book of Kells at Trinity College
We went to the Book of Kells Experience at Trinity College, skeptical as to how you turn looking at an illuminated monastic manuscript into an “experience” worth what they now charge for admission.
Our favorite part was seeing the famous Book of Kells itself. It’s behind glass and they regularly turn toe page, so you never know what you’ll see. The pages we saw didn’t have extensive illustrations but they had very detailed letters, which are amazingly intricate.
In the same room as the book you can learn about the history of the monastic monks, the illuminated manuscripts in general and the Book of Kells, specifically. It also explains the painstaking process of making the paper and ink and then the writing itself.
Afterward, you get the “experience.” The best bits bring Kells manuscript to life with creative animation. I enjoyed this the most. The detail in the actual book is astounding because it’s so intricate AND so small. Seeing the pages blown up to an enormous size on a wall allows you to see all that detail and fully appreciate it.
There was more lighting and animation that celebrates the many different books Trinity has in its archives. Some things were cheesy, like busts of Lady Gregory, Shakespeare and Aristotle talking to each other.
Also, the aptly named Long Room, where the Book used to be, is in transition. Many of its shelves are empty, which feels odd. But it’s still an impressive space and one where people tend to linger.
Overall, it was more enjoyable and more engaging than I expected.
Tour Tips: If you’re concerned about finding your way between major sights like Trinity College, Dublin Castle, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Guinness storehouse, book a hop-on-hop-off bus tour for either 24 or 48 hours. They’ll stop by all of these places, and much more.
If you book a guided city tour that includes the Book of Kells, keep in mind that guides from outside Trinity are not allowed inside the exhibit. On the Kells ticket page, you can book an official guided tour of the manuscript space and the long room. You can also combine the Kells Experience with a Trinity campus tour given by a student.
Also, several city tours include the Molly Malone statue, which is on a public sidewalk in Temple Bar. You’re likely to walk past it several times on your visit. And several tours only go past the castle; make sure yours includes a tour if you want one.
Enjoy Dublin’s affordable theater scene
The Gate and the Abbey are renowned historical theaters. The abbey was started by the writers of the Irish Renaissance and you’ll often see shows written by classic Irish playwrights here. The Gate is more modern and experimental. It’s where you’ll stumble on an up-and-coming playwright.
Look to the Gaeity and the Bord Gais Energy Theatre if you want popular crowd-pleasers like Riverdance, touring Broadway shows and holiday performances. The latter is the biggest theater and also where to go for operas, symphonies and high-profile vocalists. Its ticket prices run higher than the other three theaters, especially for the best seats.
The ticket prices at the three smaller theaters are inexpensive enough that we didn’t think twice about taking a flier on a new play premiering at the Gate. Take advantage of these affordable seats to see at least one play while you’re in town.
The Gate is on Parnell Square, across from where O’Connell Street ends. The Abbey is one block off both O’Connell and the Liffey. The Gaeity is just west of St. Stephen’s Green on King Street. Bord Gais is in Docklands.
Explore 2 uniquely Irish museums
The Epic Museum:
Teen Traveler raved to us about the EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum, and made us feel we had to see it. We were glad we did.
Founded by a former CEO of Coca Cola (and an Irish emigrant) Epic is housed in a former Dockside tobacco storehouse. Its high-tech and highly interactive permanent exhibit tells the “epic” tale of Irish emigration, examining the impact it has had both on Ireland and the many places the Irish immigrated to.
There is a certain amount of celebrating every famous Irish emigrant in history, which is to be expected. But look past that, because the best part of the museum are the personal histories and stories of people who emigrated at various points in history. These tales are so remarkable I fully enjoyed them a second time around on a return visit.
Your journey starts in a luggage room where you’re given a passport that guides you through exhibits on history, politics, science, sports, music, movies, theater and more.
I enjoyed the opportunity to revisit some of my favorite actors and musicians and learn some interesting footnotes to Irish and American history. The museum updated things between my two visits to account for Sinead O’Connor and Shane McGowan passing away.
The author, Frank McCourt, is conspicuously absent, probably because many in Ireland disapproved of the way he described the extreme poverty of his Limerick childhood. This is a pretty big oversight given that he wrote about his experience as an Irish-American immigrant in three best-selling books.
Depending on how in depth you get with the exhibits give yourself at least 90 minutes and up to three hours here.
Explore around the Epic Museum:
On the way to Epic you’ll pass the Customs House. It was completely burned to the ground during the Irish War for Independence because it held all the records the British needed to manage its colony. The entire building was never rebuilt, but the parts that were rebuilt match the previous building almost exactly.
You can visit for free and the first two floors have exhibits on the building’s history and architecture.
Near the Customs House, keep an eye out for the Famine Statues. These half-starved figures trudging along with small bundles recall the Great Hunger, which killed or displaced more than one million people, a quarter of the population, in the 1800s.
And just beyond Epic is the Jeanie Johnston, a replica of the sailing ships that carried emigrants away from the famine. We skipped this, but you can get a combination ticket that includes Epic and the ship.
After you’ve done all of that, cross the elegant Samuel Beckett Bridge (top) that resembles a harp and a ship’s sail. Make your way over to the Grand Canal to appreciate the fast-changing Dockside neighborhood.
Take a good look at the Bord Gáis performing arts center and plaza designed by Daniel Libeskind to evoke the ships’ masts and guideposts of Dublin’s busy harbor. I really liked it; Rich didn’t like it at all. It’s that kind of building. When you’re ready, you can make your way back to Temple Bar along the river or via Pearse Street.
Beer break: Before heading back toward Temple Bar we stopped at The Ferryman, a cozy pub with friendly bartenders and large beer selection near the Sam Beckett Bridge. They claim to have an extensive selection of Irish whiskey but it was a bit early in the day for that.
We perched on outdoor stools with a couple of local beers. The mix of tourists and young tech workers passing by made for good people watching.
There is another place called Dockers directly across the river from the Jeannie Johnston that is stylish and a bit upscale with cocktails and food. It looked promising, but we didn’t stop.
Literature Museum
The Museum of Literature is in a former UC Dublin townhouse on the south side of St. Stephens Green. It was on my must-see list because I’m an Irish literature geek and it has the very first printed copy of James Joyce’s Ulysses.
Rich was doubtful about a museum built around the solitary pursuit of reading. But Ireland is a nation of storytellers. We spent nearly two hours here and were surprised at how engaging it is. Among the permanent exhibits is one that explores James Joyce’s life and the role Dublin plays in his books.
Alongside that copy of Ulysses, they had some of Joyce’s notes and early drafts (he revised like crazy).
One room had artifacts exploring how Irish literature influenced Irish politics and vice versa. In another we could pick up a series of old-fashioned phones and listen to modern Irish writers talk about how they find inspiration. I really enjoyed hearing from some of my favorites, like Roddy Doyle.
The friendly docents are, good storytellers themselves, and are happy to field questions about the exhibits, the building or Irish literature in general.
If you visit on a nice day, leave time to explore the gardens out back. They are extensive and lovely with paths to wander and shady benches to sit on while you contemplate all the great writing this small city has produced.
Lunch break: The museum Commons is a pleasant café with good food. We sat on the terrace and had homemade lemonade, cheese toasties and tomato soup; the perfect light lunch.
Tip: This is a relatively inexpensive museum, and it gives discounts for families or a parent-child combination.
Make the most of the free national museums
Any “national” museum is free. The National Museum of Archaeology (Kildare Street) focuses on Archaeology and is small enough that we could see most of it without exhausting ourselves. Upstairs is more interesting and diverse than downstairs and there is a lot about Ancient Irish and Celtic history that isn’t widely known.
• The National Library and National Gallery and the Natural History Museum(Merrion Street) are on the same block, but we didn’t have a chance to explore those.
Lunch break: While you’re in the area walk around the block to Merrion Square to admire the colorful Oscar Wilde statue in the northwest corner. It sort of depicts him as the world’s first rock star, which fits.
On Thursdays at lunch time a collection of inexpensive food stalls sets up in the northeast corner of the park. There is African, Thai, Chinese, Korean, Indian, American BBQ, Irish baked goods and more. Try a few things and sit down to a picnic on the grass nearby.
• National Museum of Decorative Arts and Military History (Collins Barracks) is enormous. Sitting one block north of the Liffey a bit more than a mile west of O’Connell Street, it takes up most of a square block of a former army barracks.
Check what’s on before you go and pick a few exhibits to prioritize. We succumbed to museum fatigue before we saw a fraction of what we wanted to see.
One of two permanent exhibits we saw looked at Irish fashion from the 18thcentury into the early 20th century, focusing on Irish materials and designers and demonstrating where Ireland followed and veered away from Western trends and why. The other was a collection of Irish country furniture.
We didn’t even realize there was a whole additional military history collection. Couples exploring this museum together might want to each go their own way or explore a bit of both aspects.
There was a coffee truck in the courtyard until about 4:00 pm, but there isn’t a lot immediately around the museum.
Shopping in and around Temple bar
Dublin has fun shopping.
• If you love books (as I clearly do), you have to spend time in Hodges Figgis, a huge store that dates to 1768. Most of the first floor is devoted to Irish history, travel, mythology and both classic and modern fiction. The basement has used books. And the two upstairs floors have everything else, including an academic department for Trinity students.
Despite now being owned but the Waterstones chain, this historic bookstore largely retains its own personality and has a lovely building.
• The smaller Dubray Books and ages-old Ulysses Rare Books, with its collection of first editions, are nearby.
• Around corner on Nassau Street you’ll find Kilkenny shop, which has a hodgepodge of made-in-Ireland products. Some are touristy — hand-knit sweaters, crystal, Christmas decorations—but you’ll also find clothes and jewelry by modern designers and locally made beauty products with ingredients like North Atlantic seaweed.
• Grafton Street is historically the city’s main shopping street. These days it has a lot of chain stores, but it’s a pedestrian zone that always has very good street musicians and a lot of activity.
• Powers Court Centre runs from Clarendon to Williams streets, alongside Coppinger Row. It’s in a Georgian townhouse that is considered one of the most elegant and elaborate in Dublin.
It’s filled with luxury boutiques. But even if you don’t shop there, walk to the very interior of the Centre and look up. It was once an inner courtyard and has a glass ceiling, marble floors, elegant staircases and greenery everywhere you look. It’s quite lovely.
• After Powers Court make your way along narrow Coppinger’s row and Castle Market to the back of George’s Street arcade. The shopping here is affordable and definitely a little funky. Think: used records, vintage clothes, locally designed clothes with global influences and vegan food stalls.
The arcade was built in the 1890s to give everyday Dubliners an elegant shopping experience. It’s a bit cramped inside but try to find a good vantage point to appreciate the tile floors, hanging lamps, arched windows that let in light, and the metal work and terracotta trim. The red stone exterior is so nice it’s hard to believe it’s always been a shopping center.
• Cross George’s Street from the arcade and you’ll come upon Designist, filled with inexpensive, stylish household-goods. You’ll find fun cabinet knobs, colorful dishware, funky home-office and craft supplies and amusing bathroom accessories. It’s all stuff that you don’t need but absolutely want. Few people walk out without buying something and given the low prices, that’s okay!
Dublin Restaurants Worth Seeking Out:
Two amazing dinners
We had two excellent, sophisticated dinners at two very different modern-Irish restaurants. Either will remind you that you are sophisticated, fun-loving adults in addition to being parents.
• The Winding Stair was down the block from our hotel and just looked interesting, so we chanced walking in on the early side without a reservation and actually got a table, which is no small feat. It’s a small room at the top of a winding stair. It has big windows, which provide nice light early in the evening, as well as views of the Liffey and the city beyond it.
The space dates back to the 1970s when it and a downstairs bookshop were a gathering spot for local writers and musicians. It almost closed in 2005, but a new owner revived it and created a menu focused on local Irish produce with as much as possible made in-house.
We mentioned to our waiter that it was our first night in Ireland and he replied that we were setting a high bar for the rest of our meals there. I was taken aback, but then decided I liked the pride he took in the restaurant where he worked. Also, he was right.
We did what we often do and shared a bunch of appetizers so we can try more things. The potted crab, one of the items they’re known for, was creamy and full of sweet, fresh crab meat. We spread every last bit of it on the fresh bread alongside it.
A scotch egg had a thin, very crisp coating of local sausage and a soft yolk. It wasn’t greasy or heavy as Scotch egg can be.
We finished with a ginger-pear cake that we ordered because other people were eating it and it looked good. It was spongy and moist and had an autumnal mix of flavors that would be perfect for a Thanksgiving dessert.
On a return visit with my teen (for which I made a reservation), we started with ham croquettes that were perfectly salty-crunchy-cheesy-gooey.
My saddle of venison was cooked like steak and was rare and full of flavor. It was also extremely tender, which is hard to accomplish with grilled venison. It came with roasted beets and crunchy bacon croquettes that were smaller and a bit saltier than the ham ones. Teen Traveler had tender, shredded lamb over dumplings (essentially very large gnocchi). Both dishes were simple but well seasoned and just the right size.
We finished with a white-chocolate mousse with rhubarb jam on top. The tart rhubarb was a good foil for the creamy, sweet white chocolate.
We almost lost our reservation because they couldn’t call my cell phone number, and we were late on top of it. Luckily, the staff is supremely nice. They offered to seat us if we didn’t mind changing tables before dessert to accommodate their seating plan for the evening.
• On our second couple night, we went to Fade Street Social, which is on the edge of Temple Bar and surrounding by popular restaurants. Fade Street was in some ways the exact opposite of Winding Stair. It was big, a bit loud and felt as trendy as the other restaurant felt timeless.
But none of that is to detract from it. The service was good. We had fun, well-made cocktails like my Fade Street sour, and fresh, raw Dublin Bay oysters that were as good as they’re known to be. They make good use of a wood-fired oven throughout their menu.
Rich had roasted sea bream with crisp and pureed artichoke. I had roasted pork belly with summery green vegetables. Both were nicely presented and very good.
We snagged a reservation about an hour before we wanted to eat and I’m not sure how. The place was hopping and there were a few large groups.
2 spots for an easy pre-theater dinner
If you need something inexpensive near The Gate, head to Kingfisher Restaurant, around the corner on Parnell Street.
It had a large banner proclaiming the best fish & chips in Dublin, so we had to try it.
The outside looks like a pub but inside it’s the sort of casual restaurant you’d find by the Irish seaside. Regulars chatted with the servers and a family was celebrating after a school event with dinner and ice cream sundaes.
The fish & chips had fresh flaky haddock in a crisp beer batter. I’m finicky about cole slaw and theirs was nice and crunchy, a good foil to fried potatoes and fish.
It’s the sort of place where you can rely on traditional homey Irish food, like chunky seafood chowder, seafood pie and all-day Irish breakfast. But they also had some surprises. One of the daily specials was fried ray, which I heard a waitress say they ran out of (always a good indication that the seafood is from the sea and not the freezer).
For dessert, I was tempted by an affogato that combined coffee, Bailey’s Irish cream and ice cream, but I was afraid the caffeine would keep me awake. Instead, we chose a knickerbocker glory that layered vanilla and strawberry ice cream, raspberry syrup and whipped cream. It’s a classic dessert that fit the place and is always big enough to share.
• Pho Kim, a small Vietnamese place on Parnell Street, just east of O’Connell Street, is even faster and cheaper.
I ordered ginger tea and got a pot large enough to share among two or three people. The tea and two bowls of steaming, fragrant beef pho rang in under $45.
Tip: As casual as Pho Kim is, they still asked us if we had a reservation. Kingfisher doesn’t take reservations.
Easy Lunch Breaks
• The information-desk person at Epic recommended the Harbourmaster pub to us for lunch. It’s a nice old stone building—a former harbormaster’s office—and has gorgeous wood and glass fixtures inside. It was busy at lunchtime and the food was nicely presented.
We had a chunky, creamy fish chowder that was excellent. Our fish ‘n’ chips came with shoestring fries, not proper chips, but the fish was fresh and the batter crisp. It had fresh mushy peas and a salad alongside.
On a return visit, we had a thick Indian curry filled with small shrimp, zucchini, onions, carrots. It came with garlic naan as well as jasmine rice, which was nice. Our chicken tenders were a more adult version of this kid-favorite, hand-breaded in a peppery crust with a creamy pepper sauce for dipping and those same fries.
• Lower Camden Street, just south of Stephens Green, has an eclectic collection of busy restaurants and bars. It’s here that we stumbled onto Neon Asian Street Food, a fast-casual pan-Asian place where you order at the counter and they bring your food to your table.
They were out of duck buns, which we always love, so we couldn’t try theirs. But pork parcels were good, as was the chicken sate, which was breaded, which is unusual, but had good flavor and dipping sauce. Crispy honey beef was spicy and sweet and came with lots of vegetable and long, pleasantly chewy noodles (or rice).
Every order comes with ice cream cones for each person and you can help yourself to vanilla soft serve after your meal. Everyone from the smallest child to the hippest 20-something went for ice cream.
Breakfasts, big and small
• Bewley’s Grafton Street is smack in the middle Dublin’s tourist central, but you’ll find plenty of Dubliners there in the morning, having business meetings or just lingering over coffee and the (digital) newspaper.
The sign outside says its Bewley’s Oriental Café. Inside, you can’t miss the gorgeous stained-glass piece inspired by Irish mythology and other authentic Beaux-Arts details that date back to its 1927 opening. Egyptian-inspired architecture was trendy then and you can’t see that in the façade.
I actually went to Bewley’s with Teen Traveler but I wish I’d gone with Rich when we were in Dublin together. It’s definitely a space that feels made for adults.
We arrived for a late breakfast, directly after getting off our flight from New York. A pot of properly made Earl Grey tea was just the thing to shake off the jet-lag.
We shared a full-Irish breakfast, which came with poached eggs to make it fancy, and scones with clotted cream and raspberry jam. It was more than enough food, and we weren’t hungry until dinner time.
We returned later in the week and I ordered a bacon-and-leek quiche, which was delicious and a bit lighter. Teen Traveler had a full-Irish to herself.
You would be equally rewarded if you stop by in the afternoon for a full-on afternoon tea or just tea and dessert. From several varieties of rich chocolate cake to fruit tarts and cinnamon buns, their pastry department turns out tempting and impressive goodies. Perfect for an afternoon break from sightseeing.
Tips: On a weekday morning we just walked in. But during the weekend brunch hour you’ll want a reservation.
Pop downstairs where the restrooms are and there’s a big glass window where you can see the bakers in action. When I dropped by they were making their signature sticky buns.
• The Irish Potato Cake Company is a hopelessly quaint spot on Bachelor’s Walk near O’Connell Bridge. You couldn’t find a place more made-for-tourists, but I still enjoyed breakfast there.
We sat by the window where we could see the parade of people walking along the Liffey. And my pot of house-brew black tea came hidden under a tea cozy that looked like the Irish actor Barry Fitzgerald.
The mini-full Irish came with beans that were clearly made in-house and a fruity chutney that went well with the salty bacon and black pudding. It came with heart-shaped potato cakes that were crisp on the outside and filled with soft shredded potatoes and leeks.
I have two relatively small quibbles: The breakfast came with white toast instead of brown bread. And while my yolk was soft, Teen Traveler’s was overcooked. If you like a runny fried egg yolk, specify that when you order.
• For a fast breakfast, we stopped by the Rolling Donut, a purveyor of over-the-top American-style sourdough doughnuts on Bachelors Walk.
I accidentally ordered a vegan and it was actually good, It was a flaky yeast style, not very sweet, covered in a tangy lemon-poppyseed glaze that had bits of citrus peel.
We also tried a “red velvet,” a cake doughnut that has vanilla cream inside, a chocolate-raspberry glaze and crushed freeze-dried raspberries on top. It had nothing to do with Southern red velvet cake, but was still good.
The many various chocolate glazed and filled ones looked quite indulgent. But you can opt for a plain glazed or cinnamon-sugar coated one if you want something simple to go with your coffee. You’ll spot a few of their stores around the Dublin area.
Pubs & Music in Temple Bar
• On our previous visit we did a nighttime literary pub crawl, which I highly recommend. Local actors take you to some of the older but quieter pubs away from Temple Bar that have connections to Ireland’s many writers.
You settle in with a pint and they recite selections of classic literature and tell tales about the pubs and writers. Beer, history and literature: what more could you want?
There is a lot of live music throughout Temple Bar at night, but you’re more likely to hear bands covering the Proclaimers and Bruno Marz than you are to hear them playing jigs and rebel songs.
You have to hunt a bit for traditional music. And for an informal traditional seisiún you’ll have better luck in the afternoon, or at pubs in areas like Merrion Square and even Ranelagh.
• We spent part of an evening at the Oliver St. John Gogarty, at the corner of Fleet Street and Bedford Row in Temple Bar. It had two different semi-traditional bands playing upstairs and down. The crowd was a bit rowdy but in a good-natured way.
The band we heard played a mix of Irish, American country and crowd-pleasing standards. It wasn’t entirely what we were looking for, but the audience was enthusiastic and the musicians were good. We had a fun time.
• For a quiet drink and conversation, visit the Palace Bar, a beautiful Victorian pub on Fleet and Westmoreland streets.
Its known for its extensive selection of Irish Whiskeys and the bar tenders know their stuff. It’s easier to take advantage of their knowledge and explore a few different brands if you come in at 3:00 in the afternoon. At night they’re as courteous as they can be when it’s crowded and loud.
The details in the woodwork, lighting, ceiling trim and windows are lovely. The back room has a gorgeous skylight. Pop back to take a look, even if you can’t find a seat there. Up front, pairs of bar stools are separated by fancy wooden dividers, which gave us a sense of privacy despite and buffered the noise.
• We’ve stopped twice into J.R Mahons, on the south side of the river, just east of O’Connell Bridge. The draw was that they make a half-dozen of their own beers. We had their red and pale ales and their stout, which were all flavorful and well-balanced and the ales not overly hopped. It has a nice interior. And for an extremely busy corner, it’s a fairly quiet place, even in the late afternoon.
• Across the River and down the street from Epic, we took a break at the Ferryman. They have a large whiskey list and tap selection and friendly bartenders. But what made it memorable for us was perching on two stools outside on a sunny summer day, and enjoying the mix of tourists, residents and young tech workers that wandered by.
Practical Information
Flying Into Ireland
Ireland has two international airports, Dublin Airport and Shannon Airport in Limerick. Many people who plan to road trip around the country fly into one and out of the other. Dublin Airport is a bit bigger and handles more flights to and from Europe. Both have plenty of trans-Atlantic flights.
You’ll have to shop around a bit to see which airport is cheaper to fly into and out of for your travel days.
On your return to the U.S. you’ll go through U.S. customs and immigration in Ireland. To be comfortable, add in additional 30 minutes to the time it will take to get from curb to gate. We were through in ten minutes, but you never know when you might catch a day when flights are crowded and they’re understaffed, especially with all the budget cuts happening in Washington, DC.
Getting To And From Dublin Airport
There are express buses that will probably drop you relatively close to your hotel but if you are two or more people, it won’t cost that much less than taking a cab. So we gave in to jet lag and caught a taxi from a queue outside the terminal.
Cab fares are reasonable. And Dublin cabbies know their city. Cab drivers knew our hotel off the top of their heads and even knew the car rental office we wanted to go to later in the week without us having to provide an address.
Lyft doesn’t operate in Ireland and Uber can only hire licensed taxi drivers. It functions as a cab-hailing app and you’ll pay the same rates as you would hailing a taxi the street or having your hotel call one for you.
You can also buy a visitor Leap Card at the airport. It’s good for unlimited travel for one, three or seven days and works on most local public transit. You can use it to take the public bus into the city. This is your cheapest option but also the slowest.
It’s worth seeking out the visitor Leap Card because it can be topped up like a regular card but doesn’t come with the $5 new-card charge regular ones do. They sell them at the airport and a half dozen spots in central Dublin, including the GPO.
Renting a car in Dublin
I wanted to pick up our rental car in town on the day we were left town to drive to Killarney. This would give us a couple of days to shake off our jet lag before we had to drive an unfamiliar car, possibly with a manual transmission, in an unfamiliar place, on the opposite side of the road from the U.S.
I researched car rental rates extensively using Expedia, and I changed my reservation three or four times as I found better deals.
Keep in mind, roads in Ireland are often narrow, as are parking spaces in garages and lots. Opt for the smallest car that can comfortably hold you and your stuff to decrease the odds of bringing it back with dents or scratches.
Your rental will likely cost more if you want an automatic transmission or if you plan to pick up and drop off in different places. At the rental counter, the clerk was asking customers if they planned to drive into Northern Ireland. So that might incur a surcharge, too.
Despite wanting to do all three of these things, I managed to find an in-town rental at a reasonable rate. With gas prices high during the summer we were there, it made sense for us to pay the fee to bring the car back empty and we did. This also saved us the trouble of finding a gas station around Belfast’s airport.
Time & Weather in Dublin
Ireland is on Greenwich Mean Time, the same as the United Kingdom. They are five hours ahead of Eastern Time and also change their clocks for daylight saving.
June and July are the sunniest months in Ireland. The temperature can get up into the 80s in June, July and August. But count on days in the 60s and 70s, too. And count on rain.
What To Pack
Pack a waterproof shell that you can layer underneath as you need to, and a light scarf. Sturdy shoes are handy because you’ll walk a lot and the cobblestones are hard on your feet, If you’re staying for more than a weekend and traveling beyond Dublin you’ll be glad to have a pair of light, quick-drying hiking shoes with you.
The Irish are laid back and will never make you feel out of place because of your sartorial choices. But Dublin is a major European city and people dress stylishly for the office and to go out in the evening.
Guys will want to bring khakis and a button-down shirt for going to dinner or the theater. Women will want at least one dress or dressy two-piece ensemble. Whether you want to deal with heels on all those cobblestone streets is entirely up to you. I opted for flats.
A tip for cellular service
For most of our travel outside the U.S. our cellular service charges us $10/phone/day in roaming fees, or $30/day for three phones. This adds up, even when we try to only have one phone roaming on any given day. So I was very happy to discover Airalo e-SIMor virtual SIM cards, which let me access a local data network inexpensively.
Download the Airalo app and before your trip, and purchase a e-SIM card. In most international locations I’ve been I’ve had all the I need for about $5/phone for ten days to two weeks.
For $30 all three of us can both of us could have data we need for our entire trip. Big difference! We use Airalo for all moury overseas trips now.
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All photos by Richard, Teen Traveler or Eileen for FamiliesGo!© except MOLI gardens (courtesy of the museum) and Point A Hotel (courtesy of the hotel).
*Craic is the Irish word for fun. You’ll hear it a lot.