Dublin's Places To Be

[Insano]

Greetings, fellow humans.

I'll keep my message short. I'm visiting Ireland in September for four days with two friends, and am looking for places, events, pubs, ... I must certainly visit during that time.

Since a great number here lives in the UK and Ireland, I was thinking you could help me with that.

Suggestions will be rewarded with imaginary cookies and balloons.

PS: A good hostel would be welcome as well.

 

[Laivasse]

If you're doing the tourism thing, you could do a lot worse than check out the Dublin Bus sightseeing tours: here's their page. They're not cheap, but they're a handy way to see a lot of the city in a short time, plus they're hop-on-hop-off so you can just alight at any place which sounds interesting from the driver's commentary (which is usually very enjoyable). I've also done the GhostBus tour and that was a laugh as long as you're expecting nothing more than some cheesy fun and a chance to cuddle with someone in a dark bus; definitely a good bet if you're entertaining a lady (although it's also a good bet if you're just out to enjoy yourself with friends).

If you're a beer/ale drinker, you have to check out the Porterhouse gastropub. The 'trendy' atmosphere is not up to much, but their microbrewed ale is just amazing; the Plain Porter is about the best pint I've ever had. They also have some weird brews, like Oyster Stout and such... There are a couple of Porterhouses dotted around - I visited the ones on Parliament Street and Grafton Street, and the Parliament Street one seemed a bit more lively, with live music in the middle of the day.

For traditional pubs, well you'll bump into one every few hundred yards, particularly in the (fairly grotty) Temple Bar area. The tough thing will be finding one that's not packed to the gills in the evening, with groups of drunken people stumbling around town on stag or hen nights. My ex and I visited The Celt (I think it was The Celt... might have been Molloy's) on Talbot Street to have a drink while listening to some irish music one evening and enjoyed it a lot. It's a cute little pub draped with a lot of paraphernalia indicating a strong Irish-American connection - but as I say, it's one of dozens of nice little trad pubs around. Alternatively, any tourist guide would point you in the direction of one of the more historically renowned pubs around town.

For more obvious touristy stuff, you've got Trinity College, the Guinness Brewery, Grafton Street and O'Connell Street for shopping... A Lonely Planet guidebook would highlight most of the must-see stuff, or like I say, one of the Dublin Bus sightseeing tours would plough through all of those areas and point them out to you in the space of an hour.

I'm hardly knowledgeable at all about Dublin, but I think that works for a barebones foundation for a couple of days spent sightseeing. Now excuse me, I'm off to try to dissolve the memories with some whisky.

 

[Eejit]

The North and West coasts of Ireland are beautiful. Very scenic with great beaches. There are castles and the like scattered around the place too.

What kind of thing you interested in? Kulture, pictureskew views or getting drunk all teh tiem lol?

 

[Gemma]

I'd recommend not going to Ireland at all.

 

[Eejit]

You live in one of the shitty parts don't you?

 

[Gemma]

It's boring, dull and it's always raining, ALWAYS!

 

[Insano]

The North and West coasts of Ireland are beautiful. Very scenic with great beaches. There are castles and the like scattered around the place too.

What kind of thing you interested in? Kulture, pictureskew views or getting drunk all teh tiem lol?

We got a flight to Dublin. I think visiting the coasts would require too much travel time, wouldn't it?

My two friends both study History at university, so they're going to want some culture poured into their veins, besides the daily required amount of alcohol.

Also, Laivasse, thanks for the tips.

 

[Diesel_Power]

Temple St.

Beer and college/University European backpackers.

 

[Solaris]

Never been, if you come to Belfast however, I'll buy you a pint.

 

[KiplingsCat]

Come to Cork. Cork is better

 

[Eejit]

Never been, if you come to Belfast however, I'll buy you a pint.

Don't listen to Solaris, Belfast is a shithole.

 

[Gemma]

Don't listen to Solaris, Belfast is a shithole.

Don't listen to Eejit, Belfast is awesome.

 

[Eejit]

Gemma lives in Bizarro Northern Ireland, where Belfast is awesome and the coastlines suck. I wonder if Derry remains 'alright' there?

 

[Gemma]

Gemma lives in Bizarro Northern Ireland, where Belfast is awesome and the coastlines suck. I wonder if Derry remains 'alright' there?

I'm sorry but I'm from Fermanagh and to me Belfast is like paradise, there's lots of shops, cafés, restaurants, clubs and bars. What do I have where I live, huh? Fields and lots of 'em. :hmph:


Btw I'm going to Belfast on Friday, yaaaay!

 

[Solaris]

Damn culchies

 

[Eejit]

I'm sorry but I'm from Fermanagh and to me Belfast is like paradise, there's lots of shops, cafés, restaurants, clubs and bars. What do I have where I live, huh? Fields and lots of 'em. :hmph:

Yeah but they're all full of those damn chip eating jamesies.

Like I said, the coast is the best, especially the N. coast since it gets atlantic swell coming in.

 

[Danimal]

What the hell is unfolding before us?

 

[Eejit]

We got a flight to Dublin. I think visiting the coasts would require too much travel time, wouldn't it?

My two friends both study History at university, so they're going to want some culture poured into their veins, besides the daily required amount of alcohol.

Ireland is fairly small. You can drive from the North Coast to Dublin in about 4-5 hours on the motorways, longer if you take scenic routes like the Glens of Antrim etc.

For culture definitely check out the Book of Kells when you're in Dublin, it's at Trinity College.

 

[ríomhaire]

If you're into history and that you could head out to Tara and Newgrange. I'm not entirely sure how long it will take to get out to them from Dublin but Meath isn't too far away and I'm sure they'd be interesting. I've never been to Newgrange myself but it sounds pretty cool. It's reportedly older than the Great Pyramid and it was built in such a way that on the dawn of the winter solstice, and on no other day of the year, a narrow beam of light stretches all the way through to the inner burial chamber. It pretty much makes the whole tomb a giant metronome with a period of exactly one year.

You could also pick up and Ordinance Survey map and see what landmarks are around the place. They have all the Castles, Ringforts etc marked on them.


Or if you're just interested in having fun find a nice pub with a good atmosphere. Seeing as I've been drinking in Dublin once I can't remcommend any. The pub I was in that night was pretty good though. It was owned by a guy from Killdare (I think) who actually came out and had a chat with us. It was a real country pub, which I like. Hell, any pub that's mainly made of wood and has old books/tools/anvils displayed on the walls is automatically in my good books until proven otherwise.

 

[Solaris]

CHucky ar la