Favorite Corners - Dublin
Dublin is a beautiful compact city with most of its sites situated within walking distance or a quick train ride away. Despite its small size, this city is steeped in history and makes it very accessible (free museum lovers, rejoice). From ancient artifacts dating back to 6000 B.C. to Viking sites to the Guinness Storehouse, there is much to discover in this 'Land of Saints and Scholars’.
The Temple Bar area is a great little area to wander around for food, or just to see all of the unique pubs and restaurants. There’s more here than the eye-catching namesake.
Our favorite cozy was outside of the Temple Bar area. Pubs here can get very busy around peak times, but had a list of a few we wanted to check out and we were able to find one that we could get into.
Staring up at the world’s tallest beer glass which is really the atrium area of the Guinness Storehouse. Tickets are timed entry and booking in advance is recommended.
One of our favorites areas of the Guinness Storehouse experience (yes, even more than the top floor Gravity Bar) was the advertising floor. There’s a movie room that plays some of the most popular Guinness commericials, and also home to this mechanical fish that pedals on a bike. The saying that goes with this is “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle”.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral goes all the way back to 1191 and has a lovely greenspace to enjoy the view and watch the pigeons take a bath in the fountain.
There are a number of free museums in Dublin and are perfect places to spend cold rainy days. Or hot sunny days. This is the National Museum of Archeology. A phenomenal museum that we discovered on our last day. Free tours daily. There’s Vikings, Bog people, the second largest collection of gold artifacts in the world (Greece is the number one) and a jam-packed little Egypt room. Oh, and a few tiny artifacts that go all the way back to 6,000 BC.
Marsh’s library was the first public library in Ireland and opened in 1707. The reading room was said to be frequented by the likes of Brahm Stoker and James Joyce.
This place houses some very old books. And I mean, VERY old books. Mostly from the 15th-18th century.
This is the atrium to the Chester Beatty, a part library/part archive which holds a stunning 2 floor collection of sacred texts, manuscripts, paintings, and paper/papyrus things from around the world all throughout history. There’s even a rooftop patio overlooking the place where the Vikings were first thought to have landed. All for free. I don’t think this place gets enough love in the guidebooks.
Walk along the pedestrian street of Grafton Street (and several of the streets around it like Drury Street) which is full of shops, restaurants, and some pretty amazing singers. And if something seems interesting, go inside. Some facades may seem like just a small door or entrance, but lead to a whole indoor complex or a stairway to a rooftop patio.
Yes, Guinness is here, but there are also a dizzying amount of local whiskey distilleries as well. So much so, that there’s even an Irish Whiskey museum.
Trinity College is one of the oldest working colleges in Ireland. Home to the famous long room (which, when we went, they had removed all of the books) and the famous Book of Kells.
The river Liffey and the Ha’penny bridge. Both are famous landmarks in the Dublin landscape.
We didn’t get much of a chance to explore green spaces in our short few days here (Phoenix Park apparently has a small herd of wild deer). The closest park to the center is Saint Stephen’s Green Park and is just down the block from Trinity College, away from the crowds and a good place to take in some good old Irish color.