TRIP OVERVIEW
Day 1 – EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum · Jeanie Johnston Tall Ship · Museum of Literature Ireland
Day 2 – Guinness Storehouse · National Museum – Decorative Arts & History · Marsh's Library
Day 3 – Kilmainham Gaol · Irish Museum of Modern Art
Day 4 – Christ Church Cathedral · St. Patrick's Cathedral · 14 Henrietta Street
Day 5 – James Joyce Tower · Dalkey Castle
Day 6 – National Botanic Gardens · Glasnevin Cemetery Museum · GPO Witness History
Day 7 – National Gallery of Ireland · National Museum of Archaeology · Book of Kells at Trinity College
Day 8 – Train Day · Kilkenny
Day 1
1.EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum~90 min
Twenty interconnected galleries tracing the 10 million people who left Ireland over the centuries and the outsized mark they made worldwide. Among the most creative museum experiences in Dublin, weaving together individual emigrant stories from famine survivors to Che Guevara's Irish grandfather.
Daily 10:00am - 6:45pm
2.Jeanie Johnston Tall Ship~50 min
A full-scale working replica of the 1847 barque that carried 2,500 Irish emigrants to North America and never lost a single passenger to disease or disaster. The guided tour goes below decks into the cramped hold where families huddled for six to eight weeks, bringing individual emigrants' stories to life.
Daily 10:00am - 4:00pm
Guided tour only — departs every 30 min from 10:00am. Book online in advance.
3.Museum of Literature Ireland~60 min
Ireland's national museum of literature in Newman House on St. Stephen's Green — where Joyce studied and Hopkins taught. Exhibits trace Ireland's extraordinary literary tradition through rare manuscripts and objects connected to Yeats, Beckett, Joyce, and Ireland's four Nobel laureates in literature.
Tuesday - Sunday 10:30am - 5:30pm
Closed Monday
No pictures available.
Day 2
1.Guinness Storehouse~2 hr
Seven floors of brewing history inside the original fermentation plant at St. James's Gate — a glass-floored pint-shaped atrium surrounded by displays on ingredients, craft, and the brand's advertising legacy. Finish at the Gravity Bar on the top floor with a complimentary pint and a 360-degree panorama of Dublin.
Daily 9:30am - 7:00pm
2.National Museum – Decorative Arts & History~90 min
Ireland's national decorative arts collection housed inside Collins Barracks — a Queen Anne complex built in 1704 and the oldest continuously occupied barracks in the world. Galleries cover Irish furniture, silver, glassware, Viking artefacts, and 1916 Rising exhibits. All free to enter.
Monday 1:00pm - 5:00pm · Tuesday - Saturday 10:00am - 5:00pm · Sunday 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Free
3.Marsh's Library~45 min
Ireland's oldest public library, opened in 1701 — dark oak bookcases hold 25,000 volumes and scholars can still read in the original wired alcoves where they were once locked in with precious books. Jonathan Swift and Bram Stoker both worked here. Behind St. Patrick's Cathedral in the Liberties.
Tuesday - Friday 9:30am - 5:00pm · Saturday 10:00am - 5:00pm
Closed Sunday & Monday
Day 3
1.Kilmainham Gaol~90 min
A working prison from 1796 to 1924 where the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were executed in a stone courtyard. The guided tour moves through the Victorian wing's iron galleries, dim stone cells, and the execution yard where James Connolly — too wounded to stand — was tied to a chair before being shot.
Daily 10:30am - 5:45pm
Guided tour only. Book online — tickets release 28 days ahead at midnight. No 3rd-party tickets accepted.
2.Irish Museum of Modern Art~90 min
Ireland's national modern art collection inside the Royal Hospital Kilmainham — a magnificent 17th-century building set around a formal courtyard, built in 1684 for retired soldiers. The permanent collection spans 3,500 works alongside rotating exhibitions of major international artists. All free to enter.
Tuesday - Saturday 10:00am - 5:30pm · Sunday 12:00pm - 5:30pm
Closed Monday
Free
Wednesday opens at 11:30am.
Day 4
1.Christ Church Cathedral~45 min
Dublin's oldest building, founded by Viking king Sitric Silkenbeard in 1030 and rebuilt by the Normans after 1170. The atmospheric crypt runs the full length of the nave above and houses a mummified cat and rat frozen mid-chase inside an organ pipe — an unexpectedly memorable detail.
Monday - Saturday 9:00am - 6:30pm
Sunday 12:30pm - 3:00pm · 4:30pm - 6:30pm
2.St. Patrick's Cathedral~60 min
Ireland's largest church, built where St. Patrick is said to have baptized converts in the 5th century, and home to the tomb of Jonathan Swift. The Gothic nave is lined with the tattered battle flags of Irish regiments and the memorial brasses of medieval knights who shaped the city.
Monday - Saturday 9:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday 9:00am - 10:30am · 12:45pm - 2:30pm · 4:30pm - 6:00pm
3.14 Henrietta Street~75 min
A single Georgian townhouse telling 300 years of Dublin's social history — built as an aristocratic mansion in the 1740s, divided into cramped tenement flats by the 1880s, housing over 100 people by 1911. The guided tour moves floor by floor as the story shifts from landed gentry to desperate poverty.
Wednesday - Sunday 10:00am - 4:00pm
Closed Monday & Tuesday
Guided tour only — book online in advance.
Day 5
1.James Joyce Tower~30 min
The Martello tower at Sandycove where Joyce lived briefly in 1904 and set the opening scene of Ulysses — reproduced almost exactly as he described it. The free museum holds Joyce's guitar, waistcoat, cigar case, and death mask. Reached by DART to Sandycove & Glasthule, then a 7-minute coastal walk.
2.Dalkey Castle~70 min
A 15th-century fortified townhouse in one of the most charming coastal villages near Dublin — once a major medieval port. Actors in period costume deliver interactive history performances, and the Writers' Gallery honours the remarkable number of writers, from Shaw to Maeve Binchy, who have lived in Dalkey.
Monday 10:00am - 6:00pm · Wednesday - Friday 10:00am - 6:00pm · Saturday - Sunday 11:00am - 6:00pm
Closed Tuesday
All tours must be booked online in advance.
Day 6
1.National Botanic Gardens~90 min
Ireland's national botanical garden, founded in 1795, with 20,000 plant species across 48 acres along the River Tolka. The great curvilinear glasshouses — restored Victorian iron-and-glass structures — house palms, tree ferns, and an orchid house. All free to enter.
2.Glasnevin Cemetery Museum~90 min
Ireland's national cemetery, with 1.5 million burials — from Daniel O'Connell and Michael Collins to Éamon de Valera. The museum traces Ireland's independence struggle through artefacts, personal stories, and a dramatic scale model of the grounds. The Victorian watchtower was built to stop body-snatchers.
Daily 10:00am - 5:00pm
198 steps · no lift
3.GPO Witness History~60 min
The General Post Office served as headquarters of the 1916 Easter Rising — Pádraig Pearse read the Proclamation of the Irish Republic from its steps on Easter Monday. The immersive exhibition inside uses touchscreens and reconstructed scenes to bring the rising to life in the building that still bears bullet marks.
Monday - Saturday 10:00am - 5:00pm
Closed Sunday
Day 7
1.National Gallery of Ireland~60 min
Over 2,500 works spanning five centuries of European and Irish painting in sky-lit galleries — all free. The collection includes Caravaggio's only Irish painting, Vermeer and Rembrandt, and an entire room of Jack B. Yeats alongside Ireland's greatest portrait collection.
Monday - Wednesday 9:15am - 5:30pm · Thursday 9:15am - 8:30pm · Friday - Saturday 9:15am - 5:30pm · Sunday 11:00am - 5:30pm
Free
2.National Museum of Archaeology~60 min
Ireland's finest collection of prehistoric gold, Viking artefacts, and Celtic treasures in a Victorian Palladian building with a Pantheon-inspired rotunda. Highlights include the Ardagh Chalice, the Tara Brooch, and one of the world's largest displays of Iron Age bog bodies. All free.
Monday 1:00pm - 5:00pm · Tuesday - Saturday 10:00am - 5:00pm · Sunday 1:00pm - 5:00pm
Free
3.Book of Kells at Trinity College~90 min
Ireland's most treasured illuminated manuscript — four gospels hand-lettered by monks around 800 AD — lives inside the Old Library's Long Room, lined with 200,000 antique books and marble busts of great thinkers. The exhibition traces the manuscript's creation and survival across twelve centuries.
Monday - Saturday 9:00am - 6:00pm · Sunday 9:30am - 5:00pm
Day 8
Dublin Heuston → Kilkenny · Irish Rail · 97 min
book at: irishrail.ie or thetrainline.com
7:20am Dublin Heuston → 9:05am Kilkenny
10:15am Dublin Heuston → 11:44am Kilkenny
1.Kilkenny Castle~60 min
A magnificent Norman fortress on a limestone bluff above the River Nore, built in the 1190s and occupied by the Butler dynasty until 1935. The Victorian Long Gallery's stunning hammerbeam timber roof is hung with Pre-Raphaelite and Flemish portraits. The castle's parkland runs down to the river and is free to enter.
Daily 9:30am - 5:30pm
2.St. Canice's Cathedral~45 min
Ireland's second-longest medieval cathedral — a vast Gothic interior of black Kilkenny marble and medieval floor tiles lined with Norman and Viking lords' tombs. Beside it stands a 9th-century round tower, climbable via internal ladders for sweeping views over Kilkenny.
Monday - Saturday 9:00am - 6:00pm · Sunday 1:00pm - 6:00pm
Tower climb requires minimum height of 4.5 ft. Sightseeing is ticketed; worship is free.
Kilkenny → Dublin Heuston · Irish Rail · 97 min
book at: irishrail.ie or thetrainline.com
2:44pm Kilkenny → 4:20pm Dublin Heuston
4:44pm Kilkenny → 6:21pm Dublin Heuston
Weekly Closures
Literary & Heritage Sites · Closed Monday
History Exhibitions & Heritage Centres · Closed Tuesday
History Museums · Libraries · Closed Sunday
Tours
Viator
A 2-hour walking tour through 1,000+ years of history — from Viking origins through medieval lanes to Georgian boulevards — with guides who weave in lesser-known stories and hidden details.
2 hr · Small group
A 2-hour walk through Dublin's darkest history — the burning of Darkey Kelly, the Hellfire Club, the Dolocher who stalked the Liberties. Genuinely gruesome and very well delivered.
2 hr · Small group
A 13-hour coach trip to the 200-metre-high Cliffs of Moher and Galway City, following the Wild Atlantic Way along some of the most dramatic coastline in Europe.
13 hr · Group tour
Cliffs of Moher plus Bunratty Medieval Castle, the Folk Park village, and old Ennis — a full-day loop through the west covering a remarkable range of scenery and history.
12 hr 30 min · Group tour
A full day north into Northern Ireland — the Giants Causeway's hexagonal basalt columns, clifftop Dunluce Castle ruins, and Belfast's Cathedral Quarter and Peace Walls.
12 hr 45 min · Group tour
GetYourGuide
The same top-rated walking tour on GetYourGuide — Dublin's Viking origins, medieval lanes, Georgian streets, and hidden corners with guides who match deep knowledge to great storytelling.
2 hr · Small group
Led by Trinity College and UCD history graduates — Dublin Castle, Temple Bar, City Hall, and the medieval city with strong factual grounding and engaging storytelling.
2 hr · Small group
Small-group day trip · 25 max in a custom-built van to the Cliffs of Moher via the Wild Atlantic Way and Bunratty Castle — skip-the-line entry included. The most direct small-group route to the cliffs from Dublin.
12 hr · 25 max
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Small-group day trip · 25 max north to UNESCO Giant's Causeway — 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns — then into Belfast where you choose between the Titanic Belfast experience or a black taxi tour of the Peace Walls. Returns to Dublin 7:45pm.
12 hr · 25 max
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5. From Dublin: Cliffs of Moher · Burren & Galway City Day Tour · GetYourGuide · 4.8 · 25857+ reviews
Full-day trip through the lunar landscape of the Burren, the 200-metre Cliffs of Moher, and the colourful streets of Galway City — passing villages like Kinvara and Lisdoonvarna along the Wild Atlantic Way. One of the highest-rated day trips in Ireland.
13 hr · Group tour
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TripAdvisor
Full-day coach tour west to the 200-metre Cliffs of Moher, the limestone Burren, and Galway City — following the Wild Atlantic Way with stops at Kinvara. A well-established itinerary covering Ireland's most dramatic Atlantic scenery in a single day.
13 hr · Group tour
Full-day coach trip north to the UNESCO Giant's Causeway — 40,000 interlocking basalt columns formed 60 million years ago — and clifftop Dunluce Castle ruins along the Causeway Coastal Route. One of Northern Ireland's most iconic day trips from Dublin.
13 hr · Group tour
3. Dublin to Belfast Titanic · Dunluce Castle & Giant's Causeway · TripAdvisor · 4.9 · 2777+ reviews
Full-day trip combining the Titanic Belfast experience, clifftop Dunluce Castle, and the Giant's Causeway — with two pickup options in central Dublin. One of the most-reviewed day tours in Ireland, consistently rated among the best.
13 hr · Group tour
Full-day tour north to the Giant's Causeway, the Dark Hedges · the Game of Thrones tree tunnel, and Belfast City — covering the Causeway Coastal Route's major landmarks in a single long day from Dublin.
14 hr · Group tour
Full-day coach trip from Dublin along the Wild Atlantic Way to the Cliffs of Moher — with stops at Bunratty Castle and Kinvara fishing village. Knowledgeable guides with strong storytelling throughout the 12-hour round trip.
12 hr · Group tour
Cappuccino
Bewley's Oriental Café · 4.2 · 5000+ reviews
Monday - Wednesday 8:00am - 9:00pm · Thursday - Saturday 8:00am - 10:00pm · Sunday 9:00am - 9:00pm
Kaph · 4.3 · 1200+ reviews
Monday - Saturday 8:00am - 6:00pm · Sunday 10:00am - 6:00pm
Clement & Pekoe · 4.5 · 300+ reviews
Monday - Friday 8:00am - 6:00pm · Saturday 9:00am - 6:00pm · Sunday 10:00am - 5:00pm
Bread 41 · 4.5 · 700+ reviews
Monday - Saturday 7:00am - 3:00pm
Closed Sunday
3fe · 4.4 · 150+ reviews
Monday - Friday 7:30am - 5:30pm · Saturday - Sunday 9:00am - 6:00pm
Restaurants Near Hotel
FIRE Steakhouse & Bar · 4.5 · 1500+ reviews
Irish prime cuts in a soaring 19th-century mansion with barrel-vaulted ceilings.
Monday - Friday 12:00pm - 10:30pm · Saturday - Sunday 12:30pm - 10:30pm
Yamamori · 4.3 · 600+ reviews
Dublin's long-established Japanese favourite — sushi, ramen, and izakaya dishes.
Daily 12:30pm - 11:00pm
Fade Street Social · 4.4 · 1000+ reviews
Chef Dylan McGrath's lively Creative Quarter spot for modern Irish cooking.
Daily 12:00pm - 10:30pm
The Pig's Ear · 4.4 · 500+ reviews
Modern Irish cooking overlooking Trinity College — confident seasonal food.
Tuesday - Saturday 12:00pm - 3:00pm · 5:30pm - 10:00pm
Closed Sunday & Monday
Dax Restaurant · 4.6 · 400+ reviews
Elegant French-Irish fine dining in a Georgian basement — seasonal tasting menu.
Tuesday - Friday 12:30pm - 2:00pm · Tuesday - Saturday 6:00pm - 10:00pm
Closed Sunday & Monday
Downtown Restaurants
Shanahan's on the Green · 4.4 · 900+ reviews
Dublin's most storied steakhouse — prime Irish beef in a grand Georgian mansion.
Monday - Saturday 5:30pm - 10:30pm · Sunday 5:00pm - 9:30pm
The Woollen Mills · 4.3 · 800+ reviews
Relaxed all-day dining in a Victorian warehouse on the Ha'Penny Bridge.
Daily 9:00am - 10:30pm
Coppinger Row · 4.4 · 700+ reviews
Mediterranean small plates and wood-grilled mains on a cobblestoned lane.
Monday - Saturday 12:00pm - 11:00pm · Sunday 12:30pm - 10:00pm
Etto · 4.6 · 600+ reviews
Excellent seasonal cooking at a small Merrion Row wine bar.
Monday - Saturday 12:00pm - 10:00pm
Closed Sunday
Forest Avenue · 4.5 · 400+ reviews
John Wyer's Michelin-starred seasonal cooking near the Grand Canal.
Tuesday - Saturday 12:00pm - 2:30pm · 6:00pm - 9:30pm
Closed Sunday & Monday
Local Tastes
Guinness
Ireland's defining stout, brewed at St. James's Gate since 1759 — the creamy nitrogen head and roasted-barley bitterness taste noticeably better poured in Dublin, a fact every local will tell you.
Dublin Coddle
Dublin's own one-pot dish — pork sausages, back bacon rashers, and sliced potatoes slow-cooked in stock until the liquid turns silky. A distinctly Dubliner recipe; Swift wrote about it and Joyce ate it.
Full Irish Breakfast
Rashers, pork sausages, white pudding, black pudding, fried egg, grilled tomato, and soda bread — Ireland's most important morning meal. Black and white puddings are uniquely Irish; quality varies sharply by producer.
Irish Soda Bread
Leavened with bicarbonate of soda — Ireland's most distinctive bread with a dense crumb and slightly tangy flavour. The brown wholemeal version and the white spotted variety are both staples at every Irish breakfast.
Irish Whiskey
Triple-distilled for smoothness — lighter and less peated than Scotch with a characteristic floral and honeyed character. Dublin's craft distillery revival means excellent whiskey bars worth exploring beyond Jameson.
Food Delivery
Uber Eats
Foreign number: accepted. — the same Uber account and SMS verification as the ride app, so a foreign SIM receives the code.
Solid coverage across Dublin 1, 2, 4, and 8; restaurant selection spans global cuisines and Irish staples; reliable for evening delivery in the city centre and the Docklands area where kitchen hours can be short.
Deliveroo
Foreign number: not required. — sign-up runs on Google, Apple, Facebook or email with no phone field at all, so no verification code has to arrive.
Strong coverage across the city centre, Ranelagh, and the south inner suburbs; restaurant selection is particularly good for quality independent restaurants and local Irish spots; reliable for Sunday evening delivery when other options thin out.
Shows, Performances & Concerts
Abbey Theatre
Ireland's national theatre co-founded by W.B. Yeats in 1904 — home of Irish dramatic writing, staging world premieres of new Irish work year-round.
Gate Theatre
A superb 1929 auditorium at Cavendish Row that launched Orson Welles and MacLiammóir — major Irish and international drama in an intimate and beautiful room.
Getting Around
Free Now
Foreign number: accepted. — the verification code arrives by SMS on a foreign SIM.
The dominant ride-hailing app in Dublin; broad supply across the city centre, Ballsbridge, Rathmines, and the Docklands; useful for rides to and from the south suburbs and the coast at Sandymount; metered fares are shown in the app before confirming.
Bolt
Foreign number: accepted. — the verification code arrives by SMS on a foreign SIM, and the app can also verify by email.
Competes with Free Now across the city; often cheaper for shorter cross-city rides; useful as a price-check alternative during peak hours and on weekend evenings when Free Now surge can be high; supply is reliable across the north and south inner city.
Train Stations Near Hotel
Pearse Station
DART coastal line → Malahide & Howth · Bray & Greystones · Commuter rail → Wicklow · Arklow.
Dublin Heuston
Intercity trains → Cork · Limerick · Galway · Waterford · Kilkenny · Sligo.
Day Trips by Train
Bray · 35 min
A Victorian seaside town at the foot of Bray Head — the pebble beach promenade, a cliff walk to Greystones, and the Heritage Centre in the old Town Hall. DART runs every 15 minutes direct on the coastal line.
Maynooth · 35 min
A university town with a Norman castle and the grounds of Maynooth University, one of Ireland's oldest colleges. The ruined 13th-century Maynooth Castle is freely accessible. Irish Rail commuter service runs frequently.
Drogheda · 1 hr
A medieval port town on the Boyne — the Millmount citadel with panoramic river views, St Peter's Church housing the head of St Oliver Plunkett, and the nearby Brú na Bóinne Neolithic tombs at Newgrange. Irish Rail Enterprise service direct.
Wicklow Town · 75 min
A small coastal town serving as a gateway to Wicklow Mountains National Park; buses and taxis connect to Glendalough, the hauntingly beautiful 6th-century monastic ruins set between two dark mountain lakes in a glacial valley. Recommended by Fodor's and Rick Steves as a half-day or full-day excursion.
book at: thetrainline.com or Omio
Dundalk · 1h 20 min
Michelin Restaurants
Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud
Contemporary Irish with French classical roots — two stars since 1981.
Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen
Prime Irish ingredients with French technique — elegant Georgian basement.
Glovers Alley
Modern Irish fine dining by Andy McFadden — overlooking St. Stephen's Green.
Bastible
Barry Fitzgerald's conviction cooking — modern Irish on the South Circular Road.
Not shown: 0 · additional restaurants in Dublin — see guide.michelin.com for the full list.
Heads Up
Dublin Castle — Closed Through End of Year
State apartments and interior tours are closed May 5 through December 31 to prepare for Ireland's EU Council Presidency.
Chester Beatty Library — Closed from Mid-June Through December
One of Dublin's finest free museums closes June 15 through end of year for the EU Presidency. Access is via Ship Street Gate when open.
James Joyce Tower — Closed Monday and Tuesday
The tower is open Wednesday through Sunday only — closed every Monday and Tuesday year-round. Entry is free.
Hiking
Cliff Path Loop · Moderate
A clifftop loop around Howth Head with island and lighthouse views throughout.
7.8 km loop · 130 m ascent
2 hr
Bog of Frogs Loop · Easy
A shorter loop through heathland on the summit, an easier take on the cliffs.
6 km loop · 80 m ascent
1 hr 30 min
Worth Knowing
The Thread of 1916
What surprised me building this guide is how clearly a single thread runs through it — the 1916 Easter Rising and the long shadow it casts across the city. At 14 Henrietta Street you see what the tenement city looked like from inside, the hunger and overcrowding that made people willing to fight. At the GPO you stand in the room where Pádraig Pearse read the Proclamation from the steps on Easter Monday. At Kilmainham Gaol you walk into the stone yard where fourteen leaders were shot, one by one, over ten days.
The three stops aren't on the same day — they're spaced across Days 3 and 4 — but they form a single argument about a country that chose its moment and paid the price. Dublin doesn't just remember 1916; it's still partly shaped by it. The bullet marks on the GPO columns are still there. The execution yard at Kilmainham is still exactly as it was. That refusal to smooth things over is one of the things that makes the city genuinely worth taking seriously.
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