things to do in dublin

during our 10 day trip of ireland we spent our first and last days in dublin. this is a big bustling city, but a lot of the main attractions are within walking distance of one another which makes it easy to see the highlights.

here are some of the things we did in and near dublin that i would recommend. 

free walking tour

on our first day in dublin we went on a free walking tour with sandemans. it was a great way to get to see the city, learn about irish heritage and culture, and not run ourselves into the ground after an overnight flight. plus free is right in the name! 

this tour was 3 hours long and ended up being more standing than walking, but it was still a great way to spend our first afternoon in ireland. our tour guide michael was very entertaining and had us laughing as he told us of irish and dublin history in true irish storytelling fashion. in his words, the irish never let the facts get in the way of a good story. 

on this tour we started at city hall, saw dublin castle, trinity college, the temple bar district, and ended with all of us singing at the molly malone statue. 

free walking tours are popular in a lot of major european cities and there are a lot of different companies that offer them. the basic premise is you sign up online for free, go on the tour, and then pay the tour guide what you think the tour was worth. it is a great way to get the history and see the highlights of a city on a budget. 

the k club

since my husband the golfer was with us, he wanted to see a few irish golf courses on our trip to ireland. we went to the k club on the west of dublin and spent some time walking around. we weren’t the only ones doing so, which made me feel a little better since everything was so fancy! 

we walked around the huge fancy lodging and restaurant before heading into the club house. everyone we ran into was really nice, even though i’m sure it was obvious we didn’t belong. this course has hosted two ryder cups and has lots of memorabilia and pictures from them. non-golfers i know you’re not interested, but my husband loved it. 

temple bar district

we experienced this area during the day on our free walking tour and also came back for dinner one night. this area is full of pubs and restaurants and is full of nightlife. 

we ate a good dinner at one of the pubs, listened to the live music and people watched for a bit before heading home for bed. if you like nightlife, this is the place to come in dublin. 

whiskey tasting

when in ireland whiskey tasting is a must. there are a lot of different places you can go to get a tour and tasting. 

after our walking tour we went into the irish whiskey museum and their bar for a drink. the bartenders were very nice and explained the different whiskeys to us and made sure we all got a drink we liked. 

for our distillery tour, we went a little outside of dublin to tullamore dew. this tour was not of an active distillery but they did have all the distilling equipment on display on the tour. irish whiskey has an interesting history that we got to learn about here, as well as what makes tullamore unique. our hour tour included a tasting of 3 whiskeys including a 12 year old that was my favorite. 

guided day tour

there are a lot of different day tour companies that will take you on a guided bus tour to multiple different attractions around ireland leaving from dublin every day. we took a day tour with wild rover to northern ireland where we got to see belfast, giants causeway, and carrick a rede rope bridge in a 13 hour day. 

this tour was simply amazing and really opened my eyes to more of the history of ireland and the continuing conflict between the british and the irish. you can check out my detailed recap of our day on my northern ireland post here. 

whelans pub

any p.s. i love you fans out there? nick is, so this was a must see on our trip. we stopped at whelans for a drink early one evening before the crowds got crazy and the music started. there are multiple different music areas in this pub and multiple bands were setting up as we walked around. unfortunately neither of us fell in love with an irish musician. 

get out of dublin

my final recommendation for things to do in dublin is to get out of dublin! it is a nice city with lots of night life, museums, and history, but it isn’t what i picture when i think ireland. 

just a short hour drive or train ride south is wicklow national park and the wicklow mountains. there are also countless small towns south or even east of dublin that are delightful and worth exploring on their own!

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we didn’t spend a lot of time in dublin during our time in ireland, but we were able to enjoy the time we did. what is your favorite thing to do in dublin? what is your favorite day trip out of dublin?