County Dublin

Georgian squares and literary pubs in the centre, and the bay an easy ride away: Howth, Malahide and Dalkey along the coast. The capital repays two or three days at least.

County Dublin facts

• Province: Leinster
• County town: Dublin
• Setting: East coast
• Touring region: Dublin
• Best for: cities, history, music, food, family, castles
• Golf: Portmarnock, The Island and Corballis: championship golf to €27.50 in one county. Our golf guide
• Places in the planner: 8

A compact capital built around the River Liffey where it meets Dublin Bay: Dublin is both a county and Ireland's capital city. Its centre blends Georgian squares and terraces with medieval streets around Dublin Castle and Christ Church Cathedral, and Trinity College, founded in 1592, holds the Book of Kells in its Old Library.

Beyond the centre, the county opens out: the coastal villages of Howth, Malahide and Dalkey, the Phoenix Park, one of Europe's largest enclosed city parks, and the Dublin Mountains to the south. Literary history, traditional music, museums and neighbourhood pubs give Dublin depth well beyond a first weekend. Give the city at least two or three days if you can. A day for the historic centre and museums, a day for neighbourhoods, galleries and pubs, and a half-day out on the bay at Howth or Dún Laoghaire gives a much fuller picture than the highlights alone.

Top sights in Dublin

Trinity College and the Book of Kells

Ireland's oldest university, home to the illuminated Book of Kells and the Long Room library.

Dublin Castle and Christ Church

Centuries of history in the medieval heart of the city, within a short walk of each other.

Phoenix Park

A vast enclosed park with herds of fallow deer, Dublin Zoo and Áras an Uachtaráin.

Howth

A working fishing village on a peninsula north of the bay, with cliff walks and seafood.

Temple Bar and the Pubs

The city's cultural quarter, best experienced for its galleries, markets and traditional music pubs.

Towns & cities in Dublin

Dublin

Give the capital more than a weekend: Georgian squares and medieval streets in the centre, and the bay waiting beyond them. Dublin stands on the River Liffey at the head of Dublin Bay.

Dún Laoghaire

Harbour town south of the city with piers, a maritime museum and ferry history.

Howth

Fishing village and walking hub on the Howth Peninsula.

Malahide

Coastal town with a castle, marina and village centre.

Best time to visit

Dublin works in every season. Late spring and early autumn balance mild weather with smaller crowds, while December brings festive markets and lights.

Getting there

Dublin Airport, just north of the city, is Ireland's main international gateway, with ferry ports at Dublin Port and Dún Laoghaire. The city is the hub of Ireland's road and rail network.

Places for your trip

• Dublin: Give the capital more than a weekend: Georgian squares and medieval streets in the centre, and the bay waiting beyond them. Dublin stands on the River Liffey at the head of Dublin Bay.
• Trinity College and the Book of Kells: Trinity College Dublin, founded in 1592, holds the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript gospel book created around 800 AD.
• Guinness Storehouse: The Guinness Storehouse is a visitor centre in the St James's Gate brewery in Dublin, where Guinness has been brewed since 1759.
• Kilmainham Gaol: A former prison, opened in 1796, that holds much of Ireland's nationalist story in its cells and corridors. Kilmainham Gaol stands in Dublin.
• Malahide Castle: One family held this castle for nearly 800 years: the Talbots, north of Dublin. The rooms tell their story as much as the building does.
• Portmarnock: The great Dublin links on its own peninsula, fifteen minutes from the airport; visitors from April to October.
• The Island: A serious, sea-ringed links at Donabate, reached by boat from Malahide until 1973.
• Corballis: Ireland's only true pay-and-play links, at Donabate beside The Island. Rounds from €27.50.

What's on

All events in this county

What we would choose ourselves

The Cliffs of Moher, County Clare

Cliffs & coastal tours

Dublin to Cliffs of Moher, including Wild Atlantic Way and Galway (Wild Rover Tours)

The Cliffs of Moher are the one sight nearly every first trip to Ireland is built around, and this is the day trip we point people to. It runs about thirteen hours from Dublin, out along the Wild Atlantic Way to the cliffs, then into Galway for a couple of hours on the cobbled streets before the run home. It leaves from College Green in the city centre. The numbers are hard to argue with: from US$88.21 a head, rated 4.9 from nearly 24,900 reviews, the largest count of any cliffs tour on Viator, with free cancellation up to a day ahead.

Best for: Anyone whose trip is built around the cliffs and who would rather not hire a car. It is a long coach day of about thirteen hours, so travellers who like to set their own pace may prefer to drive the coast themselves.

See it on Viator

Glendalough, County Wicklow

Day trips from Dublin

Kilkenny, Wicklow and Glendalough Sheepdog Trials from Dublin (Wild Rover Tours)

If you have one day to get out of Dublin, this is the day we would spend. The coach leaves the city for Kilkenny first, with a guided walk through the medieval streets and free time around the castle grounds. Then it is up into the Wicklow Mountains, past the Wicklow Gap, to Glendalough and its 6th century monastic settlement between the two lakes. The finish is a working sheep farm, where border collies move a flock on whistle commands. Ten hours, free cancellation, from US$49.15 a head, rated 4.9 from more than 8,700 reviews, and the farm stop is the part people write home about.

Best for: First-time visitors with one spare day in Dublin. It is a full ten hours with an early start, and the walking takes in old town streets and uneven monastic ground, so it is not the pick for a slow morning or for limited mobility.

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The Giant's Causeway, County Antrim

Northern Ireland tours

Dunluce Castle, Giant's Causeway, Dark Hedges and Belfast (Finn McCools Tours)

The north in a day, without hiring a car or working out the border crossing, because there is not one to work out. The coach leaves Parnell Square at a quarter to seven and heads up the coast: a photo stop at Dunluce Castle, an hour and a half on the stones of the Giant's Causeway, twenty minutes under the Dark Hedges, and an hour in Belfast to finish. It carries Viator's Badge of Excellence, a 4.9 rating from nearly 5,900 reviews, from US$91.65 a head, and free cancellation to the day before.

Best for: A first run at the Causeway coast without driving. It starts at a quarter to seven in the morning and runs twelve and a half hours, and the operator does not recommend it for small children.

See it on Viator

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Nearby counties

County Kildare

Horses shape everything here: the National Stud, the Curragh plain and paddocks in every direction. Canals and St Brigid's town give it a quieter second half, an easy escape from Dublin.

County Wicklow

Dublin's garden and escape route: Glendalough's monastic valley, the Sally Gap and Wicklow Gap drives and great houses along the foothills. Go early on fine weekends.

County Meath

The Boyne Valley holds the deep past: Newgrange and Tara within a short drive of each other, and Trim's great Norman castle. Give the valley a full day.

Part of Dublin.