The 15 Best Things to Do in Dublin (and Top Things to Avoid)

The Irish tradition of storytelling has been revived by Seanchoíche, an event series founded in Dublin in 2021. Volunteers take to the stage in venues around the city to share personal anecdotes, works of fiction, or poetry before a packed audience. A loose theme such as ”love” or ”change” underpins the night. There’s a great sense of intimacy to the evenings. The name Seanchoíche stems from Seanchaí, the Irish word for storyteller, and oíche, which translates to ”night.” Such is its success that the Seanchoíche event series has spread to fourteen countries worldwide. Follow Seanchoíche on Instagram for information on upcoming events. Tickets are usually €24.50 ($28), but they sell out fast. An alternative is the monthly Dublin Story Slam, a competitive open mic storytelling night held in venues like the Sugar Club and the Abbey Theatre.

Dublin’s 707-hectare green lung, Phoenix Park, feels like a pocket of the countryside in the city centre. More than twice the size of New York’s Central Park, it is best explored on two wheels. Phoenix Park Bikes rents bicycles for €20 ($23) a day from the Parkgate Street entrance. In the grasslands nearby, you might spy wild fallow deer roaming. The 600-strong deer population was introduced by the Duke of Ormond in the 1600s, when the park was a hunting ground. Summer is the time to spot newborn fawns, but make sure to admire them from afar. Travel deeper into the park and you’ll find Dublin Zoo, one of Europe’s oldest zoos. Stop for a scone in the pretty Victorian Tea Rooms, before cycling to the President of Ireland’s official residence, the 18th-century Áras an Uachtaráin. It’s open to the public for guided tours on Saturdays.

The Royal Hospital Kilmainham is the striking headquarters of contemporary art in Ireland. Wrapping around a cobbled courtyard and crowned by a clock tower, it was built in the 1680s as a retirement home for soldiers, inspired by Les Invalides in Paris. The last army pensioners resided here in the 1920s, but it would be another six decades before it opened its doors as a modern art museum. From Louis le Brocquy to Joan Miró, the permanent collection features modern Irish artists and international heavyweights. Exhibits are free to enter, and guided tours can be booked in advance. Spend a quiet morning in the gallery before walking around the museum’s 17th-century walled garden, where plants were once grown for medicinal purposes. In the summer months, the 48-acre grounds host the music festivals Forbidden Fruit and In the Meadows.

You’ll smell the brewers roasting barley as soon as you arrive in the Liberties district, where Sir Arthur Guinness founded his legendary brewery in the 1700s. A former fermentation plant on the site now holds the seven-story Guinness Storehouse museum. Assuming it was an over-hyped tourist attraction, I overlooked the museum for years, only to be proven wrong when I finally visited. It’s a slick operation, with each interactive level walking you through the brewing process and history of the stout. My favourite part is the display of old televised Guinness advertisements. On the top floor is the glass-walled Gravity Bar, where 360-degree city views come with a complimentary pint. Tickets start from €26 ($30), but you can spend extra for added experiences, such as a workshop on Guinness pouring. Book well in advance.

A visit to this former prison is a history lesson on Ireland’s fight for independence from British rule. Opened in 1796, Kilmainham Gaol held a mix of criminals and political prisoners, including the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, a watershed rebellion against British colonial rule. Fourteen of these leaders were executed by firing squad in the jail’s Stonebreakers’ Yard. Like many of my generation, my first visit was on a school tour. I remember being chilled by the tour guide’s retelling of inmates’ stories. Tours take in everything from the isolation cells to the prison’s Catholic chapel, where rebel Joseph Plunkett married his bride Grace Gifford hours before he was executed. Tickets (€8/$9) are limited and must be booked well in advance.

When news broke in 2021 that The Cobblestone was to be turned into a hotel, there was an outcry. An impassioned local campaign went on to shut the planning proposal down, arguing that the venue is integral to Dublin’s cultural heritage. Thankfully, normal business has since resumed in the pub and trad music venue, which has been run by the same family for decades. Trad music is experiencing a renaissance in Ireland, with a growing volume of young people playing traditional instruments and attending trad sessions. Some of Ireland’s most popular contemporary trad acts, such as Lankum and The Mary Wallopers, have performed in The Cobblestone. To experience its sessions, drop in and pull up a bar stool. There’s live music every day. You’ll know the music is about to start when the crowd is shushed, giving the musicians the pub’s undivided attention.

Lined with redbrick townhouses, Dublin’s Georgian Quarter is a handsome setting for a museum day. Start with the National Gallery of Ireland on Merrion Square, which has been exhibiting art since the 1860s. Entry is free, as are imaginative children’s workshops in portraiture and mask-making. On Kildare Street, you’ll find the archaeological collection of the National Museum of Ireland, which lifts the veil on life in ancient Ireland. Most haunting is the display of ”bog bodies,”  the mummified remains of humans who were buried in peat bogs in a ritualistic Iron Age sacrifice. Admission is free. Next, stroll to the Little Museum of Dublin. Occupying a grand townhouse, it showcases Dublin-centric ephemera donated by the general public, from James Joyce’s death mask to a pair of U2 frontman Bono’s sunglasses. Visits are via a (theatrical) guided tour. Tickets are €18 ($21).

Ireland’s oldest university lies just a few steps from Grafton Street, Dublin’s main shopping thoroughfare. Queen Elizabeth I established Trinity College in 1592, when Ireland was under British rule. Alumni include Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, and Samuel Beckett, as well as Sally Rooney  (the hit TV adaptation of her novel Normal People was filmed on campus). Walking tours of the cobblestoned grounds are student-led. It’s worth buying a ticket to see the Book of Kells, a 9th-century manuscript beautifully illustrated by monks, and to access the magnificent Old Library (€26/$30). If you have time to spare, watch a cricket game in College Park. In the summer, you can stay on campus in private rooms and apartments–occupied by staff and scholars during term time–for as little as €91 ($106) a night.

With its concentration of independent boutiques, Drury Street is the place to shop for souvenirs you won’t find anywhere else. See makers in action on the jeweler’s workbench in the Irish Design Shop. Next door is the Industry & Co store and cafe, my go-to for Irish-made homewares and sea salt brownies. For fashion, try Om Diva. This bubblegum-pink boutique began as a stall in the 1990s, eventually becoming an ambassador for emerging Irish designers. A few doors down is Emporium, the brick-and-mortar of the Irish streetwear brand of the same name. Cap it off with Gubbeen cheese toasties and natural wine at the Loose Canon wine bar. Drury Street shifts gears at night, filling up with the young and stylish drinking pints al fresco.

Sea swimming is a pastime beloved by Dubliners, but with icy waters, it’s not for the faint of heart. Join locals at the legendary Forty Foot bathing place in Sandycove, where swimming is a year-round pursuit. On December 25, it’s ambushed by swimmers for the Christmas Day Dip, who jump into the frigid waters in Santa hats. Bring hot tea in a flask to warm your bones post-swim. Martello Tower, built to defend the coast from a threatened Napoleonic invasion, overlooks the bathing spot. The tower appears in the opening scenes of James Joyce’s Ulysses, and now serves as a museum dedicated to the writer. Admission is free and the enthusiastic staff offer guided tours. To visit, get off at the Sandycove and Glasthule stop on the DART train.

This cocktail bar is devoted to poitín, an Irish spirit that was once famed for its potency. A pocket guide issued to U.S soldiers stationed in Northern Ireland during World War II warned them against drinking the ”dynamite” liquor, nicknamed ”Irish moonshine.” In 1661, it was banned by King Charles II to stamp out tax avoidance by Irish distillers. It’s this date from which Bar 1661 takes its name. The bar team’s mastery of the spirit is genius. Order a Belfast Coffee, made with Bán poitín, or the Round Towers, a Micil poitín and lemon sherbet confection. Sip-sized servings of the menu can be sampled with the 28-course liquid tasting menu. You’ll quickly see why Bar 1661 has been named the best in Ireland, while its cocktail menu has ranked fourth-best in the world. Reservations can be made on Bar 1661’s website.

Every major city should have a cinema like the Light House. It’s a sanctuary for cinephiles, showcasing the latest arthouse and independent Irish films. It also appeals to the everyman, giving as much of a platform to big blockbuster hits as it does to niche releases. If it feels underground, that’s because it is–the screens are subterranean and themed around primary colors. On one of my visits, Irish screen royalty Brendan Gleeson was sitting in the same row as me. There is a silver-toned bar for post-film discussion and events, which can range from Q&As with directors to film-themed exhibitions and screenwriting talks. Festivals such as the Dublin International Film Festival and the GAZE International LGBTQIA Film Festival hold screenings throughout the year. Keep an eye on the cinema’s website for upcoming events. Tickets are priced from €13 ($15).

Offering lighthouse views, dramatic skies, and lungfuls of sea air, the Howth Cliff Walk is a revitalising way to spend an afternoon. The two-hour trek sets off from the quaint port village of Howth and weaves over the Nose of Howth, a peninsula carpeted in heather and bright yellow gorse. This corner of Dublin is a haven for wild plants and mushrooms, best discovered on a botanical tour with Howth Foraging. Back in the village, stop for fish and chips from Leo Burdock or get a lobster roll from the family-run King Sitric seafood bar–the lobsters are fished from nearby Balscadden Bay. A half-hour DART train ride from the city centre will plant you in the heart of the village.

Hurling is an ancient game, featuring in folklore that has been passed down through the centuries. Thought to be the world’s fastest field sport, it sees players use an ash stick to whip a leather-wrapped sliotar ball around a pitch. Learn about this national sport in Croke Park Stadium, the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), founded in 1884 to promote hurling, camogie (the women-only equivalent), and Gaelic football. All-Ireland Championship hurling matches run through the summer in Croke Park. Stalls are packed with families wearing the colors of their home counties. The atmosphere is high-energy, especially when the All-Ireland final approaches and the stakes skyrocket. If you visit out of season, learn about the game in the stadium’s GAA Museum or on a tour of the 82,000-capacity grounds. A combined museum and tour ticket is €18 ($21).

Twice a month, vintage aficionados flock to the suburb of Phibsborough to rifle through the stalls of the Zeitgeist flea market. Ireland’s largest flea market, it’s an indoor-outdoor showcase of more than 100 traders, taking over Kelly’s Yard at the back of a 1960s shopping centre on the second and last Sunday of the month. Music pumps as shoppers sift through antiques, art prints, vintage clothing, and designs by independent artists. Lots of stalls sell second-hand fashion for as little as €5 ($6) apiece. The last time I went with friends, one came away with a book of Irish Gaelic phrases, while another bought a vintage watch. The market runs from 11 am to 5 pm. After you shop, try one of 3FE cafe’s coffee roasts or drop into the Fíon Eile shop and wine bar, which offers free corkage on Sundays.

Depicting a legendary street vendor, the Molly Malone statue on Suffolk Street is a Dublin landmark. It has stood since the late 1980s, but in the 2000s, a misguided rumour spread that rubbing the chest of the bronze statue brought good luck. This resulted in tourists tarnishing the sculpture by touching Molly Malone’s chest, leading to the metal discoloring over the years. To preserve it, the Dublin City Council has asked visitors to refrain from rubbing the statue’s chest and is even considering placing the statue on a higher platform for increased protection. A more respectful way to pay tribute to Ms. Malone is by singing the ballad ”Molly Malone,” an unofficial Dublin anthem sung at sports games that describes her selling ”cockles and mussels” in the city’s streets.

Many visitors to Dublin make the mistake of spending all their time in the city center. For a few euros, a short ride on the DART train will take you to a string of charming coastal towns. The apple-green DART goes to Greystones in the south and Howth in the north. Make sure to look out the window for the stretch from Dalkey to Killiney, when the train winds around to a magnificent view of Sorrento Terrace and Bray Head. On the south side of the city, you can kayak out to Dalkey Island or pick up artisan foods in Dún Laoghaire’s Sunday market. In the north, take a tour of the 12th-century Malahide Castle or relax in Portrane’s seaside sauna. End your day with fresh seafood caught that morning from the waters of Dublin Bay. You’ll soon see why it’s along the coast that Dubliners spend their weekends.

Temple Bar has a reputation for being a party district, but there’s much to do that doesn’t revolve around nightlife. Catch an exhibition at Photo Museum Ireland or attend a screening in the Irish Film Institute, the home of the Irish Film Archive. Shop for Irish-made fashion at Indigo & Cloth or Scout on Essex Street. If you prefer to buy vintage, dig through the rails in Lucy’s Lounge or Tola Vintage. Find novels by contemporary and classic Irish writers at The Gutter Bookshop. Get stuck into a plate of oysters at The Seafood Cafe or graze at the Temple Bar Food Market. At the edge of the district stands the historic Christ Church Cathedral, dating back nearly 1,000 years. Time your visit for a service accompanied by the spectacular Cathedral Choir.

Great food and great music harmonise at Sister7, which launched in 2024 inside Fidelity Bar, a dedicated ‘audiophile’ bar. Diners sit by a custom-designed sound system in the Fidelity Studio section of the bar. Chinese-led with punchy flavours, the menu revolves around handmade dumplings, bao, and other ‘xiao chi’ (small eats). The shiitake mushroom and fermented rice ”lipsticks” are standouts. Beers are by Irish craft brewers Whiplash. Driven by low‑waste practices, around a third of the menu incorporates the brewery’s by‑products. It’s an ideal spot for a long dinner with friends. After eating, head to the main bar area for a dance. Talented local and touring DJs play late night from Thursdays to Sundays. It’s jam-packed at the weekends–be sure to book ahead.

Spitalfields may look like a classic Irish pub, but its food is a far cry from conventional pub fare. Chef Stephen McAllister and his wife Andrea Hussey took over the former public house in 2019, transforming it into a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant that puts an elegant spin on comfort food. They’re best known for their cock-a-leekie pie, a lattice-topped bake of chicken and leeks for two to share. Another menu staple is the rich beef cheek and bone marrow Parker House roll (options are limited for vegetarians or vegans). Fine-dining reputation aside, it maintains the welcoming essence of the pub it once was. The dark wooden fixtures, lace curtains, and warm lighting speak to the coziness of a traditional pub, and when I visited, I spied two locals having a pint of Guinness by the door at the end of the night.

Irish seasonal ingredients are the bedrock of this Michelin-starred restaurant. Bastible is named after the traditional Irish cooking pot in which it cooks its signature sourdough bread. You can watch chefs, under the helm of head chef Killian Walsh, prepare deft and delicate set menus from the open kitchen. Courses are presented on rustic Irish ceramics and bowls handcrafted by a woodturner. Waiters are more than happy to share the story behind the ingredients, sourced with care from family farms and local producers. Fermentation is a big focus–you’ll see big jars of pickling produce on display. Vegetarians are welcome, with special menus drawn up upon request. It’s not cheap (tasting menus are €105/$122, while the wine pairing is €80/$93), but this is special occasion dining.

With rates starting from €79 ($92) a night, The Hendrick Smithfield offers a real bargain in Dublin, a city that’s among Europe’s most expensive. Billed as Ireland’s first street art hotel, it features a collection of over 270 artworks curated by Irish artist James Earley. A chunk of wall from Dublin’s Windmill Lane Recording Studios, signed by U2’s band members during a recording session, is on show in the lobby. Hosting the occasional live music session, the ground-floor bar spills out to a courtyard. Order a whiskey cocktail made with Jameson, whose distillery is close by. Guest rooms are on the small side, but Ritual bath products and King Koil mattresses guarantee a good night’s sleep. The city centre is within walking distance, while cultural highlights like the Light House Cinema and The Cobblestone traditional music pub are on the hotel’s doorstep.

Once a home for retired governesses, a €9.5 million makeover transformed this Victorian redbrick into a residents-only retreat. Art Deco furnishings, glossy parquet floors, and original fireplaces bring it all together. Rooms in The Wilder Townhouse range from the bijou ”shoebox” rooms to the studio-style Lady Jane Suite. Breakfast is served in the Garden Room, while The Gin and Tea Rooms are the spot for aperitifs and farmhouse cheese plates. There’s a poet and artist in residence, with occasional poetry readings held on site. Located on quiet Adelaide Road, it’s just a short walk to the city centre. For a tailor-made tour of Dublin, avail of the services of the hotel’s dedicated tour guide, Grace Ann Fallon. Rooms are priced from €229 ($268).

Dapper doormen in top hats and double-breasted coats usher guests inside The Merrion, a stalwart of luxury since its opening in 1997. The Obamas and Rihanna are among former guests. The five-star hotel occupies four townhouses built in the 1760s by Lord Monck, just off Merrion Square. Inside, you’ll find log fires burning in grand fireplaces, restored rococo plasterwork, and gleaming chandeliers. There’s a basement spa and a serene courtyard garden. As you tour the property, keep your eyes on the walls–The Merrion is known for its extensive private collection of Irish artwork. Headsets are provided for audio tours of the collection, and the pastry chef can prepare an art-inspired afternoon tea to be served in the drawing room. The two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud is part of the hotel, although under separate ownership. Rooms start at €450 ($523) a night.

Dublin is a compact city, with the centre best navigated on foot. To use public transport, you will need a Leap Card, which can be purchased for €5 from convenience stores. Top these cards up in the store or on the app and ‘tap on’ to Dublin Buses, the Luas tram system, and the DART coastal railway. Trips within central Dublin are €2 ($2.30). A variety of coach companies travel to and from Dublin Airport, but the most affordable option is by Dublin Bus routes 16 and 41. Rideshare apps Uber and Freenow also operate. The busiest times to visit are summertime and St Patrick’s Day. Book well in advance for the best rates at hotels. The weather is unpredictable year-round; pack a coat, even in the height of summer. Make dinner reservations on weekends, as tables can fill up quickly.