One day, from 8 in the morning to late evening, through the streets of Dublin. A tour through a city to be discovered. Let the journey begin.
Let's go around the city of today Dublin, from morning to evening. A tour to see some of the essential places but also a little less known. Bright sun, drizzle, wind and rainbows can alternate within a few hours and the Irish capital can offer many satisfactions.
For this reason, do not be discouraged if you see some black clouds, face the day with a smile, it will be splendid!
I will now guide you through the streets of the city, attractions and places where rest, eat and have funEven if we are not talking about a large metropolis, we must define points of reference. For this you will start from the main entrance of Trinity College, on College Green.
8 am, breakfast
Dublin is renowned for one of its best known areas, Temple Bar. But Dublin is not just Temple Bar. This is the area for locals, tourists and overpriced beer. For this reason I want to accompany you here early in the morning, to have breakfast at The Joy of Chá, a small independent coffee shop 5 minutes from Trinity College.
You can take an espresso with a brioche or decide to get into the Irish spirit and order an Irish Breakfast.
Your day will be long, wake up well and have a good breakfast.
9 am, Temple Bar by day
Once you've finished your hearty breakfast take a ride in Temple Bar. Look for the pub called Temple Bar in particular, it is the red one and now you find it closed, with no hundreds of people around. Take your camera, familiarize yourself with the area and do the Search now for the square, the one with a raised floor, even here, as a little while ago, take the time to take some photos, frame the angles you prefer, remember that it's drizzling hurry.
Finished? Great. Now keep in mind the exact points of your shots, they will be more useful to you tonight.
9.30 am, towards the Liffey
Now we head towards the river that divides Dublin between north and south. We will cross the Liffey on the famous Ha'penny Bridge, you will pass through the corridor leading to the small pedestrian gallery. You will find small shops around you.
At this time the bridge may not yet be full of people, if the weather and the lights allow it, I suggest you capture some images here too. Clouds, lights, rainbows create a magical atmosphere.
Now finish walking the whole bridge and cross the street, with the green light. You will find two nice bronze ladies sitting on a bench, representing the women of the city and resting on that bench since 1988, the anniversary of Dublin's millennium of history.
Greet them politely and continue straight ahead, crossing the tracks of the Large, city tram. You will find Henry Street, one of Dublin's commercial areas. The shops are opening and, even if I don't like shopping, I must admit that some of the windows are works of art. During periods such as Christmas, Halloween, summer, spring, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Women's Day, etc .. those of Arnotts are particularly cared for.
Continue all the way to the Spire, a 120 meter high steel tower impossible to miss. A few steps from this, on North Earl Street, you will find one of the statues of one of the most famous Dubliners in the world: James Joyce.
Now turn around and continue on O'Connell Street, see that huge building with a lot of people around it? This is the GPO, General Post Office, which currently houses the central office of the Irish post office and its museum. The GPO has been a very important place for the Irish people. During the Easter Rising of 1916 it had in fact become the headquarters of the rioters. Definitely worth a visit. Which will last about an hour.
11.00, Free Walking Tour
Let's go back to the Spire. Every day at 11.00 one of the Dublin Free Walking Tour. Look for a group of people around a guide with a yellow umbrella. This tour is in English or Spanish, it will take you around the south of Dublin for a few hours, through a path of houses, buildings and oddities. Many anecdotes of the different places you will encounter along the way will also be explained to you.
The tour it lasts about 3 hours and ends near Christchurch Cathedral.
Keep in mind that the "free" tour is intended as free, the guides are paid based on what you think they are worth, so once you have finished the tour, open your wallet and show your satisfaction.
14.00 pm, Fish and chips
The end of the tour is around 2pm, you may be hungry. What's better than a traditional fish and chips?
A few hundred meters from the park of St. Patrick's Cathedral, where you left the guide, you can eat one of the fish and chips most renowned in the city, that of Leo Burdock. While you wouldn't trust him on the face of it, he's one of the best. It is a small place where you order to take away. Grab the envelope (ask for some napkins please, Dublin's are always reluctant to provide this magical tool) and go sit in the grounds of Christchurch Cathedral across the street to enjoy this delicacy.
15.00 pm, museum
Now let's get back to the culture. One of the last stops on the Free Walking tour was within the walls of Dublin Castle. You can now choose to take the paid tour or head to Chester Beatty Library where, for free, you can visit the exhibitions permanent and temporary open to the public.
16.00 pm, Trinity College
Once out of Dublin Castle, make your way back to our starting point, Trinity College. Access is free and you can visit the large building at Ireland's best-known university. You can also take the paid tour to the Book of Kells and the university library.
Next to Trinity College is the science gallery, run by volunteers, with free access. The exhibitions last a few weeks, so it will be a surprise to find out what it is.
17.30 pm, beer
At this time, museums and other exhibition sites are closed or are lowering their shutters. What's better than tasting a good beer?
We'll have at least a couple of drinks together before dinner, I'll take you in a couple of pub very popular with Dubliners.
The first is the Mulligan's, not far from Tara Street station. This pub is known for being among the best Guinness in Dublin. It is said that the Guinness quality control team gave this judgment.
The second is the Kehoe's, near Grafton Street, one of Dublin's after work pubs, you can also find excellent Guinness here.
19.30 pm, dinner
It's dinner time, I'll give you some chances.
Govindas, a kind of vegan Hare Krishna restaurant. With € 6.25 you can eat well and abundantly, the atmosphere is "special", but alcohol is not needed.
Bobo's, burger with a wide choice, one of my favorite places.
Bunsen, a renowned hamburger restaurant with an essential menu, the size of a business card, type of cooking meat on request, very good.
O'Neills Bar, on Suffolk Street, a pub with a traditional menu, if you stay in Dublin more than a day I highly recommend it.
20.30 pm, the evening begins
The evening can begin. As a first pub I recommend the JW Sweetman, great beer and very nice venue, on the ground floor you can also find live Irish music.
Have you finished your pint? Now I'm taking you to a very nice pub with live (rock) music and its own beer (you won't find Guinness). This is the Portherhouse in Temple Bar, although very touristy, it is definitely worth it.
Second round of beers finished?
Now you can go back to the places I suggested you photograph this morning. You will undoubtedly notice a difference, if you like, comment this post to communicate it to everyone.
There are dozens of other places I could recommend, but I'll limit myself to two. The first is the Grogans on South William Street, where the décor is very special. The second is the Peadar Kearney's, on Dame Street, where you can have another pint and sweat it out while dancing.
Indefinite time
I hope you enjoyed it. Now it's up to you to go back to the hotel or continue the evening. Many pubs close around midnight, many others continue until late at night.
Discover new places, that's why you chose to travel, I can't tell you everything.
