Oh, Dublin…. I have been dreaming about going to Dublin and the rest of Ireland for as long as I can remember. Growing up, each time I was asked what my ultimate dream trip would be, I usually said it was Ireland. Obviously, Ireland was the first country on my list when we decided to do our big trip around Europe, and choosing to spend time in the capital city was a no-brainer. So, after taking the ferry from Scotland to Northern Ireland, we took a bus from Belfast to Dublin and stayed there for three nights.
All of my expectations of Dublin and the rest of Ireland were formed from what I had seen in movies (Once and P.S. I Love You) and what I had read in books (anything by Maeve Binchy). I imagined that as I passed through the streets of Dublin, I’d encounter lots of friendly Dubliners walking by to the soundtrack of both Irish ballads performed by hopeful street performers and Celtic medleys spilling out from pubs. I expected a small-town vibe in a small city. Well, I was right about everything except for one thing – Dublin is not a small city. There are over 1.2 million people living in the city, but, in my opinion, it somehow manages to keep a small-town feel.
In the descriptions below, I have underlined the attractions, restaurants, and things to do that I suggest adding to your three-day itinerary in Dublin based on my experience.
Day 1 – Settling In
We arrived for our first day in Dublin around dinner time. We checked into our Airbnb (see “Where We Stayed” below) and immediately went to a restaurant recommended by our Airbnb host. Green Nineteen was a great place to kick off our Irish adventure! I had the fish and chips of our whole trip (even better than I’d had in the UK). We also split a fresh shrimp salad and a berry tart for dessert.
Day 2 – Walking Tour
We booked a free city walking tour with Sandeman’s New Dublin Tours for first thing the next morning. We thought the tour was very informative and covered a lot of ground. The three-hour tour walks by Dublin Castle, Christ Church Cathedral, the Temple Bar, some U2 sites, Trinity College, St. Stephen’s Green, and more. The guide also covered hundreds of years of history as we walked. Our particular guide did try to encourage us to purchase one of Sandeman’s other (not free) tours in Ireland, but I didn’t think he went overboard with the sales pitch. As with most free walking tours, just be ready to tip the guide at the end with whatever amount you feel is deserved.
Dublin Castle
Pretty blue doors at Dublin Castle near the Palace Gate
Dubh Linn Gardens behind Dublin Castle is designed to be a helicopter landing pad!
While this alleyway doesn’t look exciting in the picture or in real life, it is where one of the scenes in PS I Love You is filmed (the scene where Hillary Swank runs out of the pub in Dublin and falls against a gate crying while her friends comfort her)
Christ Church Cathedral
The main courtyard at Trinity College
The cute Temple Bar area
The tour ended with lunch at a pub in Temple Bar. I enjoyed the delicious beef and Guinness pie pictured below.
After lunch we headed to the National Museum of Ireland – Archeology. I don’t have pictures to share since cameras are not allowed inside, but it is a great museum with exhibits showing lots of interesting archeological finds from all of Ireland, including Viking artifacts.
For dinner we went to The Porter House to share some small plates. We really enjoyed the atmosphere of this place, and the food was good too. If you are looking for pub food in Dublin, check this place out!
Inside The Porter House
Streets of Dublin on our walk back to the Airbnb
Day 3 – EVERYTHING Else in a Day
There is a lot to see and do in Dublin, so after getting a great overview of the city from our walking tour the previous day, we had quite a list to get through for our next and final full day in Dublin.
We started the day with a big breakfast at Brother Hubbard, a gorgeous restaurant with great food and great coffee!
Just look at the pastries over Daniel’s right shoulder!
Fresh juice, pour over coffee, and the cutest way to display utensils!
After breakfast we headed to our next destination and took in all of the sights along the way.
I really wanted to visit a bookstore in Dublin. This day was a Sunday, so many of the little bookshops were closed, but The Winding Stair was open. The book shop was very tiny, but it had lots of cute Irish charm!
Our next top was one I was looking forward to the most – going inside the beautiful Trinity College Library and Book of Kells exhibit.
Hello again, Trinity College!
One ticket gives you admission into both the Book of Kells exhibit and the Trinity College Library. No pictures are allowed inside of the Book of Kells exhibit, but (thank goodness!) pictures are allowed in the library. The Book of Kells is a Gospel manuscript written in Latin in gorgeous calligraphy. There are stunning illustrations on nearly every page. The manuscript is believed to have been written around the year 800 AD in an Irish monastery. I’ve never seen a more beautiful book! Before entering the room to view the book, you walk through a room full of information on the Book of Kells and other important monastic writings.
If any of you are library lovers like me, your jaw is going to drop when you see these pictures….
In my happy place….
Back out into the streets of Dublin, we passed lots of street musicians and flower stands. We made sure to walk through Grafton Street which is known for its street musicians.
And then we went to St. Stephen’s Green for a walk in the park.
Home of the park’s caretaker right in the middle of the park
After getting lots of fresh air, we went to another museum, The Little Museum of Dublin. I loved this place! It is inside an old house and offers several exhibits about Dublin throughout its three floors. My favorite was the permanent exhibit that walks through the history of the city on one of the museum’s floors. This floor offers a short guided tour that we really enjoyed. We were joined by a group of the sweetest Irish women who loved to pitch in and tell stories with the guide about the various historical eras of Dublin. They were so excited to see their history displayed so well in this museum!
Dublin history exhibit at The Little Museum of Dublin
After all that walking around, it was time for a snack! I had read great reviews online about an ice cream shop in Dublin called Murphy’s Ice Cream. Well, we went, and I can confidently say that this was the BEST ice cream I’ve ever had. There are three locations in Ireland, and we went to the original location in Dingle later on in our trip. The only reason we didn’t go to the third location in Killarney is because it was closed by the time we could go.
Murphy’s ice cream is handmade in Dingle, Ireland, and they offer all kinds of very unique flavors. The delicious flavors I tried are Caramel Honeycomb, Dingle Sea Salt, and Carmelized Brown Bread.
On the way back to the apartment for a break, we stopped in Walton’s Music Store. As a big fan of the movie Once, I had to see the shop where the “Falling Slowly” scene was filmed. The store is completely rearranged right now, so it doesn’t look the same, but I still had a lot of fun imagining the scene. Apparently, the store has had to stop people from going in and playing “Falling Slowly” because it was being played way too much in the shop! If you want to visit the shop in the movie, be sure to go to the South Great George’s Street location.
After taking a quick break at the apartment, we took the bus out to Kilmainham Gaol, a former prison that is now a museum. You can only enter the jail on a guided tour, so we joined the next available group. This was one of the most interesting museum experiences of our whole trip. The most notable prisoners include activists from the 1916 Easter Rising, so we learned all about that time in Ireland, a piece of history I’ve never paid much attention to before. After walking through the prison and learning so much from our tour guide, we spent about an hour exploring the exhibit area.
This part of the prison may be familiar to you. Many movies, including Michael Collins and The Italian Job, had scenes shot in this room, and a U2 music video was filmed here.
After a completely full day of running all around Dublin, we were starving! We grabbed dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant called Il Vicoletto. I highly recommend if you are looking for a quality, big meal for a good price.
What trip to Ireland would be complete without tasting some Guinness? We didn’t go to the Guinness Storehouse because a local told us it was the worst pint of Guinness in the city and because the tickets were expensive. So, based on the same local’s recommendation, we went to Mulligan’s for our pint. I really liked it! I had never had Guinness before, so I can’t really say if it tastes better in Ireland, but it was really good! It was fun to celebrate our last night in Dublin at a pub filled with locals – people watching at its best!
Where We Stayed
For our three-night stay in Dublin, we booked this Airbnb. It is in a perfect location in the heart of Dublin and right by a bus stop. The place was clean and felt very homey. It has a nice kitchen, a very comfortable bed, and cute decor.
We went to bed early to get some rest before the next day when we kicked off our Irish Coast road trip!
Sneak peek of Daniel driving on the right side of the car!
{Click here to see all of my posts from our Ireland road trip. Our time in Ireland was part of a 2.5 month trip across Western Europe. Click here to check out all of my posts from this adventure!}
This article is now available as a mobile app. Go to GPSmyCity to download the app for GPS-assisted travel directions to the attractions featured in this article.
{Thanks for reading! Want to know a little more about me? I’m a CPA learning how to balance a career with frequent travel while planting roots at home in Austin, TX. When I’m not exploring my home city with my husband Daniel or cuddling with our chubby orange cat Banana, I’m probably planning, packing, traveling to, or daydreaming about our next adventure. After all, my travel mug collection is never complete. If you have wanderlust too, be sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat(emilya89), or subscribe to my blog!}
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