Ireland has been on our ‘must visit’ list for quite awhile. The cliffs, the trails, the countryside…everything we typically will gravitate towards when exploring a new place. But being as we were starting our journey towards walking the 500 miles of the Camino de Santiago, we decided it best to spend a few days just getting to know Dublin. We decided it may not be a great idea to hike too many miles and wear out the ol’ legs and feet.
Dublin is well known for having hundreds of pubs and fun-loving late night crowds. Mornings are typically pretty quiet and peaceful. But as evening approaches, the downtown comes alive with lots of food, drink and live local music.
Now we aren’t typically the ones who will follow the crowds and standard “Top 10 lists” when exploring a new city. So we are excited to bring you our list of top things to do and places to go in Dublin, Ireland. Some you’ve heard of and some you probably haven’t.
Merchant’s Arch Restaurant and Bar was established in 2010 and is inside a building that was once a Merchant Guild Hall. One of only two 19th century Guild Halls still standing in Dublin.
We walked right by here once but the second time, an Irish whistle player caught our ear and drew us in. It quickly became our favorite “pub” spot and we ended up here 3x during our 3 days in Dublin.
The entrance will bring you right into an intimate pub area with live, local music everyday from 1-10pm. The musicians we listened to were extremely talented and people were constantly poking their heads in the front door to take a peek. Many of which ventured in to enjoy the music with a drink. The beer selection is quite extensive and they also have tons of options when it comes to whiskey.
The restaurant is a large, inviting space with multiple level of seating. We enjoyed an early dinner here (well 5:30pm is on time for us but early for Dublin diners) so we mostly had the restaurant to ourselves.
The walls are filled with vintage posters and ads for Guinness Beer and Jameson Whiskey. There is a large winding staircase at the back and if you are seated near the front window, your view will be overlooking the Ha’Penny Bridge and Liffey River. Highly recommend the Bangers & Mash or the Cottage Pie!
While Jameson is the obvious choice for touring a distillery in Dublin, the Pearse Lyons Distillery will amaze you with it’s incredibly unique venue and of course, tastings of their signature whiskeys.
The Pearse Lyons Distillery has some really incredible history. It’s actually housed in a church that dates back to the 12th century. It had gone through some hardships and structural damage so the church was closed to parishioners in 1963.
After going through various transformations including becoming a food warehouse and lighting store, Pearse Lyons and his wife became enamored with The Liberties district of Dublin and the rich history of this church that included connections to his own family. Having been searching for the perfect place to open a distillery, they purchased St. James church in 2013.
And if you are drawn to all things Camino de Santiago like we are, this church also has a great connection to that as well. Being that this church was dedicated to St. James, it is very likely that Irish pilgrims used to gather here before beginning their journey to Spain. To honor St. James, the distillery has a beautiful stained glass window above their gallery depicting Santiago de Compostela. And yes, they have a stamp for your pilgrim’s credencial 🙂
Ok, this one is going to be on every “Top Things to Do in Dublin” list you look at and for very good reason. In 2015, it was voted one of Europe’s (not just Ireland’s) top tourist attractions and is continually Dublin’s #1.
The Guinness Storehouse at St. James Gate Brewery is Dublin’s oldest pub where Dubliners have been knocking back pints for over 800 years. The website recommends giving yourself at least 1.5 hours for your self-guided tour but be generous in your allotment of time.
There are SEVEN floors to explore. Along the way you will learn all about the process of beer making, the complexity of how the barrels were formed by hand and also the extensive history of Guinness marketing and advertising.
Your tour will include the option to pour your own pint at the Guinness Academy and we definitely recommend taking advantage of this! You actually get taught the 6 steps to pouring the perfect pint of Guinness.
Whether or not you choose to pour your own beer, you get a free pint with your tour ticket. (or you get two because one of you (Kris) doesn’t drink beer….you’re welcome Mark 🙂 And be sure to visit the Gravity Bar for an amazing view of Dublin!
Trinity College Book of Kells Tour & the Long Room
Also very popular among tourists. This one is another “Top Lister” but deservedly so and is definitely worth your time.
The Old Library at Trinity College is one of Ireland’s most popular tourist attractions with it’s display of the Book of Kells, a 1,200 year old manuscript containing illustrated volumes of the New Testament.
Now the Book was definitely a big piece of the attraction but I can tell you that, as photographers, we were much more impressed by the Long Room. A two level, 200 foot long room containing 200,000 of the library’s most valuable books. The room also features marble bust statues of notable writers and philosophers along with the oldest surviving harps in Ireland. An amazing place for photography and regardless if you operate in automatic or manual mode, give yourself plenty of time here.
If you are looking to beat the lines and the crowds on this one, we definitely recommend getting tickets to the first available time slot on the day you plan to visit. Dublin takes awhile to wake up so take advantage of that little nugget of information 😉
Kayaking with the Seals in Dalkey
Our favorite item on this list! We were lucky enough to find this tour through Airbnb Experiences and highly recommend it to anyone that loves kayaking, nature, getting up close to wildlife, and wants a small group adventure outside the city.
After a quick and easy train ride out of Dublin down to Dalkey, we meet up with our experienced tour guides, Jenny and Clara from Kayaking.ie for the morning “Kayaking with the Dalkey Seals” tour.
We got very luckily that the weather was beautiful that day so paddling felt more like being on a lake. It was a 3-hour tour in which we got to get up close to the playful seals in Dublin Bay. There were about 60 seals in the area, most of which were out sunbathing on the rocks. A few of them even came a bit closer to give us a look as well. We also got a short time to walk up onto Dalkey Island and explore.
Now we consider ourselves experienced kayakers but before jumping in the water, our guides took everyone through the basics as if we were all beginners and honestly we even learned a few tricks. This was a great experience for any level of paddler. The guides of Kayaking.ie clearly respect the land, water and animals and it was so amazing to hang out with the friendly seals 🙂
And if it’s patio season, be sure to take time to walk up through the adorable little town of Dalkey and grab some food at The Queens Bar & Steakroom!
What are your favorite places in Dublin? Share with us in the comments!
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