The Mini Rough Guide to Dublin: Travel Guide eBook

By Rough Guides

This mini pocket Dublin travel guidebook is perfect for travellers looking for essential information about Dublin. It provides details on key places and main attractions, along with a selection of itineraries, recommendations for restaurants and top tips on how to make the most of your trip. 

In this Dublin guidebook, you will find:

• Curated recommendations of places – expert picks of main attractions, child-friendly activities and relaxing spots, plus where to take the best photos
• What's new, when to go and sustainable travel – all-new features direct you to what you need to know
• Things not to miss in Dublin – O'Connell Street, Kilmainham Gaol, The Guinness Storehouse Tour, Custom House, Trinity College, Phoneix Park, National Gallery, Temple Bar, Christchurch, Dublin Castle
• Three unique trip plans – itinerary suggestions for those on a short break, including one for a Perfect day
• Food and drink – recommendations for local specialities and the best dining experiences
• What to do in Dublin – recommendations for entertainment, shopping, sports, children’s activities, events and nightlife
• Practical information – how to get there and around, money, health and medical care, and tourist information
• Overview maps – handy maps on the inside cover flaps show Dublin and around
• section – basic vocabulary and phrases from the local language
• Striking pictures – inspirational colour photography throughout
• Coverage includes: Around Grafton Street, Old Dublin, Georgian Dublin, North of the River, South of the City, North of the City, West of the City

• Language: English
• Publisher: Insight Guides
• Release date: Jan 1, 2025
• ISBN: 9781835292792

Rough Guides

Rough Guides are written by expert authors who are passionate about both writing and travel. They have detailed knowledge of the areas they write about--having either traveled extensively or lived there--and their expertise shines through on every page. It's priceless information, delivered with wit and insight, providing the down-to-earth, honest read that is the hallmark of Rough Guides.

Book preview

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HOW TO USE THIS E-BOOK

Getting Around this e-Book

This Rough Guide Mini eBook is designed to inspire you and help you plan for your visit to Dublin, and is also the perfect on-the-ground companion for your trip.

The guide begins with an Introduction that features our selection of 10 things not to miss in Dublin, information on what’s new, when to go and how to travel sustainably, plus three itineraries, designed to help you get the most out of your trip. The History chapter gives the lowdown on Dublin’s past and present, while the Places chapter is a comprehensive guide to all the best sights, with handy area highlights links and details on where to shoot the best pictures. You will find ideas for getting active, immersing yourself in culture, discovering the local nightlife or what to shop for in Things to do, while the Food and drink chapter introduces you to the local cuisine, what to eat and how, and gives listings of our favourite restaurants by area. Finally, Travel essentials offers just that: practical information to help you plan your trip.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this eBook you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights in Dublin are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map], tap once to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

You’ll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Dublin. Simply double-tap an image to see it in full-screen.

About Rough Guides:

Published in 1982, the first Rough Guide – to Greece – was created by Mark Ellingham and a small group of friends who couldn’t find a guidebook to meet their needs. Combining a contemporary, journalistic style with a thoroughly practical approach to travellers’ needs, the immediate success of the book spawned a series that rapidly covered dozens of destinations. These days, Rough Guides include recommendations from budget to luxury and cover more than 120 destinations worldwide, all regularly updated by our team of ever curious, roaming writers. These Rough Guide Minis may be small, but they are packed with information and inspiration and offer amazing value for money.

© 2025 Apa Digital AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd.

Table of Contents

Introduction

City on the Liffey

Enjoying Dublin

City and countryside

10 things not to miss

A perfect day in Dublin

Dublin’s unique experiences

Dublin on a budget

History

Christianity and a mission to Europe

The Vikings arrive

English rule begins

Beyond the pale

From Cromwell to the Boyne

Grattan and Wolfe Tone

The Union and O’Connell

Famine

The fight for freedom

Independence and after

Chronology

Places

Around Grafton Street

Trinity College

Dawson and Kildare Streets

St Stephen’s Green

Old Dublin

Temple Bar

Dublin Castle

Christ Church Cathedral and environs

Guinness Brewery and beyond

The Liberties

St Patrick’s Cathedral

Georgian Dublin

Merrion Square

Fitzwilliam Square and beyond

North of the river

Along the Quays

O’connell Street

Parnell Square

Phoenix Park

Excursions

South of the city

Avoca

Glendalough

Mount Usher Gardens

Powerscourt

Russborough House

West of the city

Irish National Stud, Japanese Gardens, Newbridge Silverware

North of the city

National Botanic Gardens

Casino Marino

Malahide Castle

Newbridge House and Traditional Farm

Newgrange

Tara

Things to do

Culture

Theatre

Comedy

Classical music and opera

Rock, folk and jazz

Dance

Film

Nightlife

Nightclubs

Outdoor activities

Golf

Fishing

Spectator sports

Watersports/beaches

Dublin for children

Shopping

Shopping centres

Markets

What to buy

Festivals and events

Food and drink

Meals and meal times

Where to eat

Cafés and tearooms

Top 10 things to try

1. Wild Irish salmon

2. Seafood

3. Irish stew

4. Traditional Irish dishes

5. Irish meat

6. Vegetarian food

7. Irish bread

8. Apple tart

9. Guinness

10. Whiskeys

Places to eat

City Centre south

Old Town/Liberties

Temple Bar

City Centre north

South suburbs

North suburbs

Travel essentials

Accessible travel

Accommodation

Airports

Apps

Bicycle rental

Budgeting for your trip

Car hire

Climate

Crime and safety

Driving

Electricity

Embassies and consulates

Emergencies

Getting there

Guided tours

Health and medical care

Holidays

Language

LGBTQ+ travellers

Money

Opening hours

Police

Public transport

Religion

Telephones

Time zones

Tipping

Toilets

Tourist information

Visas

Introduction

Dublin is a fast-paced, youthful city – Ireland has the youngest population in Europe – and is home to around a quarter of the country’s total population. The compact city pulsates with culture, creativity, and history. By day, people throng the popular shopping streets, cafés, restaurants, galleries, and museums. At night, Dublin’s city centre streets are lively with revellers who pour in and out of its many pubs, bars, clubs, and theatres. Most of the main attractions are within walking distance of one another, if that seems like a stretch, there’s a multitude of buses and trams.

What’s New

Dublin is witnessing a burst of development, so expect a skyline of cranes. Newly opened hotels colour the city, while revamped areas like Capel, Liffey and South William Streets are now pedestrianised or partly pedestrianised. Another new addition is Central Plaza, a stunning two-tier town square for modern workforces, shoppers and diners.

Come to Dublin and say hello to New York via The Portal, a groundbreaking public art sculpture on North Earl Street that creates a visual bridge between the two cities. The Royal Canal Greenway (www.waterwaysireland.org), which unfolds from Dublin Docklands to County Longford, was launched in 2021, with the latest section alongside Whitworth Road completed in 2024. Dublin’s neighbourhoods are receiving the recognition they deserve: Time Out voted Smithfield as the world’s second coolest neighbourhood.

In 2024, the Irish government formally recognised Palestine as a sovereign and independent state. Like many cities worldwide, Dublin is sadly witnessing a small but extreme group of agitators expressing anti-immigration views. Despite this, Ireland’s unofficial tagline, ‘Céad míle fáilte’— one hundred thousand welcomes — continues to flourish.

Fáilte Ireland

View of the River Liffey from O’Connell Bridge

The city’s character is infused with Irish charm and the country’s famed hospitality, neither of which has been lost in Dublin’s increasing bustle and European sophistication. The fusion of Irish and international is celebrated in Dublin’s spectacular modern architecture: the sleek harp-like Samuel Beckett Bridge, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava in conjunction with Dublin engineering firm Roughan O’Donovan or Daniel Libeskind’s Grand Canal Theatre, the beating heart of the regenerated Docklands area.

Dublin sits on over a thousand years of history; the city’s roots are in fourth-century Áth Cliath (Hurdled Ford), seventh-century monastic Duiblinn (Blackpool), ninth-century Viking longphuirt (settlements) and the resultant eleventh-century Hiberno-Norse town. Its history is written in its buildings, from the Anglo-Norman walls of the old city to the derelict Georgian mansions of Henrietta Street and the bullet holes riddling the General Post Office.

If one foot is in the past, the other is firmly in the present – Dublin has evolved its own new culture, infused with the international influences of its immigrant communities, and now claims a seat at the table of cutting-edge European art, design, and music.

Beyond the bars and displays of lurid green leprechauns and kitsch souvenirs are the cobbled lanes and galleries of Temple Bar. The works on display show off a clutch of dynamic artists and photographers whose talent has looked to the world stage. In the boutiques of the Creative Quarter, Irish designers have made high fashion out of hand knits and tweeds and given home furnishings a new identity. Dublin’s musicians have long since proven that you no longer need a bodhrán (an Irish drum) to make it in Irish music, and new Irish acts are hitting the world stage all the time such as Jordan Adetunji, Kingfishr and Kneecap.

With renewal comes restoration. The boom years up to 2008 brought with them a new emphasis on historic preservation. Within the city limits, you can view artefacts from the Bronze Age, trace the history of the Easter Rising, or recreate Leopold Bloom’s odyssey in James Joyce’s famous tome, Ulysses.

Shutterstock

The Portal on North Earl Street

City on the Liffey

The River Liffey rises in the Wicklow Mountains and flows from west to east through the centre of the city – north and south are linked by a series of bridges – to Dublin Bay. Once, the river cut a social and economic divide between the middle-class southside and working-class north; the latter often promoted as the only ‘real’ Dublin. The affluent and ever-expanding Docklands development spans both banks of the river.

Notes

It won’t rain on you in Dublin all the time. The climate here can best be described as ‘changeable’, and yet the sudden shifts from light to dark, sunshine to shower, are part of the city’s magic. Buildings seem to transform themselves depending on the light; Dublin under a glowering sky is a very different place from Dublin in