Dublin

What to Do in Dublin by A Dubliner

Darragh

11 Jul 2025 — 10 min read

Dublin By A Local

I just Googled “What to do in Dublin,” and the guides are as dismal as the Irish weather in January. Written by people who don’t know Dublin. They just churn out the same Things To Do In Dublin list, copied from someone else who didn’t know it either.

I'm a Dubliner and I'm going to show you all of Dublin. Not just the famous spots.

Dublin’s Secret Side: Nature

Dublin has something that Paris, London, and Madrid don’t have. A gorgeous natural setting with sea on one side, mountains on the other.

The best of Dublin isn’t in the city at all. It’s in our coastal villages, go explore the Dublin that 90% of tourists miss. You’ll thank me later!

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How Many Days Should I Spend in Dublin?

In one day: You can see a lot of our city centre in one day. It's small. You can fit in a trip to Guinness as well. And then go out by the sea in the afternoon. You'll get just a taste of Dublin though.

In two days: You can take the local train to Howth and walk the stunning cliff path there, and then do a boat tour. Then have dinner and a drink in Ranelagh, a fabulous local village very close to Dublin City.

In three days: You can do a beautiful coastal walk from Dún Laoghaire to Killiney. In the afternoon, you can take the fast Goat Boat, visit a distillery or forge your own Irish Ring. In the evening go to a comedy show for some true Irish wit.

In four days: Now you're a local! You can do a bus trip from Dublin to the nearby Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough ruins. You'll be back in time to go to any museums or attraction you want to see. In the evening, go to Camden Street for dinner and drinks, the part of Dublin where locals (like yourself) go at night.

Dublin City Centre

Dublin is a 1000 year old Viking city full of history, winding streets. Here are my walks to help you see easily see the best of Dublin City.

Coastal Dublin

This is the Dublin visitors don't even know about. Get out of the city and see our gorgeous natural setting. These walking tours will show you off the beaten track, local and beautiful Dublin villages. Follow them yourself or I'll guide you.

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Dublin Hotels

Dublin's has a place to rest your head no matter your style.I've sorted my recommendations by traveler type, luxury, budget all with real guest reviews.

Dublin Pubs

Writing about Guinness & pubs was my favorite page to write for some strange reason 😂. I have a lifetime of experience in the pubs of Dublin. Here are the traditional pub crawl in Dublin or do the The Literary Pub Crawl

Temple Bar

I shake my head when I hear of people going to Temple Bar. It's Disney Dublin. Dubliners never go there. Ever!

But if you want to hear Irish music and learn how to Irish dance, my good friend Dan runs the brilliant Irish Dance Party and even grumpy old me has to admit it's a lot of fun!

But at night, here are some much better areas of Dublin to go instead.

Traditional Irish Music

The guidebooks say go to The Cobblestone for Irish traditional music. The musicians are excellent but they are tucked away in a corner and you have to be very quiet out of respect for them. I understand it but I don't love it.

I do Sunday Session Trad Music pub crawl where we go to locals only spots.

Dublin Restaurants

Dublin has the quality of restaurants that you'd expect in a capital city. To make this easy, walk to this intersection and explore the streets in this area. They are full of local restaurants where Dubliners eat. And leave room for dessert at Murphy's Ice Cream at the end.

Here are the 3 best food tours in Dublin

Delicious Dublin is the highest rated of all the Dublin food tours
The Dublin Walking Food Tour is superb and a good idea to do on your first night, so you can pick up tips on where to eat for the rest of your time here.
This is a private food tour where you get 10 different tastings. Come hungry!

Dublin Distilleries

Dublin's Golden Triangle is famous for its whiskey production. We have Teelings, Roe & Co, Jameson but my favorite of them all is The Pearse Lyons Distillery. It's the only one that is owned by an Irish family and is located in a church!

Dublin Museums

There's a museum for every day of the year in Dublin. Kilmainham Gaol is haunting. Anyone with Irish heritage will learn a lot at EPIC Emigration and the most interesting for learning about the history of Dublin is Dublinia. Here's my reviews of the best museums in Dublin.

The Most Fun Things To Do in Dublin

Afternoon Tea Bus Tour. Take a vintage old bus around Dublin while having afternoon tea on the bus. It's a blast, lots of fun!
You have got to take a tour of Dublin Bay on the brilliantly named Goat Boat. It is the most fun thing to do in Dublin. I just did it & here's my review.
Walk on the roof of Croke Park, Ireland's national stadium.

Dublin Day Trips

It's amazing how quickly you go from busy city to barren wilderness in the Wicklow Mountains and castles ruled by ancients rules. Base yourself in Dublin and go on these day trips.

A full day tour of Wicklow Mountain National Park and Glendalough’s medieval monastic settlement. . This company uses small buses so you can get to places the big coaches can't. Very highly recommended!
Ancient Sites of Ireland Day Tour - You'll see some of the oldest sites in Ireland including Trim Castle and the Hill of Tara where the High Kings of Ireland ruled from.

When Should I come to Dublin?

The Summer is best of course, long days and better chance of good weather, but Dublin a major capital city. There's events of year round. March is St Patrick's Day. December is perhaps my favorite month with the festive spirits. April/May/September/October have longer days and it's not as busy as summer.

Getting Around Dublin

Dublin is small. Everything in the central city area is walkable. The Dublin Hop-on Hop-Off bus is the easiest way to get around main tourist area.

But we do have bus, train, trams & taxis to get you wherever you need to go. It's a bit complicated so I wrote a full guide to help you.

Dublin Airport

You're probably landing at Dublin Airport. I'm an extremely regular visitor there and here's my advice for less stress at DUB. If you are flying back to the US, you have to read my guide to getting through US Preclearance at Dublin Airport.