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My son has chosen Ireland as the location for his senior trip so he and I will be spending 6 days in Dublin the 1st week in April. I've booked the new doubletree "the Morrison" which looks really close to the Temple Bar area so that we don't have to stumble far to get back to our beds. He's 18 so looking forward to being able to legally drink in a bar and since this will be his first time - the close hotel means I won't have to carry him far. I've done some research on things to do and go see - so that we at least have a plan/agenda - but it is all internet based/Trip Advisor reviews. I'm hoping some Dublin Goons or frequent travelers can add to the list and make some suggestions. 1. We do plan to hit the Temple Bar (area and pub itself) just for the tourist aspect - but would love an out of the way pub w/ a good band playing to sit back and drink the black stuff. Taking a cab is not a problem. I have on my list the following places (no specific order or priority): a) Temple Bar b) John Kavanagh (Gravediggers) c) The Long Hall d) Cobblestone e) O'Donoghues f) The Brazen Head g) Matt the Thresher (hangover oysters and Guinness) Are all of these places just huge tourist spots? My goal is a pub that when we walk in the band member chokes on his penny whistle and asks if we are lost. 2. Any nearby towns that would be cool to hit for a quick day trip from Dublin via train? This would be on the agenda to get out of the city and just go drink/eat someplace that isn't touristy. 3. We do plan to take a Blarney castle train tour and then (maybe) another tour the next day to the cliffs. 4. Jameson and Guiness distillery/brewery is on the list as they are a must see. 5. Dress codes? I would assume no one gives a poo poo that you are wearing jeans and sweatshirt in a pub? What you are wearing only applies to getting into a dance club? 6. Recommended eating places in the city with good food and/or unique decor or historical significance? Right now I think we'll be grubbing pub food. Thanks for any feedback. Tickets are bought and hotel is booked.
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| # ? Feb 15, 2013 17:55 |
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| # ? May 18, 2013 17:36 |
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Dublin is a fun town, but be prepared for the expense. A pint will generally run about 4.50 Euro. A lot of the stuff you listed is pretty touristy, but there's nothing wrong with that per se. I will also be a nice guy and advise that if you go to Blarney, don't bother trying to kiss the stone. The local kids get drunk and go up there and piss on it at night so they can laugh at the tourists. My recommendation would be to get a car, as expensive as this can be, and head down south to the Wicklow Mountains. It's a beautiful area and Laragh and Glendalough are great places to get some hiking and whatnot in. There's also a monastery there that is old as hell. I was there a couple of weeks ago and it was snowing, staggeringly beautiful. In Dublin itself, make sure you have a meal at The Hairy Lemon. The Dublin Coddle will blow your goddamn face off. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. The Cliffs of Moher are also amazing, ranking very close to the Grand Canyon for me. But keep in mind that it's a haul out to some of these places, so day trips from Dublin are probably not really going to work unless you want to spend most of the day traveling.
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| # ? Feb 15, 2013 18:02 |
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There are also Wicklow Mountains day tours that depart from Dublin, my brother and I did this when we went. It was certainly one of the highlights of our trip. Guinness isn't exactly an entry-level beer, good luck to your son!
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| # ? Feb 18, 2013 06:40 |
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Thanks for letting me know on the Blarney Stone - best advice yet. I'll pass and let my son take that one on before showing him this thread. I'm even going to spin a tale about the stone being pulled from the ocean and that you can still taste the salt. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll lick it. Beer costs are normal for Europe so I'll have a cache in the hotel room for the pre-pub hopping warm up. Did any of you do any of the 12 euro pub crawls?
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| # ? Feb 18, 2013 22:53 |
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The Harbour Bar in Bray might be interesting to youse: http://www.harbourbarbray.com/ Bray is about 40 minutes on the Dart from the city centre, and the Harbour Bar is a five minute walk from the station. They do Trad nights Thursdays and Saturdays in what we call the old man bar plus other live acts in the other half of the place. The Guinness is very nice, other tap beers... not so nice. Overall look of the place is like a shabby victorian drawing room crossed with a palm-reader's tent. It's pretty nice. Edit: Also seconding Glendalough if you want to spend a day out in the wilds of Wicklow without renting a car. It has spectaular scenery and some very interesting 1,000 year old monastic ruins including a complete round tower.  This bus company runs a service there from the city centre: http://www.glendaloughbus.com/timetable.aspx Weekend is the better time to go since you'd get more time down there. Pookah fucked around with this message at Feb 19, 2013 around 18:31 |
| # ? Feb 19, 2013 13:15 |
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Mackieman posted:Dublin is a fun town, but be prepared for the expense. A pint will generally run about 4.50 Euro. Only partially true, in a few places in Temple Bar expect to pay up to 6 euro for a pint. Mackieman posted:A lot of the stuff you listed is pretty touristy, but there's nothing wrong with that per se. I will also be a nice guy and advise that if you go to Blarney, don't bother trying to kiss the stone. The local kids get drunk and go up there and piss on it at night so they can laugh at the tourists. Fairly certain someone was pulling your leg about this. Old Crows posted:
I hate to burst your bubble but this definitely wont happen, at least not in the city center. The only bars you'll go too in the city where you wont be recognised and looked at suspiciously are run down dilapidated buildings where old men go to drink and die. There wont be any live music in those places. In order to get anything close to that experience in Dublin you'd basically have to head out of the city center and go to a remote place like Balbriggan (not worth it, nothing there at all). If you want this kind of experience you're better off going to the country (i.e: anywhere outside of Dublin). Which I can admit as a Dub myself if you're a tourist you're better off spending time in Cork, Galway and Mayo for the 'authentic' Irish experience. While I love Dublin and it's a great city to live in there's not a lot of traditional touristy things going on for it when compared to the rest of the country. When you get off your plane don't get a taxi, a taxi driver will likely charge you anywhere between 25-35 euro to get to your hotel (if he charges you anymore he's ripping you off, don't let him take the tunnel either if he asks unless it's between 8-9.30am. You can get an airlink bus for 6euro each (http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Your-Jou...rport-Services/), they'll get you in in just the same amount of time and wont drop you too far from the hotel, maybe about a 5 minute walk. Avoid taxi's in general if you can, it costs 6 euro just to sit in one. If you want a good pub experience there's a pub in the Wicklow Mountains named Johnny Fox's which is supposed to be nice although I've never been myself (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...nty_Dublin.html) In regards to the city center itself a great and kind of different pub to go to is the Porterhouse. They brew their own stuff and don't have any mass market brews but the beer is good (and extensive) and it has a nice traditional feel too it. There's 2 in the city center itself and they're usually always full. If you have any more questions feel free to ask. I emigrated 2 years ago though so some details on pubs etc so might be a bit rusty but I've no problem googling things to double check  P.S: If you can drive rent a car, you'll see so much more of the country without having to rely on old, slow trains or roundabout bus routes. Public transport isn't great, frequent or cheap. If you are going to get trains though book your tickets online, they'll be a bit cheaper than booking them at the station.
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| # ? Feb 20, 2013 05:06 |
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When I was there we had hell finding wifi in the city centre. The Bull and Castle has free wifi and it's right next to Christchurch Cathedral. Real nice place to pop in for a pint, some good lunch and some web surfing to plan your next move. The owners awesome and all the bartenders are great.
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| # ? Feb 21, 2013 01:34 |
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Thanks everyone for the advice and suggestions. I figured as a central hub that Dublin would be touristy - but was hoping it would be localized to the Temple Bar area. While that isn't bad as we will be tourists ourselves, we have adjusted our plans to include the Wicklow Mountains, the Cliffs, and are looking at hitting Cork for a day trip. The great thing about this trip will be that we can just go to the train station, pick a spot on a map, and go and could probably be back in Dublin later that night to our hotel room. The hotel in Dublin is free for the duration of the trip so if we had to grab an overnight someplace we visited it isn't that big of a deal. I'm not going to rent a car. I cant count the number of times I almost wrecked in London/Scotland....plus I'm going to drink on this vacation...a lot. I love Guinness and have been told that the taste between a pint in the US and a pint in Ireland is completely different. Besides, drinking is the only way I won't be constantly doing the dollar to euro conversions in my head and realizing "holy poo poo I just paid $18 for a sandwich and fries". My kid driving is definitely out of the question. Thanks for the city bus advice as we were going to do a taxi from the airport. Only 5 weeks left...
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| # ? Feb 23, 2013 19:52 |
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Old Crows posted:Thanks everyone for the advice and suggestions. I figured as a central hub that Dublin would be touristy - but was hoping it would be localized to the Temple Bar area. While that isn't bad as we will be tourists ourselves, we have adjusted our plans to include the Wicklow Mountains, the Cliffs, and are looking at hitting Cork for a day trip. The great thing about this trip will be that we can just go to the train station, pick a spot on a map, and go and could probably be back in Dublin later that night to our hotel room. The hotel in Dublin is free for the duration of the trip so if we had to grab an overnight someplace we visited it isn't that big of a deal. There is a great bar in dublin if you want more of a "divy with bands feel": http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/the-mezz-dublin . It's not too expensive and its got a good vibe.
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| # ? Mar 4, 2013 13:46 |
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Twlight posted:There is a great bar in dublin if you want more of a "divy with bands feel": http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/the-mezz-dublin . It's not too expensive and its got a good vibe. I'm going to Dublin in June and this might be worth checking out for live music  What time would you recommend to go there (friday/saturday), when do the bands start playing?Also, anyone know a website with listings for electronic music parties in Dublin?
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| # ? Mar 6, 2013 20:38 |
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Bolivar posted:I'm going to Dublin in June and this might be worth checking out for live music I checked the website: http://www.mezz.ie/mezz.html they're really only showing who's playing and not what time, I'd say between 8-9pm something will be happening. Friday/Saturday is a good crowd, it does get pretty busy so if you want a seat ( there are no seats at the bar ) but you might want to get there a bit earlier. Have Fun!
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| # ? Mar 6, 2013 22:29 |
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Pubs, pubs, pubs! Seconding the Porterhouse recommendation - they're a little bit more expensive than the average pub but they've got some really nice craft beers there, and beyond Guinness, most of the run-of-the-mill beers in other places aren't that remarkable (Heineken, Carlsberg, etc.). Neary's just off of Grafton Street is another cool pub with a kind of old-man's-lounge feel to it, and it's pretty close to one of the Porterhouse pubs (the one beside Trinity College). If you go there, try the Kilkenny Draught, which is smooth like Guinness but has more of a caramel-y taste to it. Lower Baggot Street is nearby (beside St. Stephens' Green) also has some nice pubs on it - Foley's is a bit twee and touristy, but good fun overall, and they do some live music. There's also another O'Donaghue's across the road, and a few more further down the road. The Ginger Man is one of my favourite pubs, and they do some of their own craft beers as well as the standard Guinness/Smithwicks/Beamish fare. It's at the back end of Trinity College and doesn't really make itself obvious, but once you find it, it's well worth the visit. Also, Against the Grain (Wicklow St.) and the Black Sheep (Capel St.) are meant to be good, although I've never been in either. Outside of the city, Johnnie Foxes' is pretty nice - they do some decent chowder and have live music and (I think) Irish dancing. If you're going to Cork for more than a day, Kinsale is a nice little seaside town with some good pubs and restaurants. Killarney's worth a trip too, as are Galway and Donegal. Dwayne Bensey fucked around with this message at Mar 9, 2013 around 23:18 |
| # ? Mar 9, 2013 23:14 |
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This Sunday will be St. Patricksday. Any anecdotes on how it is celebrated in Dublin? Is it just the parade or are there additional (outside) activities? Are there celebrations in the days preceding it? A few friends and I will be visiting as your typical young guy tourists, so all kinds of suggestions are appreciated! We'll be in Dublin for four days in total.
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| # ? Mar 13, 2013 10:08 |
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| # ? May 18, 2013 17:36 |
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I'll throw in another vote for the Porterhouse and Bull and Castle. Both have good food and an extensive beer list. They do tasting trays, which helps get through the list. Messrs Maguire is a good spot too, on the quays near Temple Bar. The Church is a beautiful bar, literally an old church. Beer is standard rubbish though. Bowes has a great whiskey selection; it's just off Westmoreland St but not touristy at all. Beerwise, PorterHouse and Messrs do their own microbrews. Porterhouse's is quite good. Keep an eye out for Galway Bay and Trouble Brewing too, both excellent microbreweries. Foodwise, Pig's Ear and the Winding Stairs do Irish food really well. Temple Bar is good to experience but anything more than one night is a waste. Head to George's St and just go from pub to pub, up along to Wexford St. Baggot St has some great pubs. There's the old Dublin tradition of the Baggot Mile; pint in each of the 12 pubs along Baggot St. Doable if you pace yourself. Guinness Storehouse and Jameson Distillery are both great. The Jameson Distillery is just a museum though, there hasn't been a working distillery in Dublin in decades. As you're going to Cork, it may be worth paying a visit to Middleton. Kilbeggan distillery is another option closer to Dublin.
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| # ? Mar 18, 2013 12:32 |
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