Short Breaks in Dublin
Created | Updated Mar 29, 2002
<P>Dublin. First city in Ireland. Home of the Guiness brewery.</P>
<P>What more incentive would you need to go there for a long weekend or short break?</P>
<H2>How to get there (and back)</H2>
<P>Well, in my case it was the availability of a ludicrously cheap flight courtest of a newspaper deal, but that being said a scheduled return flight can be bought for as little as 35GBP return most of the time. <A HREF="http://www.ryanair.ie">Ryan Air</A> seem to fly from all over the UK, so getting to London's not required either, and <A HREF="http://www.expedia.co.uk">Expedia</A> seems a good site to find flight deals.</P>
<P>I flew from Bristol International Airport to Dublin. Nice flight - just 45-50 minutes, so barely time for the air hostesses to rush the duty free and drinks trolly (the latter not free, unfortunately) past before we landed.</P>
<P>Once there, baggage handling is fast and efficient, and you're soon stood outside the terminal, wondering how you can avoid walking for hours to get into the city.</P>
<P><UL><LI><B>HINT:</B> <I>DON'T</I> get a taxi into the center unless you want to get ripped off (so saith the Lonely Planet guide). Instead, catch the airlink bus into the center. There are two flavours - one going to the bus station, city center and back only, and the other doing the rounds of the train stations. Check where your hotel is first relative to these and ask the very helpful staff as to which you want.</LI></UL></P>
<H2>Where to stay</H2>
<P>Once you're in the city center there's plenty of options for accomodation. When finding accomodation for my trip, I found prices varied wildly, depending on how close to the center the hotel is and what rating it got. Shop around - I found a large double room in a very nice hotel close to the center for just 65 GBP per night. The <A HREF="http://ireland.iol.ie/usitaccm/hotel.htm">Harding Hotel</A> was a great find - beside Christchurch Cathedral and near to Temple Bar it was within easy walking distance of the center of the city and made the perfect base for my short break. It does get busy, so it pays to book a room well in advance - a couple of months should suffice.</P>
<H2>Getting around</H2>
<P>Getting around in central Dublin is easy. If you enjoy a nice walk, then don't bother with the busses and go by foot. Most of the sights in the guide books are within about 25 minutes gentle walk from Temple Bar. Make sure the guide book you use has good maps - the profligation of small streets can get confusing, so here's a tip - keep turning right - you'll soon end up somewhere you recognise, even if it's only the same pub you passed 30 seconds earlier.</P>
<P>We used the Lonely Planet City Guide as our bible for our break. This covers both central Dublin and out to the countryside, but is full of usefull information, good walks, etc. Check out the <A ALT="Lonely Planet Website" HREF="http://www.lonelyplanet.co.uk/">Lonely Planet Website</A> for more.</P>
<H2>What to see</H2>
<ul>
<li>The Guiness Brewery</li>
<li>The Book of Kells and Dublin University</li>
<li>Architecture</li>
<li>Pubs</li>
</ul>
<H2>What to eat</H2>
<P>Funnily enough, it's very hard to find anywhere in Dublin that sells traditional Irish fare, but if you like Italian, then you'll be in heaven, since you can't seem to walk 20 meters without passing an Italian Resteraunt.</P>
<P>Prices vary, but tend on the high side, even with the favorable Pound/Punt exchange rate.</P>
<H2>What to buy (and where to buy it)</H2>
<p>You'll be able to find all the usual tourist tat in shops all over the city, but check out the shops just on either side of the Liffey for some more interesting souveniers of your stay.<p>
<p>The main street has all the usual high-street shops, as well as a few specialist shops and a good department store - Irish linen is excruciatingly tempting, but equally painfully priced.</p>
<P>What more incentive would you need to go there for a long weekend or short break?</P>
<H2>How to get there (and back)</H2>
<P>Well, in my case it was the availability of a ludicrously cheap flight courtest of a newspaper deal, but that being said a scheduled return flight can be bought for as little as 35GBP return most of the time. <A HREF="http://www.ryanair.ie">Ryan Air</A> seem to fly from all over the UK, so getting to London's not required either, and <A HREF="http://www.expedia.co.uk">Expedia</A> seems a good site to find flight deals.</P>
<P>I flew from Bristol International Airport to Dublin. Nice flight - just 45-50 minutes, so barely time for the air hostesses to rush the duty free and drinks trolly (the latter not free, unfortunately) past before we landed.</P>
<P>Once there, baggage handling is fast and efficient, and you're soon stood outside the terminal, wondering how you can avoid walking for hours to get into the city.</P>
<P><UL><LI><B>HINT:</B> <I>DON'T</I> get a taxi into the center unless you want to get ripped off (so saith the Lonely Planet guide). Instead, catch the airlink bus into the center. There are two flavours - one going to the bus station, city center and back only, and the other doing the rounds of the train stations. Check where your hotel is first relative to these and ask the very helpful staff as to which you want.</LI></UL></P>
<H2>Where to stay</H2>
<P>Once you're in the city center there's plenty of options for accomodation. When finding accomodation for my trip, I found prices varied wildly, depending on how close to the center the hotel is and what rating it got. Shop around - I found a large double room in a very nice hotel close to the center for just 65 GBP per night. The <A HREF="http://ireland.iol.ie/usitaccm/hotel.htm">Harding Hotel</A> was a great find - beside Christchurch Cathedral and near to Temple Bar it was within easy walking distance of the center of the city and made the perfect base for my short break. It does get busy, so it pays to book a room well in advance - a couple of months should suffice.</P>
<H2>Getting around</H2>
<P>Getting around in central Dublin is easy. If you enjoy a nice walk, then don't bother with the busses and go by foot. Most of the sights in the guide books are within about 25 minutes gentle walk from Temple Bar. Make sure the guide book you use has good maps - the profligation of small streets can get confusing, so here's a tip - keep turning right - you'll soon end up somewhere you recognise, even if it's only the same pub you passed 30 seconds earlier.</P>
<P>We used the Lonely Planet City Guide as our bible for our break. This covers both central Dublin and out to the countryside, but is full of usefull information, good walks, etc. Check out the <A ALT="Lonely Planet Website" HREF="http://www.lonelyplanet.co.uk/">Lonely Planet Website</A> for more.</P>
<H2>What to see</H2>
<ul>
<li>The Guiness Brewery</li>
<li>The Book of Kells and Dublin University</li>
<li>Architecture</li>
<li>Pubs</li>
</ul>
<H2>What to eat</H2>
<P>Funnily enough, it's very hard to find anywhere in Dublin that sells traditional Irish fare, but if you like Italian, then you'll be in heaven, since you can't seem to walk 20 meters without passing an Italian Resteraunt.</P>
<P>Prices vary, but tend on the high side, even with the favorable Pound/Punt exchange rate.</P>
<H2>What to buy (and where to buy it)</H2>
<p>You'll be able to find all the usual tourist tat in shops all over the city, but check out the shops just on either side of the Liffey for some more interesting souveniers of your stay.<p>
<p>The main street has all the usual high-street shops, as well as a few specialist shops and a good department store - Irish linen is excruciatingly tempting, but equally painfully priced.</p>
