How we spent a weekend in Dublin
We went to Dublin for a weekend in January, which was plenty of time to fit in the main thing we wanted to see and do. Dublin, the capital of Ireland, is a city that you can visit all year round as winter weather won’t affect your experience – in fact, we found that visiting close to Christmas added to the cosy atmosphere.
It takes less than an hour to fly to Dublin from London. We flew out with Ryanair and returned with Aer Lingus (which is a much more comfortable experience). We didn’t take checked bags, and made the most of the free carry-on allowance on both airlines. Since we only stayed two nights, we didn’t need to bring a lot with us.
We stayed at Hotel Motel One near Ha’penny Bridge. It’s a fairly touristy area of town between some of Dublin’s main shopping streets and the famous Temple Bar. For us, it was the perfect place to stay as we could easily walk everywhere in the city.
Here’s our 48 hours in Dublin itinerary.
Things to do in Dublin
Temple Bar
Temple Bar is a historic area of Dublin next to the River Liffey. It’s home to The Temple Bar, the famous pub of the same name, and is known for its cobbled streets and buzzing atmosphere. You’ll also find the Ha’penny Bridge here, which is a great photo spot especially from the northern side of the river.
Grafton Street
Grafton Street is one of the main shopping streets in Dublin. It’s also known for street entertainers and buskers, and is a lively area to visit at almost any time of day.
Dublin Castle
While the historic Dublin Castle is now largely used as government buildings, you can still walk around the grounds and chapel and some of the old rooms. If you want to see inside, book in advance as tours were sold out when we visited on a Saturday afternoon.
Trinity College
As well as being a top university, Trinity College is also a major tourist destination in Dublin. You can wander the grounds, visit the library, and if it’s not sold out check out the Book of Kells Experience. We only spent about 20 minutes strolling around the site, but you could easily spend a whole afternoon here.
Guinness Storehouse
The Guinness Storehouse in The Liberties area of the city is one of Dublin’s most famous attractions. So it’s unsurprising that if you visit on a Saturday afternoon it’s likely to be busy. Tickets start at €15.50 and you can choose to upgrade your ticket to cover a range of other experiences – getting your photo printed on your pint is definitely worth it! The website says that the tour of the Guinness Factory takes 90 minutes, but we did it in closer to an hour.
It’s not guided (unless you pay for that) so you can take it at your own pace. But the site is huge and packed with information on the history of Guinness, so you could easily spend much longer than 90 minutes there. On the top floor of the Guinness Storehouse is the Gravity Bar where you can drink a free pint (redeemable with a voucher you’re given on entry) with incredible views across the city.
Go to the pub
England does pubs well. But Ireland does them even better. Obviously Guinness is most people’s order of choice, but you can find pretty much anything in Dublin’s wide range of pubs and bars including my favourite – Rockshore cider. We spent a lot of time pub crawling in the centre of Dublin, and especially loved the spots with live Irish music. Yes, its touristy. But we’re tourists, so might as well embrace it.
These were our favourite pubs in Dublin:
The Temple Bar
The Old Storehouse
The Giddy Dolphin
Foggy Dew
Peadar Kearney’s
Eat a spice bag
We ate some great food in Dublin (shout out to Pi Pizza) but after a night out, you have to indulge in the city’s speciality: a spice bag. You’ll mostly find this ‘delicacy’ in Chinese restaurants – we got ours at the highly-recommended Xi’an Street Food. It consists of deep-fried chips, chicken (or tofu), onions, and peppers seasoned with salt, chilli, and szechuan spice. The portion is HUGE (the group of three sharing a bag next to us had the right idea) and definitely couldn’t be called healthy. But who wants health after a night on the Guinness in Temple Bar anyway?
Drink an Irish coffee
Another local delicacy is an Irish coffee, typically served with a shot of whiskey and topped with whipped cream. At Vice Coffee Inc, I splashed out on an award-winning Fancy Frankie, which has orange zest on the rim for extra fresh flavour.
Explore Howth Head
On a wet Sunday morning we caught the DART from Connolly Station to Howth. The direct train takes about 30 minutes, and Howth station is an easy starting point for one of the many circular walks around Howth Head. We took the green route for the Howth Cliff Walk, which is clearly marked by signs from the town, which say it should take 1.5 - 2 hours. We found that to be accurate, even with time stopping to take photos along the way.
Despite the stormy weather, this was still a beautiful way to spend an afternoon and a great way to take in some nature during a weekend visiting Dublin. At the end of the hike, we stopped for lunch in Mamo. It’s not cheap, but the food here was fantastic. If you’re looking for something more laid-back, Howth seafront has everything from a small food market to pubs to classic fish and chip shops.
By 3pm, we were on the train back to Dublin, but if the weather had been better we’d have spent a few more hours on the beaches or maybe following one of the longer walking routes the whole way around the cliffs.
What to pack for a weekend in Dublin
The weather in Dublin in early January reached a high of 6ºC and dropped as low at -6ºC during the night. So wrapping up warm is key! I packed a few thermal items as I knew we were hiking around Howth head, but even if you’re sticking to the city you’ll want layers. A lot of the activities here include walking around outside – and when you get to the pub, you’ll almost always find hooks to hang your coat and scarf.
Obviously if you’re visiting in summer or warmer weather you won’t need to bring so many layers. So check the forecast before you arrive.
This is what I packed for a weekend in Dublin in January:
One coat
Two jumpers
A t-shirt
One thermal long-sleeved top
Two pairs of trousers
Thermal leggings
Warm socks
A warm hat
A pair of leather boots
Overnight toiletries, including hand cream for the cold
Looking for more weekends away? Check out our itinerary for a weekend in Copenhagen.