One Day in Dublin; How to do Dublin in 24 hours!
I had managed to travel to every single country in the world, from Yemen to Somalia, but I hadn’t travelled my own country, Ireland! That was an embarrassment I had to put right. So I invited one of my best buddies, Josh (the co-founder of our charity, MuditaAdventures.com). We drew up an awesome 2-week Ireland road-trip itinerary and got ready to go. First though, we had 24 hours in Dublin. So how do you best spend one day in Dublin?
Table of Contents
24 hours in Dublin; Things to See in Dublin
Before I get into the actual one day in Dublin Itinerary, you need to know all the things to see in Dublin. What you cannot miss when you come. So, even though you may only have 24 hours in Dublin, don’t miss:
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Grafton Street
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The Spire of Dublin (O’Connell Street)
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The General Post Office (GPO)
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Trinity College, The Long Room Library and the Book of Kells
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The Guinness Storehouse
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Temple Bar
One Day in Dublin Itinerary
Morning
Your one day in Dublin is good to go. Spend the morning grabbing breakfast on Dublin’s main shopping street, Grafton Street. Check out some pretty awesome street performers and buskers there too, just remember if you take pics/videos, give a little donation. They’re not out there working for free.
After your coffee break head over to O’Connell Street to see the main part of Ireland’s history. You can’t miss O’Connell street thanks to the Spire of Dublin, a 120m stainless steel spike in the middle of the city. Once you’re there, head to the General Post Office (GPO). Dublin GPO was central to Ireland’s independence from the UK due to the Easter Rising of 1916, which ultimately led to the 1922 declaration of independence. It’s a huge part of Ireland’s history
After you’ve finished with your whistle-stop history lesson, continue on your one day in Dublin. Make your way over to Trinity College by foot.
AFTERNOON
The beauty of a city the size of Dublin means that you can actually walk around all the main sites. Sure it may take you 20/30 minutes between the places. But what better way to see a city than to hit the pavement. It’s 15 minutes or so from O’Connell street Trinty College, home to Dublin’s national treasure, the Book of Kells.
The college itself is pretty impressive. The main draws, however, are inside. The Book of Kells, and the amazing library. Tickets to get inside for those two range from €10 in the morning (before 10 am) and late afternoon (after 3 pm), or €13 for peak times. Last entry at 16.30. You can buy your tickets here.
The Book of Kells is famous for it’s lavishly decorated text compromising 4 books from the Bible, drawn in 800AD. Personally, I was a little underwhelmed, but I’m in a minority there and it’s a real ‘must’ in every list of Dublin, so there you go. Much cooler in my uncultured opinion, is the “Long Room Library” at Trinity. It looks straight out of a Harry Potter movie. This is how every library should look!
As your one day in Dublin moves on, get going to the main event, the Guinness Storehouse (often misreferred to as the Guinness Factory). It’s about a 25-minute walk from Trinity. But you walk through the Temple Bar district and get a good look at that en route before you return there a little later from the evening’s chaos.
The Guinness Storehouse has a whole host of different ticketing options. To take the self-guided tour, tickets range from €14 to €20 each day, with mid-afternoon the priciest, last entrance at 6 pm (you can get the tickets here). The tour takes you through the process of Guinness making, but also the amazing history of Guinness and its affect on Dublin and Ireland, and on beer worldwide. It’s not some boring tour, I promise! It’s a real highlight, and there’s a reason why it’s Ireland’s most popular tourist attraction each year, every year.
You get a chance to learn how to pour your own pint (which you also drink), and at the end of the tour, you get a rooftop complimentary Guinness, made next door, with views of Dublin city – it’s perfect. Also, lots of people are walking around handing out their free Guinness because they don’t like it, so smile at people and you’ll have as much Guinness as you can drink. True story! Bearing in mind Guinness can run at €6 in the city, you get your money’s worth right there!
A real tip from me would be to pay the extra money and get the VIP experience. Guinness run a ‘Coinesseur Experience’ (tickets here, ranging from €18 to €20). Here you get taken into a special tasting room with 10 or so other people and test Guinness from different eras and different countries. It’s really cool, super fun and a fair chunk of free beer. I loved it (book at least the day before, it sells out daily).
Finally, on your one day in Dublin, my last awesome Guinness Store House Tip would be after you’re done with the tour, your roof-top beer, your connaisseur experience, head over to the Open Gate Brewery, on the Guinness ground, about a 5 minute walk away. This is where you can have a few drinks with your friends. And where you can order some experimental beers that the guys cook up. No branding, never-to-be-released, available for a few weeks at a time, and then on to the next one. 5 euro a beer, or you can take a tasting rack.
It opens 5.30-10.30pm, 6 euro entry but with a free beer, book your spot before you come here. Enjoy!
EVENING
If you’re still up and about after all that amazing Guinness, it’s time to be a proper tourist. Head over to Temple Bar on your one day in Dublin. Now Temple Bar, as people often think, isn’t actually 1 bar. It’s a couple of streets with 20+ Irish bars, playing Irish music and selling slightly overpriced drinks. There’ll be lots of tourists, not so many Dubliners, but I promise you’ll have a brilliant time. As an Irishman, I still love it there! That should see you through until the end of the night, just don’t make too many plans for the following day!
Final Thoughts on my One day in Dublin Itinerary
As an Irishman, of course, I’m going to say that 24 hours in Dublin is never enough! However, with one day in Dublin, you can see the main sights. And if you follow my Dublin itinerary above, you can keep the costs down and the steps up. Dublin is a great city, one of the best in the world. Enjoy it, have a bit of craic, and let me know how you get on!
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