Five days in Dublin in September. Advice on activity and lodging for guys just over 60

In My Humble Opinion
1

We’re Swedish, flying in from Sweden.

Some friends and I, just over 60 y.o. arrive in Dublin 9/13 and leave 9/17. We got three fulls days and some time on the travel days too. None of us has been to Eire before.

Obviously pubs, but with our advanced age, serious pub crawls are out. There should be a loud scene where millennials and younger hang out and loud music is played. We’d prefer to avoid the too crowded and loud music combo.
• From what little we can deduce it seems as if bars, restaurants ASF are south of the River. True?
• We want stay within walking distance of restaurants and have found out that Dublin is friggin’ expensive. I’d love to get suggestions on where to stay. It can be on the cheaper side - we’re not going to spend time at the hotel excepts for sleep and shower. But no dorm-like places. Single rooms.
• Apart from the obligatory Guinness visit, any suggestions on what to do and see. Some in the group are adamant about ‘No Museums!’ (my interpretation: art & culture) so that’s out. There’s interest in technology, infrastructure. When we did a trip in Germany a visit to a very big model train place was a high point for them.
• We figure on renting a car and doing a one day road trip. It seems as if all of the island has amazing nature, of different flavors. My travel companions don’t want to see old castles, ancient Celtic sites. Someone proposed going up to Belfast, another suggestion was across the Island to Galway with a stop in Tullamore if that’s where they make booze.

Any suggestion is welcome!

2

Phoenix Part Zoo was pretty nice.
We actually did the doubledecker bus tour day one to see a decent amount of the city.
When we left Dublin, we struck for Newgrange first, which I think was only about 45 minutes away. Basically a 5200 year old stone structure near Tara which we then visited.

I really enjoyed the Dublin Castle, but maybe too Museum like for your friends?

Galway was awesome, if I go back to Ireland, I will spend longer there. Belfast was kind of boring by comparison to Dublin and Galway.

3

I enjoyed the Music Pub Crawl while there. Also enjoyed the tour of the Guinesse Brewery

4

For sheer natural beauty, you can’t beat a drive through the Wicklow Mountains. Nearby is a place where you can learn falconry.
http://falconryofireland.ie/

5

In 2014 I spent a few days in Dublin. I stayed in a youth hostel just across the street from Trinity College during that time. I was 62 (and am American). One person I talked to also staying there was 60 and Canadian. Another person I talked to staying there was 50 and French. There was nothing wrong with people of our age staying there. It’s not a place with single rooms. You sleep in a room with a dozen other people, each of you with either the top or the bottom bunk of a bunk bed. You eat breakfast in another room with food laid out on serving tables that you serve yourself. I found it interesting and different to stay there. If there’s any real problem, it’s that much of the buildings in Dublin are weirdly handicapped-inaccessible. There are often short stairways along a long corridor.

6

I don’t know if this is still true, but it was a few years back: there were virtually no public toilets - but all the department stores had toilets in them. You can work the rest out for yourself.

As for things to do, I really don’t remember a lot standing out. I did the Phoenix Park open top bus tour - jesus was that cold and blowy. Spotting subversively named statuary is quite fun - no idea whether you might be aware of The Tart With The Cart, The Prick With The Stick et al. There are some attractive buildings.

IIRC Dublin 2 is where all the restaurants are - so yes, south of the river. I remember being surprised, the last time I went (and this was maybe 15 years ago) at how cosmopolitan the area was.

I think of Corned Beef And Cabbage (no, reallly) as being dort of the stereotypical Irish national dish (like Swedish meatballs and lingonberry sauce - is that right?). That might be looked down on in the posher parts of the city, but I’m sure you’ll be able to find it somewhere. It can actually be very good.

If you can find some Gaelic sports to watch - hurling or gaelic football - that’s quite fun. I mean, just amateurs in a local park would be fine. Hurling is like field hockey, except (to my eyes) without any rules.

If I think of anything else I’ll add it.

j

7

I live in Dublin. Some very quick points:

  • The Temple Bar area is a tourist trap, noisy, crowded and expensive. It sounds like what you are hoping to avoid. There are lots of good pubs in other parts of the city.
  • Accommodation in Dublin has become very, very expensive. It used to be you could easily get a room for about €100 but in recent years it’s gone like New York. If you want to stay within walking distance of the city centre, you’ll pay for that.
  • A lot of restaurants are on the south side but of course there are restaurants and pubs north of the Liffey as well.
  • We don’t call the country Eire in English.
  • Galway is probably too far for a one-day trip. I mean, you can do it, no problem, but it seems like a bit of a waste.
  • I would highly recommend a day out in Howth, which has fabulous nature and scenery and wouldn’t require a car hire at all.
8

Yeah, well we know. But we want some creature comforts. A bathroom in the hallway is OK, not ideal. But we’re willing to pay for single rooms. or an apart-hotel with possibility to close a door to others. All of us have done dorm style travel in the past. We can afford better lodgings.

Yes. And then again no. It’s the tourist trap food. In Stockholm Old Town (18th century, narrow streets and thin buildings) they will have you sign over body parts to serve Moose Meatballs. In reality, it’s a popular dish, although the most popular for natives is Spaghetti Bolognese. For holidays, herring in all forms and pickled to a gazillion different flavors is mandatory. Lutefisk is often said to be a national dish. No. A very tiny minority of the population still imperils itself to that abomination.

(Stupid Discourse can’t handle multi-quotes well :rage:)
Quote: Hibernicus=

• The Temple Bar area is a tourist trap, noisy, crowded and expensive. It sounds like what you are hoping to avoid. There are lots of good pubs in other parts of the city.
• Accommodation in Dublin has become very, very expensive. It used to be you could easily get a room for about €100 but in recent years it’s gone like New York. If you want to stay within walking distance of the city centre, you’ll pay for that.
• A lot of restaurants are on the south side but of course there are restaurants and pubs north of the Liffey as well. [/quote]


Awesome. Thank you! I assume Dublin has good public transportation, I mean most European capital cities do. What is the preferred way to get around? Say if we wanted to stay a couple km's further out?

• We don’t call the country Eire in English.[/quote]
Sorry

• Galway is probably too far for a one-day trip. I mean, you can do it, no problem, but it seems like a bit of a waste.
• I would highly recommend a day out in Howth, which has fabulous nature and scenery and wouldn’t require a car hire at all.

Again, THANK YOU!

9

Almost exactly what I was getting at - though “tourist trap’ food would be a bit strong. I can’t imagine that restaurants could get away with charging an arm and a leg for corned beef and cabbage. If you see it at a sensible price it’s certainly worth trying.

j

10

I know you said no museums, but I don’t know if Trinity College counts. Seeing the Book of Kells and other illuminated manuscripts was the highlight of my time in Dublin.

Trinity College also offered historical walking tours from the College, the Four Courts, and that area, with the tour guides being history students at the College. Our guide was a Ph.D.candidate and she was great. Very lively and informative.

Not a castle, but Powerscourt to the south of Dublin was interesting. It was one of the “big houses” of the Anglo-Irish. We found it interesting b

11

Maybe I can sway the other guys. I’m the one least averse to museums, but long ago I decided that going out of your way for the only reason of having been somewhere or seen something is not something I was ever going to repeat.* If I’m in Paris and I want to check out another part of the Louvre, I read up on what’s there and make a sorta, kinda plan. And maybe I can get the others to do that for Trinity or - as you said - take a tour.

*Back in '87 a few friends and I took a road trip going through Germany, Austria, what was still Yugoslavia, Italy and back. We drove most of a day from the east to the west coast, with the explicit goal of reaching Pisa. We arrived very late afternoon. Stopped, got out of the car.

It’s leaning.
Sure is leaning a lot.
Leaning is certainly a way to describe it. Beer?
Yeah great.
Absolutely.

After a small beer we took off and headed towards Firenze.

12

Up to you of course, but for me, seeing the Book of Kells was almost a spiritual experience. Standing there, in a darkened room, and looking at this thing of transcending beauty, and thinking, “This is what my ancestors created, centuries ago.”

And then they had to hide if from your ancestors, of course. :wink:

13

[Viking]
Nice book you’ve got there. It’d be a shame if something happened to it
[/viking]

14

There are two options for quick and reliable public transport: the Luas (tram) and the DART (light rail that runs along the coast). If budget considerations push you to consider accommodation that is not within walking distance of the city centre, I would highly recommend that you find accommodation that is convenient to either a Luas line or a DART line. Of those two, the Luas is slightly more convenient because it brings you right into the city centre, while the DART stations are a bit of a walk.

Edited to add: the DART is how you will get to Howth (which has nice restaurants as well as the fine nature and scenery I mentioned previously).

Edited again: unfortunately the public transport isn’t great when it comes to getting to/from the airport. Sorry about that.

15

I’m going to disagree with this. Irish people don’t typically eat corned beef and cabbage. It’s a traditional Irish-American dish, but not a traditional Irish dish. Irish people do traditionally eat boiled ham and cabbage (and potatoes, of course), which is kind of similar.

16

No. It’s like a Paddy’s day parade, something they’ve learned will squeak money out of tourists. When my cousin Declan was here for a visit he had no idea what corned beef was. (They call it spiced beef, and they view it like we view spam.)

Be sure to get some good salmon with colcannon on the side, and seafood chowder, and beef stew with batch loaf. If you like good cheese order a cheese plate as well.

If you get a car, pay extra for the GPS or it will be useless to you. Seriously, there is little way of knowing what street you are on in Dublin. And even if you find a sign, or a local who can tell you, the street name will change in a block or two. GPS is your only hope. The buses are grand.

For a hotel Staunton’s on the green is surprisingly affordable and on St. Stephen’s Green, which is central to lots of great food and transport.

Your tastes are so different to mine (I spent an hour just gazing at the Book of Kells) that there is little I can advise on tours. There’s the Teeling whiskey distillery, the Jameson Distillery on Bow street, and the “Big Bus” which is a tourist hop-on hop-off type service which also goes up the coast a ways.

It’s been a few years, but there was a Grand Canal boat cruise with dinner that I enjoyed immensely.

If you’re not into pub crawls what about a food tasting equivalent? Google Dublin food tasting trail. There are several good ones.

I’ve never done it, but the stadium is supposed to do a good tour, that’s the closest I’ve come to an “infrastructure” idea.

But please, don’t go ordering corned beef, and for heaven’s sake don’t order a “Black and Tan.” Its really not on.

17

Yeah, I was going to note that as well. What is a traditional Irish dish is Shepherds Pie. Just make sure you get one made with lamb, because shepherds don’t herd cows.

18

Good point. If you want one with beef, it’s called “Cottage Pie.” Still very good and quite traditional.

19

Just popping back in to endorse everything TruCelt said - their advice is really good.

20

Well @Charlie_Tan , how did it go?