48 hours in Dublin (in January!)

It had almost become a joke. The fact that we had travelled across the world, planned exotic trips and yet never crossed the short stretch of sea into Ireland. With a few days of annual leave to spare post-New Year festivities, we decided to set this wrong right with a little January trip. Time to spend 48 hours in Dublin. Dieting and Dry January would have to wait.

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Arriving in Dublin

After arriving late afternoon, it’s too dark to do much sightseeing. Unless you count the sights of our closest pub The Gingerman and the bottom of a Guinness glass. Or two. Or three. We take a stroll down to the River Liffey, and across to the Grand Canal Docks. Glittering glass buildings line the riverside, expensive waterside residences and headquarters of international companies. Unsurprisingly we end up walking much further than anticipated, and have to rely on Google Maps to set us back on the right path. This is NOT the first time this has happened to us. In fact, it’s almost inevitable.

48 Hours in Dublin: Tour Guides and Guinness

We wake up at The Mont, with a day of exploring Dublin ahead of us. To be honest, when we’d driven in on the Dublin Express all we really saw after the river was construction and piles of rubbish bags waiting to be collected – not the most favourable impression of the South Side. We hope this morning’s free walking tour will show us a pretty city. Instead of a gritty city.

But first, breakfast. A whistle stop tour of Temple Bar, and we cross over the river at Ha’Penny Bridge. We’re heading for the highly recommended Brother Hubbard on Capel Street. It looks small from the outside but reaches back into a bright and airy restaurant. There’s an extensive menu, heavily influenced by Middle Eastern Cuisine. We’re all about eating light this morning though so I opt for the granola, whilst Mr Fletche chooses the porridge with berries. I’m presented with possibly the prettiest pot of granola ever.

All fuelled up, it’s time to meet up with a man with a yellow umbrella under the O’Connell Street spire. We booked our Dublin 3 hour free walking tour via Yellow Umbrella Tours. We’re big fans of taking a free walking tour when we visit a new city. The guides are usually volunteers, and often incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about their city. The only cost is an optional tip at the end; we tend to give €10 each.

Our guide Robbie takes us on a whistle stop tour of Irish history in 15 minutes – the highs and the lows, the prosperity and the poverty. As only one of two English couples on the tour, we’re immediately marked out as the villains of the group and we withstand some light-hearted jibes. Sadly, there’s little light-hearted about the historical relationship between the Irish and the English. I end up apologising profusely on behalf of all our ancestors.

Midway through, there’s a quick coffee/toilet/Guinness break in Temple Bar. It’s easy to be confused when people speak about Temple Bar. There’s the famous pub, The Temple Bar, with it’s iconic red exterior. There’s another red and black pub, cunningly disguised as the Temple Bar. But the Temple Bar Pub is, in fact, in Temple Bar, a lively and vibrant area full of quirky boutiques and pubs where you won’t get much change from €8 for a pint. Our guide alludes to the fact that travelling snobs advise avoiding Temple Bar, but it’s impossible to ignore the cultural importance and heritage of the area. Plus it’s fun.

This isn’t the last time we’ll pass through Temple Bar. But for now we continue our tour, up Love Lane, to Dublin Castle, and finishing at Christ Church Cathedral. Remember that if you’re taking a walking tour, you’ll need comfy shoes. There’s a lot of standing round so if you’re visiting in winter, wrap up warm. I made the mistake of being fooled by the blue skies and left my scarf back in the hotel room. I spent the second part of the tour shivering.

The tour ends at around 2:10pm, perfect timing for our next stop. We’re off to St James Gate, and the home of Guinness. Even if you’re not a Guinness fan, it’s an interesting exhibition spread across seven floors, but let’s face it, the main draw is sinking a pint of Guinness at its home at the end of the tour. I’ve written about our visit to the Guinness Storehouse here. And I pondered whether it’s worth paying the extra to have your face perfectly reproduced on top of a pint. Spoiler alert: absolutely.

We wind our way back to Temple Bar. Having not eaten since breakfast, we’re definitely ready for food. We eat at The Porterhouse before heading to The Quays for our first taste of Dublin live music. After a quick freshen up back at The Mont, our final stop of the evening is as Doheny & Nessbit on Baggot Street. We enjoy this traditional pub so much that we decide to return for food the following evening.

48 Hours in Dublin: Exploring with the Dublin Pass

Its Day 2 of our 48 hours in Dublin. Which means that it’s time to activate our Dublin Pass and get exploring some more!

Want to find out more about the Dublin Pass? I wrote all about it here!

We start our second morning with a coffee and croissant at KC Peaches. We have a 10am appointment with The Book of Kells. It’s a beautiful sunny morning, perfect for a stroll around the grounds of Trinity College. It’s Ireland’s most famous learning institution and boasts literary alumni such as Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Jonathan Swift. The Book of Kells is a historic manuscript, dating back to the 9th century. Whisper it quietly, but it’s a little bit underwhelming. Then again, I said the same about the Sistine Chapel.

Tickets to see the Book of Kells are a bit pricey – and not included in the Dublin Pass – but if an ancient religious text doesn’t float your boat, the stunning Old Library probably will. There are hundreds of thousands of dusty books, documents and manuscripts, on shelves towering above you, accessible only by rickety old ladders. There’s an impressive gift shop at the end, although there’s no sign of a 365 day Oscar Wilde quote calendar. I feel they’re missing a trick.

Book here for Book of Kells, Trinity College

If you’re interested in the story of Irish people, and their migration across the world, The Irish Emigration Museum (EPIC) is a great way to spend a few hours. We stroll from Trinity College along the River Liffey towards the museum’s location in the Docklands. We flash our Dublin Pass at the ticket office and start our self guided tour through this collection of fascinating audio visual stories. Big kids that we are, we particularly enjoy stamping our passport in each room.

Book here to pre-book tickets for EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum. Free with the Dublin Pass, no pre-booking necessary.

We intend to visit the Jeannie Johnston famine ship next but we’re smack bang between the hourly tour times so we decide not to hang around. It’s almost lunchtime. Which means it’s almost whiskey time. We hop on a HoHo bus on O’Connell Street (€30, free with Dublin Pass). Our destination? Teelings Distillery. Naturally, a HoHo bus is never the quickest way to get to a destination but we enjoy the tour from the top deck. Even if we do arrive in the Liberties District a little windswept.

We use our Dublin Pass again, for the standard Teeling Tasting Tour. We could have upgraded to the Trinity or Select tasting packages, but with an afternoon of sight-seeing still ahead of us we decided to stick to the basics. Our guide takes us on an in-depth tour of modern whiskey production, with an opportunity to view the giant copper stills in action. The tour ends with a a sample of Teelings Small Batch Whiskey, and a whiskey cocktail with a surprise mix of ingredients including cinnamon, apple and tea. Although we don’t purchase on the tour, we find ourselves clutching a bottle of Teelings at Duty Free.

We probably should have lined our tummies before the whiskey, but we grab a snack post-tour from the distillery’s Phoenix Cafe. Over a toastie and a sausage roll we plan out the rest of our afternoon.

Book here to pre-book your tasting tour at Teelings Distillery. Free with the Dublin Pass, no pre-booking necessary.

From spirits to something a little more spiritual. We follow the spire piercing the skyline and head to St Patrick’s Cathedral (€8, or free with the Dublin Pass). It’s a small but impressive cathedral; we chose to take a self-guided tour but an audio guide (included in the admission) would probably have been more informative. We nod our head at Jonathan Swift’s resting place before heading on to our second cathedral of the day. Christ Church Cathedral is also free with the Dublin Pass, or €10,50 without. I’m not gonna lie, the big draw here was the mummified version of Tom and Jerry, a cat and a rat displayed as they were found in the pipes of the cathedral’s organ

On exiting Christ Church, we have a decision to make. Use our Dublin Pass one more time and visit the Irish Rock and Roll Museum? Or pop to Dublin’s oldest pub The Brazen Head for a quick Guinness? We opt for the latter. And by the time we emerge, we’ve missed the last slot at the Irish Rock n Roll museum. Oops. We head back to Temple Bar anyway. Although there are so many pubs to choose from, I really wanted to visit the iconic Temple Bar itself.

It’s started to drizzle and we fear everyone may have the same idea, piling into the pub. But we manage to find a spot to perch at near the bar. I may not be able to see the band over the sea of heads, but I can certainly hear them. I wave my glass around during an enthusiastic singalong, careful not to spill a drop of the most expensive pint so far. Crowded, touristy and expensive it may be, but it’s great fun. A definite must-do when in Dublin.

A final morning in Dublin

With an early afternoon flight, we have a bonus morning in Dublin. We check out early, leaving our luggage with the Mont Hotel front desk, and head out to explore. Since seeing the most exquisite cup of coffee on Instagram I convince Mr Fletche that breakfast at Beanhive Coffee is a must. This tiny establishment at the top of Dawson Street is famous for its coffee artwork, but I can also highly recommend the breakfasts. For a change we opted for the vegan breakfast – after all, my favourite breakfast items are hash browns and baked beans. I’m glad we decided to share as the portion was more than big enough for two. And the tropical island scene on my cappuccino warmed up the cool January morning no end.

St Stephens Green is a beautiful oasis of peace and tranquility, despite being located at the top of one of the busiest shopping streets in Dublin. But while you’re in the area, you must pop into the Stephens Green Shopping Centre, with its intricate internal architecture and stunning clock.

After noticing the Georgian architecture on our bus tour the day before, Mr Fletche is keen to go door-spotting. And there are plenty of brightly coloured frontages to photograph around Fitzwilliam Square. We wind our way back to St Stephen’s Green, and past the shops of Grafton Street. I seek out the umbrella canopy of St Anne’s Lane. And the toilets of Marks & Spencers. And finally, the shining breasts of Molly Malone. I resist the urge to give them a rub for luck.

Getting to, and around, Dublin

We flew to Dublin Airport from Birmingham International with Aer Lingus. There are numerous flights per day via Aer Lingus and Ryanair among others, and flights started from a bargainous £12. Remember that most bargain airlines appear to charge you to carry on your carry on baggage so make sure you take that into account before you fall for a too-good-to-be-true price.

We booked a Dublin Express coach transfer, straight from the airport to the city centre in 30 minutes. This was €9 pp return. We pre-booked our tickets but we could have purchased direct from the seller at the airport bus stop. Our stop was just 5 minutes from The Mont Hotel on Merrion Square.

Dublin has a good public transport network around the city and beyond. There are also plenty of tourist sightseeing buses; the Big Bus Dublin Hop On Hop Off tour is €32pp, or free with a Dublin Pass.

Dublin in January?

Like most European capital cities, Dublin is an all year-round destination. Naturally, in January the days are shorter and the weather colder, but once the NYE chaos is out of the way, it’s a lot less busy. We never struggled to find somewhere to eat or drink. There are plenty of museums to visit if it’s wet outside, and well, if you prefer to get wet INSIDE then you’re never far from a drinking establishment.

Layers are your friend when thinking about packing for Dublin in January. A warm hat, coat and scarf, and thinner layers underneath. It’s Ireland, and therefore it’s likely to rain at any time, regardless of the month.

Where we stayed in Dublin

I did splash out a little on the hotel, excited by the money saved on those cheap(ish) flights. Before I had to pay extra to carry on our carry on. We stayed at The Mont (Booking.com affiliate link), located on Merrion Square, just a short stroll from St Stephen’s Green and the National Museums. I could even see Oscar Wilde winking at me from our window.

Dublin is so compact that we walked everywhere, with The Mont being central enough for us to be able to return during the day. This is Dublin, therefore there’s always somewhere close to drink, but it’s also away from the rowdy Temple Bar nightlife. The Mont has it’s own sports bar, The Sin Bin, with reasonably priced drinks and a decent food menu. We didn’t partake of breakfast (additional cost) but it’s served in a large bright restaurant at the front of the hotel.

What we spent in Dublin

There’s no getting around it; Dublin is an expensive city. Most of the popular tourist attractions have hefty admission fees. Plus you’re going to want to be sampling the local hospitality as every opportunity. Food is expensive around the Temple Bar area. (Pro Tip: Eat a bigger meal at lunchtime, and snacks in the evening – your wallet will thank you). I’d highly recommend getting a Dublin Pass if it’s your first visit.

Here’s what we spent

Flights & Hotel (Package) = £548.00/€618.00

Total spent on food: £149/€168

Total spent on drinks: £80/€90

Dublin City Pass: £62pp/€69pp

Guinness Storehouse: £30/€34pp (Stoutie Experience)

Book of Kells: £16.50pp/€18,50pp

Dublin Express: £8/€9pp

Free walking tour tip = £18/€20

There are free activities in Dublin if you do your research. All of the National Museums are free admission, including the Archaeology Museum and the Natural History Museum, and also the Chester Beatty. The parks are naturally free to stroll around, with St Stephen’s Green in the centre of the city, and Phoenix Park just outside, one of the largest green subarban spaces in Europe (and home to Dublin Zoo, which is free with the Dublin Pass).

Is 48 hours in Dublin enough?

Are two days in Dublin enough? To be honest I don’t think we even scratched the surface of everything Dublin has to offer. Which just means that we HAVE to return, right?