Dublin 2026

As we were planning our return flights from Prague we found that we could not get direct flights back to the US so we began looking into other options and realized that if we flew through Dublin we could clear US customs there, avoid the hassle stateside and add a few nights to our trip. This wasn't checking the box of exploring Ireland, but a quick stopover to check it out....we will be back to fully explore Ireland. In the end, we packed in a lot of Dublin and a lot of fun in those 2 days. 

After landing in mid-afternoon, we grabbed a cab and had a great driver who was a native Dubliner - he gave us lots of tips and recommendations, many of which came in handy! We chose to stay at the Alex Hotel near Merrion Square which is a little bit of walk to some of the places we visited but it was really nice and ended up being close to a train station which was convenient.  

After getting settled we grabbed a late lunch at Kennedy's Pub close to our hotel and had our first (of a few) Guinness. The food and the beer was delicious - pub fare in Dublin can be pretty heavy and normally has some standards like Bangers and Mash, Fish and Chips, Meat Stew (made with Guinness) and seafood chowder on the menu. Our next stop was the Guinness Storehouse where we had the Guinness Academy self guided tour booked. It is not a tour of the brewery itself, but it gives you an overview of the history of Guinness and shows you how they make the beer. The tour was lots of fun - we even learned how to properly drink a Guinness (you do not sip it) and also how to pour our own proper pint at the Guinness Academy (yes, it does take several minutes to pour one!).  It definitely tastes better if you drink it and pour it correctly!!! The tour ended on the top floor where you could enjoy another free Guinness and enjoy the 360° views of Dublin. What a great way to start off our trip in Dublin! 

Walking back through Dublin, we stopped for dinner at a pub in the Temple Bar district which is famous for its nightlife and music. We ended up at The Temple Bar which is an iconic historic pub that took its name from the district - its a bit of a touristy place, but it was really lively with lots of people and a great guitar duo playing a variety of Irish and American music. 

The following morning we set out via the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) train to the suburb of Howth which sits on the coast of the Irish Sea. We made our way along the seawall looking out on the harbor and neighboring islands before setting out for a walk along the stunning cliffs of Howth. It was a cool day with a nice breeze but you could see how it could get really windy and cold there! As we walked for about an hour you could see fields of flowers and rocky cliffs looking out over the sea - it was truly breathtaking. Heading back into the village of Howth, we made a stop at the Abbey Tavern, a local pub just as they were opening for the day and enjoyed more Guinness and some lunch before heading back to catch the train for our return to Dublin. 

Knowing we would be heading home the next day, we made our way out into Dublin to see some of its sights starting with St Patrick’s Cathedral and Christ Church Cathedral - both in the heart of Dublin. Both had beautiful architecture and rich history - it was great that they sat only about 10 minutes apart so it was easy to get to both. We even saw a rare 14th century copy of the Magna Carta in the Christ Church Cathedral - what amazing history.  As we walked on, we found Dublin Castle which was being renovated so it was not accessible but we were still able to see it from the courtyard. Making our way back to the hotel we walked through St Stephen’s Green, a beautiful city park located in the center of town. It’s a great place to hang out - we saw lots of people relaxing on the benches and lawns in the nice spring afternoon. Our route continued through the campus of Trinity College which dates back to 1592 and is still fully functioning as a college today. It was fun to see the students walking to and from classes and take in all of the scenery - imagining that it had been in use for more than 500 years! 

That evening was the last of our 18 day trip with our friends so we decided to round out the trip with our own Dublin pub crawl! We had heard about several pubs from friends, through our own research and even from our taxi driver! To start out we headed back through St. Stephen’s Green on our way to The Hairy Lemon where we had a pint of Guinness, of course, and some of the best chicken wings we had ever eaten! After that we set out to find O’Donoghue’s Pub which we had heard about from friends - we found the pub but realized once we arrived that we had mapped to a different O’Donoghue’s than our friends had recommended (go figure that there are two O’Donoghue’s pubs in Dublin!). That didn’t stop us from having a beer and while there we spoke to some Dubliners there who told us about a “baby Guinness” drink which has no Guinness in it but rather is a shot made of Bailey’s and Kahlua. Our next stop was at The Dawson Lounge which we had learned about in our research of Dublin as a fun stop - walking in we weren’t sure if we had the right place because it was below the street level and a bit hard to locate but once we walked down the steps to the pub we found a really small and fun pub! Having just heard about the baby Guinness, we of course had to try it out there and it is definitely good! At this point, we were looking for some dinner, so we headed to the actual O’Donoghue’s our friends had recommended but found that despite being huge, it was also really packed (we agreed that we would definitely come back on our next trip to Dublin!). Our cab driver had recommended Toner’s Pub so we made our way there looking for dinner but the bartender let us know that they did not serve food and directed across the street to Doheny & Nesbitt pub which was packed as well but we were able to squeeze in and enjoyed a great dinner and drinks while listening to live music in the next room. For our last stop of the night we headed back to Toner’s Pub (supposedly it is famous because the remaining Guinness heirs go there to drink). We sat there and compared our favorite parts of the trip over a nightcap before turning in for the night!  

Dublin, we will be back!

1. Learning how to drink a Guinness
2. Learning how to pour a Guinness
3. The Temple Bar
4. The stunning Howth cliff walk
5. Baby Guinness shots at The Dawson Lounge
6. Pub crawl drinking Guinness with friends
7. The Cathedrals

Lodging

The Alex

Transportation

Taxi, Uber

DART train

Restaurants

Kennedy's Pub

Abbey Tavern (Howth)

Doheny & Nesbitt

Pubs

Temple Bar (yes, it is touristy but still fun)

The Hairy Lemon

O'Donoghue's Bar

The Dawson Lounge

Doheny & Nesbitt

Toner's

Excursions

Guinness Storehouse (Guinness Academy Tour)