Dublin Ireland

[travelingran]

Any info on things to do and sightseeing on your own.

[reilly1]

Any info on things to do and sightseeing on your own.

 

I live in Belfast and regularly weekend in Dublin (2 hours away). Do not book any expensive tours. There is a superb Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus tour which takes you to all the main sites. You can visit Trinity University to see The Book Of Kells, Kilmainim Jail, Dublin Castle, shopping area, Phoenix Park (zoo) and many more. We have done it many times and the driver/guides are really informative and funny. The Town House on St Stephen's Green is a great place for lunch - a little haven away from the bustle of the city but still central. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

Colleen

[Mairnealach]

Any info on things to do and sightseeing on your own.

 

Hi,

 

You may get a better response on this Cruise Critic board:

 

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=233

 

There are also lots of links on this page of the Dublin Tourism website:

 

http://www.visitdublin.com/See_and_Do

 

For what it's worth, I would visit the National Museum, which has free admission, in preference to paying into Trinity College Library. I also regard the Guinness Storehouse as being very poor value for money; thousands disagree :)

 

Have a look on the Dublin Tourism website and if you have any questions after that do please ask.

 

Enjoy your visit.

 

Dermot

[crusingnut]

We were in Dublin 2 days post cruise. One day we did the hop on off bus, which was worth it. The other day we booked an all tour with wildwicklow.ie to go up to the Wickow mountains. It was alot of fun, guides were very informative and funny. The mountains are beautiful and well worth the trip. Check out their web site and reviews on tripadvisor.com.

[Sherried2]

We are interested in riding the Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus; however, how do we get from the Port to the Bus?

 

Sherried2

 

I live in Belfast and regularly weekend in Dublin (2 hours away). Do not book any expensive tours. There is a superb Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus tour which takes you to all the main sites. You can visit Trinity University to see The Book Of Kells, Kilmainim Jail, Dublin Castle, shopping area, Phoenix Park (zoo) and many more. We have done it many times and the driver/guides are really informative and funny. The Town House on St Stephen's Green is a great place for lunch - a little haven away from the bustle of the city but still central. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

Colleen

[Sauer-kraut]

Please post your questions on the BRITISH ISLES board, its at the top of EUROPE page. You will get a lot more responses over there, as this is the Baltics and N. Europe forum. :)

[jstducky]

We are interested in riding the Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus; however, how do we get from the Port to the Bus?

 

Sherried2

 

When I was on a British Isles cruise that stopped in Dublin, the ship offered a shuttle (we had to pay) that would take us from the pier to right behind Trinity College. Right across the street was the stop for the HOHO bus. I bought the HOHO bus ticket in advance online and then just took my confirmation and showed it to the driver who gave me tickets.

 

As a previous poster mentioned, Dublin is a wonderful, wonderful city. The HoHo bus was terrific. If you have time, take a walking tour of Trinity College given by one of the students. It's delightful and interesting. The Book of Kells is great too. I also enjoyed Kilmainhaim Goal as well as the Guinness Factory.

[DeloreanGirl]

Shuttle is $8/pp from the ship to the town center. The green Dublin Sightseeing.ie tour is great. Except my hubby thought that everything was "so close together and walkable" that we walked to all the HOHO stops until we got turned around and lost trying to find Guinness. Save yourself the misery and do the green HOHO bus. Dublin was our lesser favorite Ireland stop (really crazy busy) but we still enjoyed the sights we saw. Trinity College & St. Patricks is not to be missed! :D

[Cruisin' & Breezin']

We took a taxi from port to Trinity College 20 Euro for 4 people and from there walked through the city all the way to St. Patricks. From there another taxi to Guinness storehouse and another to the port afterwards. Spent less in taxi per person than if we took the ship's shuttle back and fort. Easy to move around in Dublin. Get the Rick Steves Ireland book that will also include Northern Ireland, and you will never be lost. Follow his walks and suggestions and you'll have the time of your life without breaking the bank with escorted tours! The only reason we took taxi to Guinness Storehouse is because it was raining. Otherwise we would have walked, it really was "doable".

[Spuzzum]

We are interested in going to Brazen Head for their dinner show. Does anyone know if it worth it? Reviews seem good. Also show ends at 10pm and last shuttle leaves at 10pm which means we would have to get a Taxi to get back to the ship by 10.30pm. Ship leaves at 11.15 pm. Is that a doable thing or are we taking a chance at being left on the pier waving good bye to the ship.

[Mairnealach]

Hi,

 

I cannot comment on the Brazen Head as, although I walk past it nearly every day, I have never been on the premises. It is on the Dublin tourist route and I see a regular stream of visitors entering the pub.

 

A taxi from the Brazen Head to the cruise terminal should take a maximum of twenty minutes. Dublin has a surfeit of taxis and there will be no trouble getting one at 10pm as it is well before pub closing time. But, if you are concerned, you could leave the show a few minutes early.

 

Dermot

[Spuzzum]

Hi,

 

I cannot comment on the Brazen Head as, although I walk past it nearly every day, I have never been on the premises. It is on the Dublin tourist route and I see a regular stream of visitors entering the pub.

 

A taxi from the Brazen Head to the cruise terminal should take a maximum of twenty minutes. Dublin has a surfeit of taxis and there will be no trouble getting one at 10pm as it is well before pub closing time. But, if you are concerned, you could leave the show a few minutes early.

 

Dermot

Thank you Dermot for the info. Will have talk this over with my friends and see how they feel about this. Lois

[Yaya&Papu]

If you are looking for a day trip out of the city, then I highly recommend Boyne Valley Tours. Michael Fox is the owner and he drives an Audi. He will design a route based on the sites that you want to visit in the Boyne Valley. He will get you to Newgrange early in the morning before the tour buses. He also has some great ideas on places to see/visit that may not be on your list. He has lots of great info on places and is very reliable, prompt, and friendly.:)

[EmsMom]

We used Sandeman's Free Tours in Dublin. I got the idea from Trip Advisor where they were very highly rated....and they deserved their high ratings. I signed up online on their website which tells you where and what time to meet. It was a very informative and fun tour that lasted about 3 hours. The guides work for tips. Our other day in Dublin, we went on a day tour of Wicklow which is offered through Gray Line. We signed up and paid in advance (it was about $30 per person I think) however, when we got there, we found out that we could have just paid when we got to the bus stop which was right across from the Molly Malone statue. There is also a HOHO bus stop at this location as well. We were on Oceania and our shuttle was free. It dropped off just a few blocks away from the main shopping street. St. Patrick's was a little further than the other sights but not too far to walk. We also did a tour of Dublin Castle on our own. We loved our trip out to Wicklow and particularly enjoyed the ruins at Glendalough which was one of the stops on the Gray Line tour.

[TERRIER1]

We were in Dublin 5 days after a cruise so had a lot of time to tour on our own. We did take the Wild Wicklow tour which was delightful. The Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough are beautiful. A museum that seems to be overlooked but in my opinion is one of the best I have been is the Chester Beatty - the most spectacular collection of ancient manuscripts. The museum is free and next to Dublin Castle. The Natural History Museum is also free and was excellent - great exhibit on gold. We also took he Dart train up to Howth which is a lovely seaside village. You can also go the other way (south) and do the cliffwalk from Bray to Greystones.

[TERRIER1]

We were in Dublin 5 days after a cruise so had a lot of time to tour on our own. We did take the Wild Wicklow tour which was delightful. The Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough are beautiful. A museum that seems to be overlooked but in my opinion is one of the best I have been is the Chester Beatty - the most spectacular collection of ancient manuscripts. The museum is free and next to Dublin Castle. The Natural History Museum is also free and was excellent - great exhibit on gold. We also took he Dart train up to Howth which is a lovely seaside village. You can also go the other way (south) and do the cliffwalk from Bray to Greystones.