In short
Dublin is a capital on a human scale — the centre is crossed on foot in half an hour — built on both banks of the Liffey. The north and south sides long carried a social difference Dubliners still mention.
Temple Bar is the pub quarter, heavily touristic and expensive. Grafton Street and St Stephen's Green form the southern shopping centre. Stoneybatter and Portobello are the neighbourhoods where locals actually go out.
Arriving and getting around
The airport is some ten kilometres north, linked by frequent express buses. There is no rail link.
The DART, the coastal train, runs along the bay to Howth in the north and Bray in the south: the best use of local transport. The Luas tram and the buses complete it. The Leap card caps daily spending.
Ireland uses the euro; Northern Ireland, British, uses the pound. Belfast is two hours away by train — two states, two currencies, no visible border.
What it really costs
Dublin is expensive, and housing is the tightest point: the housing crisis is a major political issue and feeds through to tourist accommodation.
The Temple Bar pubs charge well above neighbouring districts, for the same pint.
When to come
May–September for the light: in June, daylight lasts until nearly eleven at night.
It rains all year, in brief showers. Winter is mild but very dark.
St Patrick's Day, 17 March, fills the city for several days.
What nobody tells you
The Book of Kells is booked in advance; the Trinity College library that holds it, the Long Room, has undergone a major conservation project with the books temporarily removed. Check the state of access before booking.
The major national museums are free: the National Museum of Ireland, the National Gallery. That is what offsets the cost of the city.
Gaelic football and hurling are played at Croke Park, one of Europe's largest stadiums. Hurling is an amateur sport, extremely fast, and watching a match says more about the country than any guided tour.
The Howth peninsula, at the end of the DART, offers a clifftop loop of a few hours, free, forty minutes from the centre.
