Some tips
I just want to point out a few places that I particularly like in Dublin and Ireland, that you may not find highlighted in your guidebook. I also give some other tips which I hope you find useful.
Get the DART train (see www.dart.ie for timetables) to Howth and/or Dalkey. Howth is a lovely fishing port. See here for more information. Dalkey is a lovely village and again has some nice bars. A small castle. Other worthwhile places to go on the DART are Dun Laoghaire, Killliney, Bray and Greystones.
Also Malahide. You can visit Malahide Castle there. See
http://www.malahidecastle.com/malahidecastle/default.asp. It is also a very nice little town on the sea.
Try also Herbert Park in Ballsbridge - about two km from city centre - possibly my favourite park in Dublin. Walk around the streets surrounding it too. Try walking the area around St.Patrick's and Christ Church up towards Guinness Brewery. There are some very nice churches, a great atmosphere and history. Be careful where you go though as it not all nice and may not be the safest at times, particularly at night. Nothing too bad but just be careful.
If the weather is nice, you should definitely try to get to Glendalough or Powescourt Estate in Enniskerry. These should be in your guidebook.
If you like museums, try the National Gallery, Hugh Lane Gallery, Chester Beatty Museum - all in the city centre.
Of the places in the Guidebook, I highly recommend Trinity College, Merrion Square and Stephen's Green. Try a stroll also along the Grand Canal. Visit the Iveagh Gardens, if you can find them - they are behind the National Concert Hall on Earlsfort Terrace.
Go to Temple Bar if you want to meet tourists. It can be way too touristy at times but do try the Porterhouse pub: http://www.porterhousebrewco.com/index.html.
Traditional Irish music can be heard in the St.Oliver St.John Gogarty's in Temple Bar every afternoon and evening. See http://www.gogartys.ie/music/.
Avoid at all costs Temple Bar at weekends, particularly late in the evening, unless drunken Stag and Hen Parties are your thing. See Lonely Planet 2008 Guide.
Try a stroll also along the Grand Canal.
One place I can recommend to stay in Dublin is the Number 31. It is pretty expensive but location is great and is very representative of the best of Dublin. See http://www.number31.ie/welcome.html
At the cheaper end of the scale, friends of mine have stayed in this hostel and found it good. The area is not the best but it is very convenient.
http://www.anoige.ie/hostels/dublin-international
Update Sept 09. A couple of hotel groups have some very good deals at the moment, with rooms available at 39-49 euros per night, though I think it can be hard to get these at weekend but have a look: http://www.d4hotels.ie/pages/index.php
The Marine Hotel in Sutton, outside Dublin also seems to have Double rooms on offer for just over 50 euro a night. It is not centrally located but it is just a twenty minute train ride into town. If you are into partying, the location is not for you. However, it is right on the sea with some lovely views across Dublin Bay and has a swimming pool. I find it a bit conservative and old-fashioned but it is well worth considering at this price. See: http://www.marinehotel.ie/
Concerning places to eat, it is best to eat your main meal at lunch, it is usually much cheaper. You should be able to get a good main course filling meal for 10 euro. Many of the pubs serve this. Try O'Neills on Suffolk Street, Cafe en Seine on Dawson Street, the Old Stand at the corner of Wicklow St. and Exchequer St. You should try a Fish and Chips takeaway and the best place to try this is Burdock's on Werburgh St. - near Christ Church and St.Patrick's Cathedrals. You may have to ask someone how to find it. Beshoff's have a few branches around the place (including one in Howth) and I recommend them too. At the expensive end of the scale, Roly's Bistro in Ballsbridge (near Herbert Park mentioned above) is very good and does a very good value lunch. At the top end of the price scale, L'Ecrivain on Baggot St. is highly recommended. The village of Dalkey (see above) is also reputed for its fine restaurants - most at the expensive if not very expensive end of the scale.
For a good snack and excellent apple pie and cappuccino, I recommend Brewbakers on South Frederick Street, just off Nassau Street, between Dawson and Kildare Streets.
For getting to and from the airport, it depends on how many of you there are. If less than three, I suggest you get the Aircoach which costs 12 euro return per person. See www.aircoach.ie. If three, either Aircoach or taxi. If more than three, taxi. A taxi should cost about 20 to 25 euro each way (for the taxi, for up to four people - maybe a bit more if you have lots of luggage). If you are on a budget, there are cheaper local buses (16A or 41) but I do not recommend unless you are already very familiar with Dublin or have a lot of time to find things out. If taking a local bus, you must have the exact change or buy the ticket in advance. You can do this in the airport. For further information about public transport to the airport, see http://www.dublinairport.com/to-and-from/by-bus/
As for getting around, the City Centre is small enough to walk around. If you want to go further, stick to the DART train as mentioned above. It really is worth taking especially on the southside of the city, just for the journey itself as it is along the coastline with some nice views, spectacular between Dalkey and Bray and then out to Greystones. Buses can be OK but the traffic is bad and they can be slow and the timetables are renowned as the greatest work of fiction. Also, you must have the exact change to buy your ticket on the bus. On the other hand, you can buy tickets in many newsagents, convenience stores (Spar, Centra etc).
As to when to come, well you do not come to Ireland for the weather and no matter when you come, there are no guarantees as regards the weather. Even in the middle of summer, it can be just 15 degrees and raining. If it's sunny and over 20 degrees, people start to faint and everybody talks of the heatwave. It does not get very cold but it is often very windy. Given the choice, I would come in April/May or September/October. I would tend to avoid November and particularly January. Not so much for weather reasons as for the fact that the days are very short and if the weather is bad, it can be very dark and depressing. December pre-Christmas can be fine as the Christmas festivities are in full swing. Note however that Christmas Day and the days afterwards are very family oriented and there is not much activity on the streets. So unless you have family you will feel very bored and lonely. On Christmas Day itself, the country is completely closed down. There is no public transport whatsover and even the pubs are shut.
Much as I love Dublin, all is not rosy here. Things to be prepared for that it can be dirty with lots of litter, the traffic is very bad. Leave plenty of time for the trip back to the airport. Also leave plenty of time for getting through airport security etc. In general, it is safe, perhaps safer than most cities, but there are increasing levels of crime and drug use. Tourists are not normally affected by these but be aware and be careful where you go, particularly at night.
Reluctant as I am to recommend that you leave Dublin, I suggest that if you are coming to Ireland for more than two or three days, you should leave it for some time. Dublin is a very nice city but what makes Ireland special is the beauty of its landscapes and the friendliness of its people. The only problem is that it is difficult to travel in Ireland without a car. If you are pressed for time, it might make more sense then to stay in Dublin and travel to local scenic locations such as Howth or Killiney. I will write a separate blog about where to go, if and when I have time. Quickly though, I would say that everywhere is nice though all around the coast is in general nicer than the interior of the country.
If you do not have use of a car, I recommend taking the bus or train to either Killarney, Westport, Kilkenny or Sligo. From these places, you will have to walk, cycle or take local buses to get into the beauty of the countryside. Westport is a nice town Killkenny is very nice and has a castle, Sligo can be nice too. Near Sligo, the town of Strandhill is worth staying - it gives an example of the wild Atlantic coast and has some places to stay and eat. In fact, you can fly from Dublin to Sligo Airport which is in Strandhill. This can be a quick and possibly not expensive way of getting directly from Dublin to wild Ireland. See http://www.aerarann.com/
The town of Killarney is very touristy and tacky but the landscape around makes up for it all and is easily accessible even without a car. If you do have use of a car, I recommend the same areas and also Connemara in Co.Galway, Donegal, Southwest Cork, Kerry, or the Northern Coast of Antrim. I also highly recommend the Aran Islands - these should be in your guidebook.
Another city worth visiting is Belfast - could be done as a daytrip from Dublin. Galway is a nice city but I would only recommend going there if you intend to head on to Connemara or the Aran Islands as there is no nice scenery in its immediate vicinity.
Another place not too far from Dublin that makes a very easy two-day trip or even one day particularly if you have a car, is Carlingford. One of the nicest small towns in Ireland, the sea, mountains, lovely scenery in general, some nice pubs, an adventure centre. Everything really.
Update Sep.09. Irish Rail currently has very cheap rail fares on its website: See:http://www.irishrail.ie/news_centre/news.asp?action=view&news_id=402
For getting to Ireland, there are many options. Most people fly now as fares have come down substantially in recent years. If you have plenty of time, it can be fun to take a ferry from Wales, Liverpool or Le Havre in France. Not good if you are subject to seasickness though!
For flying, check out prices on Aerlingus (www.aerlingus.ie), Ryanair (www.ryanair.ie) and Aer Arran (www.aerarran.com). Depending on what country you are coming from, other airlines may have competitive prices. Given the choice, I would always choose Aer Lingus even if it is a little dearer than Ryanair. While Ryanair must be admired for the way it has shaken up the airline industry, and I have always found it very punctual, it is not always the cheapest and even when it is, the service is not as good as Aer Lingus. The main disadvantage of Ryanair is that many of the airports that it uses are located many, (often very many) kilometres away from the city that Ryanair claims that the airport serves. For example, Charleroi Airport which Ryanair advertises as Brussels or Brussels South is nowhere near Brussels. It also uses London Stansted (STN) as its main base in London. Given the choice, I would not use any airport in London other than Heathrow (LHR) or London City (LCY) - though you will not get a cheap flight from the latter. The fare from Stansted with Ryanair would want to be at least 50 euro cheaper than the fare with Aer Lingus from Heathrow before I would even consider it. The time and expense of getting to Stansted from Central London is just not worth it otherwise.
Don't forget too that Dublin, while I think it is the centre of the universe, is not the only entry point. You can easily fly into Shannon (SNN), Cork (ORK) or either of the two airports in Belfast - City (BHD) which would be my choice or International (BFS). In fact, if you intend to rent a car and just visit scenic Ireland, any of these airports is probably better than Dublin.
Don't forget too that you can buy one way flights now. So you can mix and match your airports and airlines, eg. fly into Dublin with Aer Lingus and fly back from Cork with Aer Lingus or Ryanair or Aer Arran.
Some photos and videos are attached. I hope to add more and more information as soon as possible.
See also this very useful information on the couchsurfing site, which contains plenty of great information and links:
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