May be going to Dublin in late October

Poststructural Pub
1

I was wondering about things like:

  • which pubs are best for listening to music
  • how late do pubs stay open
  • how to find an inexpensive place to stay near said pubs
  • about 10,000 other questions

Anyone got any sage advise about DO’s and DONT’s? :slight_smile:

Cheers!
-=chuckt=-

2

I highly recommend the “Traditional Music Pub Crawl.” It’s lead by very good trad musicians (different ones each night…when I was there, we had an uillean piper and a guitarist), and they take you to pubs that less touristy (well, other than the pub where the crawl first meets). In addition to being entertaining and informative, they could easily tell you where the best pubs are for real trad (sad to say, most of what gets played in the city center and Temple Bar is “tourist music.”

Here’s the info on that, if you’re interested:

http://www.discoverdublin.ie/musicalpubcrawl.html

“Inexpensive” and “Dublin” don’t go hand-in-hand, I’m afraid. Are you open to staying in a hostel? There are quite a few decent ones in the city. I stayed in the Litton Lane, in Bachelor’s Walk, just north of the Liffey (across the river from Temple Bar). My only complaint was that the showers were cold (evidently an on-going problem there)…other than that, it was quite a pleasant stay. A friend of mine stayed in The Abigail, just across the river, which by her account was very pleasant (and didn’t have the cold water problem!).

Another thing I highly recommend, if you want to see some stunning scenery and get some additional insight on things to do in Dublin, is the “Wild Wicklow” tour of Glendalough:

http://www.wildwicklow.ie/

Glendalough and Sally’s Gap are stunning, but the thing I like best about the Wild Wicklow tours is their drivers are all native Dubliners…very knowledgeable about the city. The tour includes a short tour of Dublin, and they give you all kinds of info on where to go and what to see.

In Dublin, one must-see is Kilmainham Gaol. It’s a sobering tour, but very much worth doing. I also enjoyed the Guinness Storehouse…it’s a little pricey, but the tour is interesting (and there’s the free pint at the top!). They also have a nice display of antique instruments, including the famous “Downhill Harp.”

One don’t: DON’T walk across Ha’penny Bridge unless you have a tight grip on your valuables. It’s nicknamed “pickpocket bridge” for a very good reason!

Redwolf