What to do in Dublin, Ireland for the day?

[Kiwi_cruiser]

We have never been to Dublin, Ireland before.

 

I was wondering would you recommend doing here for the day??

 

If you have been to Dublin before, what did you do there for the day??

 

Also does the cruise ships dock near the city? or do we dock a long way from it?

 

Any ideas / suggestions are very welcome 😊

 

[LHT28]

you could take the HOHO  bus  then if something interests  you  get off & enjoy  the stop

Most ships stop near the city  but some stop a bit further away  & tender ashore 

 

[MeHeartCruising]

Things that I enjoyed the most (You may want to google some of them for the back story):

 

Kilmainham Gaol tour 

View the Book of Kells/Trinity College Library

Guiness Storehouse tour

Explore the Temple Bar area and establishments

Christ Church Cathedral

Visit the General Post Office Museum

Walk along the river and O'Connell Street

 

[PurpleTraveller]

I second MeHeartCruising's suggestions. You could also visit the castle and do a tour. While the castle doesn't look like much from the outside the tour was fairly short and interesting. St Stephen's Green is also lovely for a quiet interlude or picnic lunch. 

 

[mahi mahi]

We took the HOHO bus and got off at Kilmainham Gaol.  I would advise booking tickets online before you go - we didn't but still managed to get in although it was touch and go.  Really interesting tour and I would highly recommend it.  From there we did the Jameson Distillery tour, also really good.  After this we walked to Temple Bar.

 

We ended up walking back to the ship which was a bit of a haul.  Taxis were not very plentiful but I'm sure we could have found one if we had really tried!  There is lots to see and do in Dublin and we are very much looking forward to our visit in May this year on the Celebrity Reflection.

 

[BigAl94]

If it's your thing, there's a very useful app for phone or tablet or pc - Visit A City. Shows plenty of good suggestions, routes etc for destinations all over the world. https://www.visitacity.com/ 

As an example, Dublin in a day https://www.visitacity.com/en/dublin/itineraries/dublin-in-one-day-top-attractions-itinerary-day-1

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Thank You everyone for your replays and information!

Very helpful! 😀

[ducklite]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Epic.  It's an amazingly well done museum, and the closest attraction to the port!

 

I've been to Dublin multiple times (never on a cruise) and my top three things would be Epic, the GPO, and the Little Museum.  All three could be seen in a day with planning.

I visited Trinity on a "slow day" and it was a madhouse.  Dublin Castle gets crazed as well.  Guinness is highly overrated unless you do the Connoisseur Experience.

 

St. Michans used to be a cool little stop until someone stole the head off of one of the mummies and they closed it to the public.  😞 

Kilmainham Gaol is interesting but not something I'd do if limited to a single day.

I would not take a HoHo in Dublin.  

 

If you come into Pier 33 (normal cruise port) you're about 1.5 - 2.5 miles from most attractions.  What time does your ship arrive and depart?  

[Marseydotes]

Duck lite—can you explain why you would not take a ho-ho in Dublin? I have a walking tour planned out but I was hoping to choose the ho-ho in case of rain!

[ducklite]

41 minutes ago, Marseydotes said:

Duck lite—can you explain why you would not take a ho-ho in Dublin? I have a walking tour planned out but I was hoping to choose the ho-ho in case of rain!

 

I’ve been there multiple times and have always walked everywhere I needed to go or once in a very great while taken the Luas or an Uber.  

[Adventures ahead]

Ducklite,

We were on a two-day guided tour when in Dublin and had an extra two days on our own at the end. We covered a lot of attractions. I've recently discovered EPIC and plan to go in August.  I surprised myself that I didn't know about it. BTW, Visit a City is a great app!

 

We're good walkers as long as it's not raining. Do you know if it's walkable from the Crown Princess to EPIC? 

 

[ducklite]

1 hour ago, Adventures ahead said:

Ducklite,

We were on a two-day guided tour when in Dublin and had an extra two days on our own at the end. We covered a lot of attractions. I've recently discovered EPIC and plan to go in August.  I surprised myself that I didn't know about it. BTW, Visit a City is a great app!

 

We're good walkers as long as it's not raining. Do you know if it's walkable from the Crown Princess to EPIC? 

 

 

There's an app you can download for EPIC as well.  If you will be at Ocean Pier 33 it's about a two mile walk over flat terrain along the Liffey.  Upstairs from Epic is an area with half a dozen or so counter service type restaurants--Asian, soup and sandwiches, salads, bakery, etc. that are all very reasonable.  

[gfkcruiser]

2 hours ago, ducklite said:

 

There's an app you can download for EPIC as well.  If you will be at Ocean Pier 33 it's about a two mile walk over flat terrain along the Liffey.  Upstairs from Epic is an area with half a dozen or so counter service type restaurants--Asian, soup and sandwiches, salads, bakery, etc. that are all very reasonable.  

You are docked in a commercial container area.  Won't see river until off port.  View the google satellite map to get an idea.

I do know that some people walk but it is a distance to city center.  Once you are off the port you could probably catch a bus or taxi if not available at port.

[teacherman]

We took a free shuttle bus that was provided by the port.  It dropped us near to "the green".  We then made our way (20 minutes) to  "the Spire" and met up with one of those free walking tours, which we found on-line.  It was a great tour, but due to our port time, we left the tour when it reached the Temple Bar area.  We then found a very nice pub for lunch and then strolled back to meet the shuttle bus back to the ship.  Easy to do, except for probably walking 2 miles total for the day.