Dublin Walking Tour: Immerse in Local History, Politics, Culture, and Architecture
5.0
5 Ratings
Dublin
Experience a dynamic Dublin walking tour led by a knowledgeable local with expertise in history, politics, culture, and architecture. Flexibility and personalized interests ensure an engaging and memorable day.
Duration: 8 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Merrion Square - We start off in the gorgeous Georgian quarter of the city where you will find our museums, galleries, libraries and Parliamentary Dublin. We will dip into these for a quick tour of the highlights, covering art, literature and the treasures of our archeological museum. Two highlights for me are a Nobel medal for literature and the passport belonging to WB Yeats!
    If you are interested in James Joyce, we will call into Sweny’s, a chemist shop that opened in 1847, and little changed. It featured in a scene in Joyce’s masterpiece and now operates as a Joyce Centre, run by volunteers. Occasionally we get a song sung to us here!
    And of course, we will visit Oscar - Oscar Wilde, a former resident of Merrion Square and famous author, playwright and poet. There is a fabulous sculpture of him in the park, close to his former home.
  • Grafton Street - En route to Dublin Castle we will walk an unusual route across Dublin’s central district. This is a route that showcases our wonderful mix of shops, pubs, restaurants and heritage buildings and will take a look at some fantastic Georgian ceilings. This part of the tour is also usually the time we take a break in one of Dublin’s atmospheric old pubs that do food well and I have plenty of suggestions…
  • Dublin Castle - Dublin Castle was the seat of British rule for over 700 years and is an interesting complex of buildings. We can tour the State Apartments, visiting the former throne room and seeing St Patrick’s Hall where our Presidents are inaugurated. There is also a Revenue Museum for anyone interested in tax! The gorgeous gardens to the rear provide a welcome relaxing space and the nearby restaurant at the Chester Beatty Museum is popular with clients.
  • Saint Patrick’s Cathedral - En route to St Patrick’s Cathedral we will take a look at Dublin City Hall if it is open. We also pass Dublin’s most famous ‘Fish and chipper’, Burdocks. Outside this famous premises is a long list of the famous folk who have enjoyed Dubliner’s favourite chip shop! (You might know chips as french fries!)

Then we will walk across St Patrick’s Park to visit the largest Cathedral in Ireland, dating from 1195. This is a fascinating place with tombs, monuments, happy and sad history and it is a building that means a lot to most Irish people. Johnathon Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels was Dean here for many years and is buried in the cathedral.

  • St Stephens Green - We will return to the central area via Marsh’s Library, the oldest public library in Ireland, founded by Archbishop Narcissus Marsh. You can see the cages that you were locked into if you wanted to borrow the books and the library is like something from a Harry Potter movie, and very charming. I will lead you through some interesting streets, before leaving you at the same place we met - unless you prefer some other destination. I am pretty flexible on things - I want you to enjoy your day and get a feel for our lovely city and have some fun!
What's Included
  • Tour Guide
What's Not Included
  • Admissions, where applicable, are not included in this fee
Additional Information

This excursion is ideally suited for energetic, adaptable individuals who desire to experience the city through the eyes of a knowledgeable local. My background in real estate and politics in this town has given me a wealth of stories to share! However, understanding that this is your day and your adventure, I will adapt according to your interests, and adjust our discussions and plans if I notice your interest waning. I’ll be your guide for the day, and I aim to maximise our time together - my philosophy is to be nimble and accommodating. Past unplanned diversions have led to train journeys, visits to the Jewish quarter, and themed pub crawls - remember, you’re on vacation, not a school field trip!

Location
Grafton Street
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
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(5 Ratings)
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Helen
Aug 2, 2023
Wonderful day! - Most delightful day with Dairine. She is very knowledgeable and is a great tour guide. Unfortunately, the weather was rainy all day long. But that did not keep us from having a wonderful day touring St. Patrick'sCathedral and the Book of Kell's. Had a great Irish lunch at a local pub together with a Harp beer. Highly recommend this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Hannas560
Jul 12, 2023
Must do tour of Dublin - My family of four did a walking tour of Dublin with Dairine. She is very knowledgeable and made the tour interesting and fun! We would have missed many of the sights without her. She packed so much information and sight seeing in just a few hours! We definitely recommend her to show you Dublin!
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Tadparker604
Jun 14, 2023
The real insider's tour of Dublin! - My wife and I went to Dublin to celebrate my birthday. We decided to book a one day, private walking tour of the city as we wanted to have the flexibility to change the itinerary on the fly and ask questions as we walked around the city. Our guide, Dairine Nuttall, did a fabulous job on delivering Dublin to us on a silver platter. We saw the entire city, walking 12km, and were provided the history and local information on the sights we viewed. Dairine took us to some 'off the beaten track' stops to be educated and entertained with stories of historical and human interest. At the end of the day, we had seen places that we knew we wanted to more thoroughly tour. We were happy to relax at our hotel with a pint of the dark stuff and relive the day and set the schedule of our further exploration for the next day. We cannot recommend Dairine enough, she enabled us to know and embrace the face and fabric of Dublin.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Y9062koanurags
Dec 6, 2021
Super day trip in Dublin docks - Me and my friend did walking tour of Dublin docks with Dairine and I found the tour to be super helpful. I have been to Dublin for 2 months now and wanted to understand the history and story behind different sculptures and bridges present in the city. Dairine raised in Dublin was sufficiently aware of the city's history and gave us different perspective to look into the city.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cosmopolitan615896
Jul 25, 2019
Perfect Tour of Dublin - Dairine was a wonderful guide. We deliberately arranged our layover to be long enough to allow a quick trip into Dublin. With no time to waste trying to navigate the city ourselves, we decided to book a private tour. We are so happy we did. Dairine is a true professional. She was responsive via email in arranging the tour. She picked us up with no issue at arrivals in her immaculate car, and we were off. She quickly assessed our interests and personalized a tour that was absolutely perfect. We had an ideal mix of the beautiful outdoors and a sampling of museums and landmarks. Her selections fit our time-crunched schedule and suited our style. She discussed topical cultural and political issues and pointed out fascinating details in art, architecture, and archeology. We absolutely recommend her to anyone looking for a guided tour. We plan to return to Ireland, next time for a proper stay. When we do, we will certainly book with Dairine again.
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May 2024
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