Travel Experts’ Top Experiences in Dublin

Victoria Riis, a food blogger from Sweden, Trine Petersen & Danica Chloe, lifestyle bloggers from Denmark, Veera Bianca, a travel blogger from Finland as well as Åse Falkman Fredrikson & Jenny Andrén, food and travel bloggers from Sweden.

Here are their top tips for Dublin.

DublinThe first stop on any visit to the island of Ireland has to be Dublin. You can fly directly here from all the Nordic capitals.

Dublin was the city that took me by storm. The atmosphere is very special, the architecture is beautiful, and the locals are incredibly nice. Not to mention the many wonderful pubs, the food scene, and the shopping opportunities. Dublin has it all and more. – Danica

Don’t forget all the beautiful cultural buildings such as Dublin Castle, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral and many more. Dublin will stay with you for a long time and is the ultimate weekend getaway! - Åse

Dublin offers something for everyone and I’m already looking forward to my next trip here!
All I have to say is – see you next time Dublin! - Jenny

Take a Distillery Tour!
Once the largest whiskey producer in the world, the island of Ireland is still famous for its whiskey (Spelt ‘ey’ to differentiate from Scottish whisky). Dublin boasts several distilleries, but both Veera and Victoria were lucky enough to visit Roe & Co.

A visit to a whiskey distillery is highly recommended, and there are quite a few to choose from. We took a walk in the lovely Autumn weather to Roe & Co. This might be the prettiest distillery I’ve ever seen! An interesting and in-depth guided tour with our professional and funny guide was rounded off with a masterclass where we got to shake our own drinks and try both whiskey and different flavourings. After that, you can’t miss all the nice merch in the store. We bought everything from sweaters to shakers and accessories. And whiskey of course. – Victoria

A visit to Roe & Co Distillery offered an interesting tour where we got to come along on the process of making whiskey. We had booked the “Flavors Experience”, where we got to shake things up – and mix our own cocktail! A fun Cocktail Workshop with talented staff who took us on a journey of cocktail discovery and offered their expertise along the way. Lovely atmosphere and a very nice reception, which was rounded off in their Power House Bar. - Jenny

I am a whiskey lover and on my previous trip to Ireland I was able to visit Bushmills Distillery. However, Roe & Co is significantly trendier and more modern than a traditional whiskey distillery.

We booked a tasting tour that lasted 40 minutes. Our funny guide told us more about Irish whiskey, Roe & Co, and finally we got to make our own cocktails according to our taste preferences. This was a fun experience, especially if you like whiskey! By the way, Roe & Co's whiskey is my new favourite. It’s wonderfully soft and with a slight caramel taste.

Roe & Co has a bar downstairs, where you can stop by just for drinks. The bar and drinks are heavenly, so I couldn't recommend it more! – Veera

The Guinness Storehouse
Often when you think of Ireland you think of pubs and Guinness – the black stuff. A dry stout known for its amber colour and frothy head. It isn’t for everyone – but even so, the Guinness Storehouse is always worth a visit!

I'm not a fan of beer myself, so on the first trip I skipped the visit to the Guinness Storehouse. Fortunately, this time I believed the wiser and we went straight to the Guinness Storehouse from the airport after arriving in Dublin.
The Guinness Storehouse is a couple of kilometres from the city centre, and since we landed at 10AM, this was a convenient way to start the trip after leaving our suitcases at the hotel. 

The Guinness Storehouse is the Guinness beer brewery and a kind of interactive museum and experience destination. You can join a pre-booked guided tour, but we went on our own and I thought it was fun because you had time to walk around at your own pace and still learn a fair amount about this local dark king of beers.

You should allow several hours, because there are several floors to marvel at here - from the history of beer all the way up to the present, as well as tasting and learning how to pour a pint of Guinness. The Guinness Storehouse also has a few restaurants, and we enjoyed a delicious and quite traditional Irish lunch at Bar & Brasserie 1837. I didn't want to order beer myself, because I don't like the taste, but on the other hand, you should try something with Guinness when you are at Guinness. There was a special Black Velvet drink on the menu, which was half Guinness and half sparkling wine - maybe it doesn't sound good, but I liked it! 

At the end of the tour, you should stop by the Gravity Bar upstairs and enjoy a pint of Guinness. I think you can also get cider, soft dinks, etc. there, but I felt that here, if anywhere, I have to have a beer too! – Veera

The Book of Kells and Trinity College
You have to experience a bit of Irish cultural heritage when visiting Dublin – and one of the best places to start is at the iconic Trinity College.

For history and literature lovers, Trinity College and The Book of Kells is a must, but it's interesting for the rest of us too and it is such an essential part of Dublin that I must recommend a visit. 

We started the morning with a guided tour of Trinity College, which took less than an hour. At the end of the tour, we were able to independently visit The Book of Kells library.

Trinity College is still active and a very historically important university located right in the centre. The Book of Kells is an important part of Irish history and hundreds of thousands of old stories are hidden within the library walls. – Veera

An absolute must see for anyone visiting Dublin. The buildings are historic and date back to 1592. In fact, it is Ireland's oldest university. There is a very special atmosphere on campus with students running back and forth between classes. Also treat yourself to a visit to the library, which is in a league of its own and the oldest of its kind in Ireland. It was almost a completely fairy-tale experience. – Danica

Trinity College is one of the most prestigious universities in Ireland. It was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I of England and is the oldest University in Ireland. The library and Book of Kells (a Celtic text from the 8th century) is impressive, magnificent, and full of history. Some of the world’s most famous writers have walked these halls, such as Oscar Wilde. Book a guided tour to get the most out of your visit, my suggestion is Trinity Trails. - Åse

Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath, slow down and relax. 

In the middle of Dublin lies the most beautiful gem in the form of St Stephen's Green Park. Here, you can experience a priceless autumnal, tranquil atmosphere. Buy a coffee to-go and enjoy the beautiful park while the leaves slowly fall from the trees. – Danica 

St. Stephen’s Green is in the middle of Dublin, where it is wonderful to walk in the morning with a cup of coffee and feel the city’s peace. There are many benches in the park, a pond in the middle of everything. The park is full of birds and locals on their morning walk or lunch break. The park is a bit like New York's Central Park, but on a much smaller scale! 

Dublin is not a hectic city anyway, but the peace of the park still does good for the soul! – Veera

Fabulous food
You cannot come to Ireland and not be in awe of the fantastic food on offer – and this was definitely the case for our experts who have a few suggestions for you:

Perhaps the biggest highlight is the rich selection of restaurants and good food. We ate everything from charming pub food, modern brunch, homemade ice cream, long lunches, good drinks, delicious cheeses, and 3-course dinners. And the occasional pint of beer in the countless cosy pubs accompanied with live music. You can find everything and more here! – Victoria

My best restaurant tip would be Hugo’s Restaurant, where I had the best meal of the trip. Such an incredibly cozy place that I will definitely visit again. It was an entire evening with excellent service, pleasant conversations, and enjoyable bites. The owner Gina cares about local food and everything is delivered fresh in the morning to the restaurant directly from local producers. - Jenny

But if you want to delve more into Dublin’s food scene both Victoria, Veera and Åse suggest going on a guided tour:

Fab Food Trails is a small local company that organizes really fun walking tours around Dublin’s food scene. On a previous trip to Dublin, I did a food tour in a small group and this time my friend and I had a private tour with the theme of 'Food & Fashion'.

Our guide was the wonderful Eveleen, who in addition to our guided tour, gave us good restaurant tips for Dublin. 

The Food & Fashion walking tour visited a few restaurants and a few local fashion and vintage stores. First, we stopped at my favourite shop from my last visit, Sheridan’s cheese shop. I also bought cheese here last time to take home! Sheridan’s sells locally produced cheese from carefully selected family farms. My second favourite was the Seafood Café, where we stopped to taste oysters, which are a great delicacy in Ireland. There is also a lot of delicious ice cream in Dublin, and at the end of the tour we enjoyed Three Twenty's ice cream made fresh the same day from local cream.  – Veera

We started our weekend with Fab Food Trails. A lovely stroll with a local guide who really knows Dublin. Here you’ll be shown gems while being offered a wonderful taste experience along the way. We got to hear stories about the city during our tour, which really added something extra. It’s a great way to start your stay and to get a feel for Dublin. Cozy cafés, good cheeses, freshly baked bread, street food and very fresh oysters were some of our lovely stops. - Jenny

An equal amount of food and culture! An easy way to get to know the city when guided by a local guide. Such great food, nice spots, and a cozy atmosphere! The tour takes about 3 hours. Highly recommend. - Åse

Victoria also Tried the Food & Fashion tour:

We sampled everything from cheeses to ice cream and felt everything from hand-woven shawls, bath towels and luxurious gloves (which take 3 months to make – and are worn by, among others, Madonna!). – Victoria

If walking tours aren’t for you then Victoria suggests you try a bus tour!

If you want to see more of the city, and perhaps don’t have the energy to walk everywhere, then the tourist buses are an excellent alternative. And if you want to make it a little more fun, you can combine it with an afternoon tea on board Vintage Tea Trips! – Victoria