What to do during long layover in Dublin?

[chris68]

I am flying to Santiago via Dublin and have about a 10 hour layover. I arrive 0830 and my flight on Ryanair is not till 1930. Any suggestions on how I can spend my time? Is it practical to go into Dublin or should I just hang out at the airport?

 

[Frankybaby66]

I am flying to Santiago via Dublin and have about a 10 hour layover. I arrive 0830 and my flight on Ryanair is not till 1930. Any suggestions on how I can spend my time? Is it practical to go into Dublin or should I just hang out at the airport?

Guinness!

 

[Vacajoe]

Downtown Dublin is an inexpensive 40 minute bus ride from the airport. The security check upon returning to the airport is never that long, either. This means you can have at least five hours to explore a great small city! Personally, I’d pay a visit to the shrine of St Valentine, follow along to Rick Steve’s excellent two part audio walking tour (free), and then have a late lunch and a pint before catching the bus back to the airport. Easily done in the time that you have.

 

[Kirkie]

I am flying to Santiago via Dublin and have about a 10 hour layover. I arrive 0830 and my flight on Ryanair is not till 1930. Any suggestions on how I can spend my time? Is it practical to go into Dublin or should I just hang out at the airport?

You will need coins to pay for the normal service bus to town, unless you take an aircoach. The aircoach is around €10 single, and you can pay by card. I can tell you how to get to the Dublin bus area, if you want to know. I think the single fare is €2.60. You will not get change, so be sure to have exact fare. If it takes an hour to get out of the airport building, which I doubt, then you could be on the bus by 9.30, and in town around 10.00.
I add a suggestion, if you get the 41 bus: take it to the last stop and then make your way down to the river, going left when you are at the river. Very soon you will come upon this set of figures, and they have a close connection with your country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famine_Memorial_(Dublin)

From there, you could continue in the same direction and pay a visit to a replica Famine ship, or go in to the Epic Museum, where there is an Emigration experience that is very informative. There are options for a range of food offerings, and a very pleasant place to sit and people watch. You would then be able to walk along by the river till you see an aircoach stop at 3Arena, just before the river opens out to the sea, and from that spot, it will take about 20 minutes to the terminal for your onward flight.
You need to make 3 more posts before you can pm if you want more information! I will be glad to help.

 

[roving_rufus]

Definitely jump on bus into the city centre! Kirkie is local and is probably a good source on the bus options- its 15 years since i lived in Dublin. But just to get you started - aircoach goes through a toll tunnel into the city, while Dublin bus no 41 or 16 go on normally roads with multiple stops (but are double decker buses, in case that is a factor). The airport has a list to get you started.

Bus to and from Dublin Airport | Dublin City Centre and Suburbs

Find all the ways you can travel to and from Dublin Airport to Dublin city centre and surrounding areas in Dublin. Over 1000 buses per day.

www.dublinairport.com

Dublin has so many options of what to do. Depending on your interests of course!
I like the free Chester Beatty Library at Dublin Castle which has an interesting collection of sacred text manuscripts especially Gospels -and a nice garden area with benches on a good day. Or head to Guinness to get a St James Gate stamp ( a traditional starting point for Irish pilgrims) and depending on the day call into the pilgrim support centre in St James Church which also has a stamp. (And of you want to start collecting stamps the cathedrals also all have one). I haven't done the Epic musuem but it has good reviews from anyone I know who has been.

 

[DoughnutANZ]

Guinness!

Franky, you beat me to it!

 

[Portach]

I am flying to Santiago via Dublin and have about a 10 hour layover. I arrive 0830 and my flight on Ryanair is not till 1930. Any suggestions on how I can spend my time? Is it practical to go into Dublin or should I just hang out at the airport?

You should be able to enjoy a good few hours in the city. Depending on your interest, you might enjoy a visit to the Museum of Modern Art, Hugh Lane or National Art Galleries. The National Museum on Kildare street is very near the Art Gallery and the gold collection and the bog bodies are popular. The Collins Barracks has a lot of military history and is not far from the Museum of Modern Art. A visit to Kilmainham Jail gives an insight into our revolutionary history. On a nice day, a Dart trip (suburban rail line) along the coast from Howth on the Northside to Killiney on the south side gives good views of Dublin Bay, and opportunities to stop off and have that pint that everyone talks about with maybe some seafood. As general visits to our museums/galleries are free it may be worth getting a ticket for one of the hop on/ hop off buses if you want pay a short visit to a number of locations.

 

[DenWhite]

Guinness!

Guinness Storehouse a must. Worth the trip in from the airport back via 'The Brazen Head' pub, old really old.

 

[Jensjaunt]

Enjoy Dublin- here are two ideas - depending upon your tastes! In addition there is luggage storage at the airport in case you did not want to lug your backpack around!
After my CF I flew back via Dublin and I really enjoyed the National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology located on Kildare Street in Dublin they specialize in Irish and other antiquities dating from the Stone Age to the Late Middle Ages. Also close by, around the corner is the upscale Shelbourne Hotel that serves a great high tea - where I sat for a few hours! Reservations are a must! Good luck! Jen

 

[Kirkie]

So nice to see the variety of options, and as can be imagined, there are many more! It could be an opportunity to try out the poncho, if you have one, OP! Green grass isn't green by magic.
The hop-on/off bus would be a fair option if it is a rainy day, the front upstairs is more or less covered in.
Bernadette Cunningham has written a magnificent book, cited in the attached link, about the connection of Irish pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela.

Irish Camino history: the centuries-old journey to Santiago de Compostela

Irish Camino history: the centuries-old journey to Santiago de Compostela

A ship carrying 400 pilgrims from New Ross was recorded in 1473

www.irishtimes.com

It is a treasure, and there are a few free copies in the Information Centre
Edit: this is also available via a library...

https://www.caminosociety.ie/.
Meantime, if you can access A Camino Voyage, it is a wonderfully made film, and while Bernadette punctures the idea of small open boats, it is a true and recent story...
Too many stories, have to stop!

If you are running late, a taxi back to the airport will cost you up to €40

 

[mattythedog]

Guinness Storehouse a must. Worth the trip in from the airport back via 'The Brazen Head' pub, old really old.

I went to Brazen in 1994, oldest pub in Dublin, a hole in the wall dive for locals. Went back in 2013; all built-out tourist attraction 3x original size. Like that with a lot of places in Ireland

 

[DenWhite]

I went to Brazen in 1994, oldest pub in Dublin, a hole in the wall dive for locals. Went back in 2013; all built-out tourist attraction 3x original size. Like that with a lot of places in Ireland

Progress they say. I think the main reason for the expansion has been the live music with some top Irish muso's performing. At least the old bars are still there to prop up.

 

[Antnix1]

I am flying to Santiago via Dublin and have about a 10 hour layover. I arrive 0830 and my flight on Ryanair is not till 1930. Any suggestions on how I can spend my time? Is it practical to go into Dublin or should I just hang out at the airport?

You arrive 8.30. so say 9.30 when you clear immigration.
And it takes an hour to get into the centre, so 10.30.

And your flights at 19.30. so you want to be 3 hours early, so that's 16.30. and you get the 15.30 bus.

And what to do between 10.30 and 15.30...

Well you could go for breakfast and lunch.

Or you could just save time and have breakfast and lunch in the airport.

Breakfast, full irish with guinness in terminal 1.

A teabreak in the chocolate shop.

And lunch in that bar upstairs with the outdoor area, i think in Terminal 2.

 

[FurnessTravellers]

Trinity college was beautiful too, well worth a visit. The hop on - hop off bus gives you a great look around, so you know where to go next time! A walk along the Liffey river is nice too, with a Guinness and meal at the Arlington hotel.

 

[DPetronio]

My son and I have the same layover, so thank you for all the suggestions!

 

[brendano]

I am flying to Santiago via Dublin and have about a 10 hour layover. I arrive 0830 and my flight on Ryanair is not till 1930. Any suggestions on how I can spend my time? Is it practical to go into Dublin or should I just hang out at the airport?

Hi , I did the same in 2019. I got the number 16 bus outside the terminal and it took me right down town; got off in College Green across from Trinity College (late 1500's Queen Elizabeth 1st) ; this area is full of facinating history and atmosphere ! walk up to Christ Church Cathedral (1000's ) ; eh! Burdock's ''fish & chips'' is a minute walk; I had the smoked cod & chips with mushy-peas ; one of the most delicious meals in my whole life, 12euro !! Dined inside the grounds of Christ Church. Head over to the Beatty Library ; mind blowing collection of artifacts donated to the Irish People by Chester Beatty back in the 60's. head back up Lord Edward St. to Trinty College and take a gander - walk up Grafton St. just of Grafton St. at SuffolkSt. there is a huge tourist-info with maps of this most popular area. Molly Malone statue is outside . Top of grafton St. take a stroll through St. Stephen's Green ; eh! lot's of Canada Geese ; I swear they are taking over the World; just as snarly and bad tempered as their kin in Canada. From the park walk down Kildare St. and visit the National Museam ; the largest collection of ancient gold artifacts in the World : you will swoon walking around this place !!! Do not hang around the airport ; the bus ride is about 2euro and the no.16 runs every 20minutes. Would love to be walking with you ; you are in for one fabulous treat !
Brendano from Ontario Canada ; c-ya Buen Camino .

 

[CWBuff]

Guinness Storehouse a must. Worth the trip in from the airport back via 'The Brazen Head' pub, old really old.

Trinity college was beautiful too, well worth a visit. The hop on - hop off bus gives you a great look around, so you know where to go next time! A walk along the Liffey river is nice too, with a Guinness and meal at the Arlington hotel.

Yup those are my suggestions
Trinity and Guinness
Not necessarily in that order and neither mutually exclusive is inclusive
I'm sorry but I'm NOT spending time in the airport having meals Guinness or not. One can probably safely store all the luggage at available luggage storage facility (hopefully one exists on the post security side) and hence should be able to move rather quickly through security checkpoint coming back.

 

[Kirkie]

I am flying to Santiago via Dublin and have about a 10 hour layover. I arrive 0830 and my flight on Ryanair is not till 1930. Any suggestions on how I can spend my time? Is it practical to go into Dublin or should I just hang out at the airport?

Curiosity is getting the better of me.
Have you any inkling as to how you might spend the time?
if you do go into town, be sure to be back in Terminal 1 in good time, ie two hours before your flight.
Hanging around the airport?
Direct air coach into town via tunnel?
Normal service bus into city centre and hop on/off bus?
Art? Museum? History? Camino interest locations for information and stamps?
I add a quaint eating place, tied in with a dry day, and a walk along the river, before returning to the Point, or 3Arena: It is more surprising and philanthropic than quaint, really. A lovely, friendly place. No Guinness.
I add a website entry that is not what I was looking for, but it will do. The couple who own and run it are lovely people and it was a lifeline for the local community during the Covid lockdown.

https://storiesfromthewaterside.ie/stories/from-mission-hall-to-fair-play-cafe/

Here is another reference.

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/roisin-ingle-1.3342

It is very easy to stand on the Tollbridge, looking both ways, upriver to the city, and down to the sea, and imagine the pilgrim travellers of long, long, ago.

 

[Albertagirl]

This thread brings back memories from my graduate studies (Anglo-Irish literature) at UCD many years ago. If I had most of a day to spend in Dublin, I would take a bus into town, confirm the return location and time for my return ride, then wander off through the city to see what memories I could dig up. I would not visit the UCD campus, which was a less than inspiring location in those days, but only walk through the downtown and what older parts of the city I could remember. I remember a large park (Phoenix Park?) to wander in and a smaller park where a statue of Wolfe Tone (sp?) was blown up when I lived in Dublin. I never could figure out why. I guess I would be looking for memories rather than for scenery, and that both would have been greatly changed in the fifty or so years since I lived there. Enjoy youur day there. It is a wonderful city for history.

 

[jmaher]

You know I never in a million years thought this would be relevant, but aside from the other great suggestions, if you want to get away from the airport but perhaps stay more locally, my family's garden centre is located about a 15 - 20 minute taxi away from Dublin airport.

Here's the link to the website: https://thegardenhouse.ie/

There's a nice cafe there where you can get breakfast / lunch and potter around the plants / flowers. Malahide castle is across the road, where you could go for a stroll before heading back to the airport.

 

[Portach]

You know I never in a million years thought this would be relevant, but aside from the other great suggestions, if you want to get away from the airport but perhaps stay more locally, my family's garden centre is located about a 15 - 20 minute taxi away from Dublin airport.

Here's the link to the website: https://thegardenhouse.ie/

There's a nice cafe there where you can get breakfast / lunch and potter around the plants / flowers. Malahide castle is across the road, where you could go for a stroll before heading back to the airport.

Glasnevin cemetery is also a fairly short taxi ride from the airport and do a few different guided visits. It may sound a weird thing to do but I found the historical tour fascinating

 

[Kirkie]

You know I never in a million years thought this would be relevant, but aside from the other great suggestions, if you want to get away from the airport but perhaps stay more locally, my family's garden centre is located about a 15 - 20 minute taxi away from Dublin airport.

Here's the link to the website: https://thegardenhouse.ie/

There's a nice cafe there where you can get breakfast / lunch and potter around the plants / flowers. Malahide castle is across the road, where you could go for a stroll before heading back to the airport.

Thanks for the link! Only an hour and 33 minutes to walk there! I will pursue that myself some day.
I can also vouch for the Cemetery tour, fascinating. The Botanic gardens are just over the wall...and both places have cafes. There is also the Gravediggers pub.