Whether you're interested in walking its elegant Georgian streets, finding the perfect pint of Guinness or tracking down the haunts of James Joyce, this definitive guide will ensure you make the most of this thriving and intriguing city./pulli16-page full-colour map section/lilidiscerning coverage of the city's best eateries, from classic pub lunches to gourmet dining experiences/liliunique walking tours to help you discover Dublin off the beaten track/lilispecial section on the city's finest pubs, both old and new/liliwide range of excursions from the city, including picturesque monastic ruins and charming seaside suburbs/li/ul
Having used the Lonely Planet guide to Ireland fifteen years ago, when I spent a memorable three months hiking all over the country, I immediately thought of them again when looking for a Dublin guide for my recent trip. I had only a few days to spend in Ireland's capital city, after my time taking a language course up in Donegal, so I was looking for something to give the highlights. By and large I was pleased with Fionn Davenport's guide, which contained descriptions and directions for a number of places of interest to me, as well as a fold-out map, covering the city center, that was very handy.
That said, there were some omissions that puzzled me. There was no mention of Bewley's Cafe in the food section, which struck me as extremely odd, given the fact that the Grafton street cafe is something of a landmark - and also a really cool place to visit, for a meal! - and would definitely be of interest to tourists. Even more troubling, to this linguistic enthusiast and student of Irish, was the fact that the list of bookstores (book-shopping being an important part of any trip) contained nary a mention of An Siopa Leabhar, Dublin's only Irish-language bookshop. Now I understand that not every tourist will know Irish, but something so unique to Ireland really deserved a mention. Certainly, I recall that it got one in the Dublin section of the general Ireland guide I used, years ago - so why not in a Dublin-specific guide? Very puzzling.
Of course, I do understand that no guide can mention everything. But it did sometimes seem as if the amenities listed here were a little... bland, a little less than unique. Take the restaurants. I tried out two of the more upscale eateries recommended in the guide, and came away somewhat less than impressed. They were of good quality, but nothing spectacular - I had a more memorable food experience in the restaurant I picked out at random, my first night in town - nothing I couldn't get at home. And when I'm traveling, I generally want something I can't get at home. Still, overall I found the guide helpful, even if I thought it left out some jewels, and was just a tad too focused on the conventional, for my taste.
Been paging through this Dublin travel guide since September but finally finished it! I’m going to Ireland in March, so why not. Does this count toward my goal? 😂
If you're coming to Dublin, read it. It was a big help for my friends. Dublin appears to be a big town, but it's actually as big as the square meter of your local pub. It's such a great, cozy and welcoming cosmopolitan (little) place.
I really found the book useful, but I wish it had a method to highlight "must see" things better. I was in Dublin for a very short trip and had difficulty combing through the book to figure out what I should prioritize for my limited time. In retrospect, I wish I had purchased the Ireland guide, rather than Dublin, so it would have been easier for me to pick out the key things to see. On second thought, I might not have had the great, detailed maps if I had done that, so maybe I went the right route!
I've had great experiences with Lonely Planet guides in general, though I also love Let's Go. They don't have as many out there, but I buy the Let's Go version if it's available - better info for people on a budget, and lots of great "off the beaten path" suggestions.
Used this Lonely Planet guide on my first trip to Dublin this summer. I found it very useful in planning out sights to see during my ten days there, particularly its suggestions of what to see dependent on how much time you had in the area. The prolonged histories probably made for an interesting read, but in a guidebook I want less heft, more action.
Still, useful, and a lively read (I remember noting the particular author because I liked his style).
Used this book during my trip in February 2009. It provides a lot of background, and useful information like bus lines which is very helpful considering that Dublin itself does not provide much information to tourists about which buses go where.
The only downside (which can't be helped in our economy) is that the prices are all at least a Euro or more off.
The tone of this book was awesome. A little self-deprecation goes a long way. I am now super-excited to go to Dublin. Will have to get this book again closer to our trip...
Very helpful for planning a trip to the city. I only wish they had more bus maps, as they're really tough to find online (or in Dublin, for that matter). The walking tour was fun.
The Lonely Planet guides give more than essential information about places with lots of useful hints and tips. We found this very useful in planning our trip to Dublin recently.
Very big help for our trip. Useful and has a nice pullaway map. I generally like the Lonely Planet and Fodor's travel guides the most and this one did not disappoint.