How To Spend 3 Days In Dublin [2024]

By Gemma Tedaldi | Published: 2nd September 2017 | Updated: 29th November 2024

For a quick getaway from the UK for a long weekend, what is better than hopping on a 40-minute plane ride for 3 days in Dublin? (Yes 40 minutes that’s it. hence why we have done it a few times!) Between a lot of walking, stopping to listen to bands and drinking Guinness here are the top things we did and what you should do in the capital of Ireland:

📍 Day 1 – Dublin Castle & Temple Bar

📍 Day 2 – The River Liffey & Guinness Storehouse

📍 Day 3 – Trinity College, Parks & Whisky

Planning Your Trip? Use our favourite travel resources below:

Accommodation: We recommend Booking.com

Rental Car: We recommend Rentalcars.com

Flights: We recommend Kiwi.com

Tours: We recommend Get Your Guide

3 days in Dublin Map

3 days in Dublin Itinerary

If you are planning on a city break to Dublin then be sure to check out Dublin Go City Passes, for discounted tickets to all the main attractions throughout the city, including the Guinness Storehouse, Big Bus tours, Jamesons Distillery and all the castles and museums you can think of, (some are even up to 50% cheaper!).

3 Days in Dublin: Day 1 – Dublin Castle & Temple Bar

To start off the 3 days in Dublin, where better than Dublin Castle. It’s not what you would say your typical castle would necessarily look like, (it is very colourful from one side), but it is a castle nonetheless. With many grand rooms and a memorial garden called the Dubh Linn, it is worth a visit if you are in Dublin.

Plus, if you’re into stamps they have one of the best collections of stamps you will ever see!

Now to the heart of Dublin itself. With its cobbled streets and traditional pubs, Temple Bar is a must-go-to place in Dublin, and to be honest, you can’t miss it. With flags hanging on the buildings, Guinness fuel tankers driving past every 10 minutes, (yes you heard us right), and the sounds of Irish music flowing along the streets it has a life you won’t want to leave.

Surprisingly to us, Temple Bar also has a lot of street art. Colourful-fronted buildings alongside outdoor art galleries and a seeming abundance of hanging baskets of flowers. Temple Bar Icon Walk is one of these places you could easily walk past without knowing of its existence but is really interesting to find and learn about whilst taking in the artwork.

Temple Bar also has lots of little quirks on the footpaths, like horseshoes or the odd Guinness cap. Visiting really is a Dublin experience to be had! The other things you must do whilst in Temple Bar is stop by The Oliver, St John Gogarty for food, not only will this meal fill you with warmth and the luck of the Irish, but it is delicious, and pop in The Temple Bar or Basass Temple Bar for a drink and to listen to the live music.

Planning your own trip to Dublin? Make sure you check out our Travelling Tedaldi Amazon Store Travel Guides for all your guidebooks and maps. (We’ve done the hard work for you and linked all the things we used to plan our trip!)

3 Days in Dublin: Day 2 – The River Liffey & Guinness Storehouse

Today is all about the water and the sights, starting off on the ground… As it was right outside our front door it was hard to miss, but why would you want to? Ha’Penny Bridge on the River Liffey was built in 1816 and is visited by tourists for its pretty structure and more recently for ‘love locks’.

Personally, we think it’s the most beautiful bridge along the River Liffey and something you must see in Dublin on foot or from the water.

Sightseeing in a new city is always fun. We will never be bored with getting lost and trying to find our way home via cafes and historic sights. However, this time as well as doing the standard walking around we jumped in a kayak and took to the River Liffey to view the city from the water.

3 of us in a kayak, paddling from the Jeanie Johnston tall ship, (worth a stop in if you have time), via numerous beautiful bridges, up to the Guinness factory and back again. The weather held out, (from then on it was wet, and we mean seriously wet!), and we were treated to a fun family adventure on the water.

After all the sightseeing and adventures of the day so far how about a drink? After all, you can’t spend 3 days in Dublin without a stop at the Guinness Storehouse. The building itself is incredible, and a lot bigger than we were expecting, with drummers playing to the hordes of people waiting outside, it was an experience before even entering.

The entire journey through the storehouse is quite something, with a multitude of levels and enough information about Guinness to win several pub quizzes, (take note: 232 degrees for the perfect barley in Guinness…), with the opportunity to pour your own pint and become a chief taster as well. But for the final stop in the storehouse, they save the best till last – The Gravity Bar, for your free pint of the good stuff alongside 360 views over the city, an experience in Dublin you won’t forget.

3 Days in Dublin: Day 3 – Trinity College, Parks & Whisky

For the final day of the 3 days in Dublin, the first stop has to be Trinity College, partly to hide from the rain, but mainly to take in the university setting. This stunning 47-acre university is set within Georgian buildings and is the oldest university in Ireland. It is also home to The Book of Kells, a famous grand library for illustrations dating back to 800AD, it really is incredibly beautiful.

There is also a sculpture called Sphere within a Sphere located on the university grounds – a bronze sculpture by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro. We remembered previously seeing one in the Vatican, and upon doing a little research found out they are in many locations worldwide Go check it out if you haven’t heard of it before, they’re pretty cool.

The next stop is Merrion Square. This garden square is surrounded by beautiful Georgian buildings with brightly coloured front doors, we obviously had to try and make a rainbow out of them… Turns out there is no orange! Someone should really paint their door orange just for a full rainbow satisfaction of the tourists to Dublin…

After exploring Merrion Square it’s only a short walk to St Stephens Green via the National Gallery of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology. Both are well worth a visit and perfect to visit if it is raining.

St Stephens Green is a Victorian park in the centre of Dublin with a big lake and filled with sculptures, (there are actually quite a few sculptures throughout Dublin, but this park has a lot). It is lovely to walk through in the rain so must be lovely to sit and enjoy in the sun.

Now onto the final stop of our 3 days in Dublin before heading home, Jameson’s Distillery for some traditional Irish Whiskey. This is a little bit of a walk, roughly 20 minutes, but you can take one last look through the streets of Dublin, and maybe even find Molly Malone…

Jameson’s Distillery seems to not be as well-known as the Guinness Storehouse, but it is definitely worth a visit. The tour with the history and creation of the whiskey was really clever, (no spoilers here you’ll just have to go discover it for yourself), and with the free whiskey tasting what’s not to like? Sine metu.

Where to stay in Dublin

We would highly recommend staying on the north side of the River Liffey for your 3 days in Dublin. It can get quite rowdy into the small hours around Temple Bar and unless you are out there with them, you are going to want a slightly quieter location to stay at! For both of our stays, we stayed in AirBnB’s, there are loads of great ones to choose from and they are all mostly within a very short walk to somewhere to eat and the river.

However, be sure to check on Booking.com or on the mapt below for some good accommodation deals as well.

3 days in Dublin FAQs

How to get to Dublin

Dublin is really easy to get to internationally due to its local airport being within easy access to the city centre. It is also easy to get to if visiting other locations in Ireland via car, or even via ferry from the UK.

Check out Kiwi.com for the best flight deals from where you are to Dublin.

How to get from Dublin Airport to the city centre

There aren’t any trains or trams that run from the airport into the city centre. However, the Dublin Airport bus, Airlink 747 or 757 depending on which terminal you are coming to, runs from the airport through multiple stops into the heart of Dublin city centre on the north of the River Liffey.

Not only do you get quite a nice sightseeing tour of parts of Dublin that aren’t so touristy, but it only costs 7 euros each way. A standard taxi will cost you anything between 20 and 30 euros, but this can go up depending on the time of day, how many passengers and what day of the week.

How to get around Dublin

The easiest way by far to get around Dublin is on foot. The city centre is small enough that it isn’t far to walk between anything, plus the city is wonderful to explore all along the river and throughout the winding streets. The furthest place you will probably end up going is to the Guinness Storehouse, and if you don’t fancy the walk, then you can always hop on one of the horse and carts that are often run from there, (we’re not sure quite how road legal they are though!).

Best time to visit Dublin

Having visited Dublin in both April and June, it is safe to say that if you are wanting to visit based on good weather, think again! Although Dublin isn’t in the rainiest part of Ireland, you will most likely get some rain unless you are visiting in peak summer. Peak summer however can get very busy with tourists and locals as the schools are shut between July and September.

If you choose to visit in the winter, chances are you won’t see snow, but it’ll be cold and wet. We would therefore suggest visiting in the spring or autumn, avoiding the school holidays and potentially the worst of the weather.

How many days do you need in Dublin? Are 3 days in Dublin enough or too much?

If you want a taste of Dublin then 3 days is great. If you want to really get to the heart of Dublin and explore every museum, gallery and tourist attraction, then you are going to want to spend a little longer.

We’ve visited Dublin twice, both for only 3 days at a time and found it to be the perfect amount of time to explore and relax without becoming worn out. We got the chance to visit some of the main tourist attractions as well as some of the lesser-known ones and it was perfect.

Is Dublin worth visiting?

If you like traditional Irish music, a stunning architectural city, great food and friendly people, then yes Dublin is most definitely worth visiting! Dublin has a reputation for being a party or stag do and hen night destination, (and don’t get us wrong there were a few of them, but there are in every European capital), but there is so much more to Dublin than partying.

The history of the city alongside the incredible heritage buildings, beautiful street art scene and traditional music makes visiting Dublin really wonderful. And if you are there for the drinks then it’s the home of Guinness, so win-win!

Is a trip to Dublin expensive and how to save money in Dublin?

Like any other capital city, a trip to Dublin is not the cheapest, but it is one of the cheaper capital city destinations you can visit in Europe. You can save money in Dublin by eating and drinking outside of the main tourist areas, as these are often overpriced, and by taking full advantage of tours and passes such as the Dublin Pass by Go City and the Leap Card for public transportation.

Is Dublin safe?

Dublin isn’t the safest location you can visit in Ireland, but that isn’t to say that it is unsafe. The main thing to be aware of, as with any capital city, is the risk of pickpocketing and theft. There is a large population that lives in Dublin, and countless tourists that visit each year, so the rates of crime are larger in comparison to elsewhere in Ireland.

Is Dublin a good weekend trip?

Dublin is a great location for a weekend trip, (we’ve actually done it multiple times!). It is a city that is small enough that you can easily see a lot of it in a couple of days, but large enough that if you wanted to spend longer you easily can.

Dublin Tours

For some of the best tours in and around Dublin, or even day trips out from Dublin, check out Get Your Guide below:

Conclusion: 3 days in Dublin Itinerary

And there you have it, 3 days in Dublin… DONE! There are of course many more places to visit in Dublin, but this is a great starter for putting together a trip to the emerald isles capital.

Gemma Tedaldi

Gemma is the owner and author of The Travelling Tedaldi, a travel blog helping travellers to discover the best road trips and travel itineraries throughout the UK and Europe. When she isn’t writing about her favourite travel destinations, she can often be found out exploring local hikes or planning future trips.