City Information             Flyg och hotell -   Queensway Travel
Airport

Dublin Airport is 6 miles north of the city centre. It is undergoing substantial redevelopment, so there is no hard or fast rule applicable to which terminal is used by which companies, and the arrivals hall is centralised - check the monitors on arrival for where to check in. However, once through security, Terminal A caters mostly for commuter traffic and UK regional destinations. Most Transatlantic flights are from Terminal B, where US Immigration is located for pre-clearance to the five US destinations (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York, and Newark). Terminal C generally handles London airports and other European carriers. The Bank of Ireland, found in Departures, offers full banking facilities (open 0530-2100). There are also bureaux de change (open 0800-2000) and several cash dispensers in Arrivals and Departures, along with an extensive food court and bar. Business meetings can be held at the executive lounge in Departures or at either the Holiday Inn just inside the airport entrance or the Great Southern Hotel.  

Airport to City Centre

Taxis can be found outside Arrivals. The trip into Dublin costs around €25. A new private coach service, the Aircoach, generally takes no more than 25 mins to reach its city centre stops (O'Connell St and Trinity College), continuing thereafter on a round trip that takes in southside suburbs such as Donnybrook and Ballsbridge among others, as well as many of the hotels mentioned in this chapter, including the Gresham, the Berkeley Court and the Four Seasons. It costs €5 and leaves every 15 mins from outside the Arrivals hall (0530-2330 - airport to city, 0530-2200 - city to airport). For further information contact Aircoach. Otherwise, Airlink non-stop buses depart every 20 mins (0545-2330) from outside Arrivals to the central bus station and both mainline rail stations in the middle of Dublin. The trip takes 30-40 mins and costs €4.50. A new service, the Aerdart connects the airport to the Dart suburban train line, useful if you are going further south or north of the city. A combined bus and train ticket costs €5.

Orientation                      Flyg & hotell -   Queensway Travel

Dublin boasts an enviable location, backing onto mountains to the south and west and enclosed by Dublin Bay, with the River Liffey bisecting the city on an east-west axis. Today it is home to a beguiling collection of pubs, churches, grand Georgian buildings, fine museums, and a population of around 1 million. The financial heart of the city is just north of the Liffey in the International Financial Services Centre, a recently built Gotham City of glass and red brick, which is home to most of the major banks and financial institutions. South of the Liffey is virtually an island bounded by the Grand Canal. Just off the river is Temple Bar, a pedestrianised area alive with restaurants, bars, trendy clothes shops, buskers and galleries. Traditionally bordered west and east by Christchurch and Westmoreland streets respectively, to the south by Dame St, and to the north by the Liffey, more recently it has encroached north of the river. Here in the increasingly trendy north quays, the chic Morrison hotel stands at the centre of a selection of buzzing music bars. The recently completed Liffey boardwalk, stretching along the riverside between the O'Connell and Millennium bridges, is designed as a space where artists and craft-workers can sell their wares from portable stalls.

Further east is Trinity College, with fashionable Grafton St heading off south to St Stephen's Green, where Dubliners promenade and picnic. On the north side of the Green is Leinster House, home to the Daíl. The surrounding area is practically an essay in Georgian architecture, with elegant houses balanced around colourful squares. South of the canal is the district of Ballsbridge, home to many of the modern business hotels and the embassy belt. The original old city, located towards the west, is home to antique shops and historic sites such as the Cathedrals of Christchurch and St Patrick.

Getting Around

Central Dublin is fairly compact, and traffic is as terrible as in any thriving city - walking is usually the quickest way to get around. Taxis can be hailed in the street and usually display a yellow light when for hire, although it's often easier to summon one to your hotel. Taxi ranks form outside the main hotels at O'Connell St, St Stephen's Green, College Green and near the bus and train stations. Recent deregulation means greater availability and notorious queues are much diminished. A taxi called from your hotel may well be a hackney; these are not metered but have a strictly worked out, and usually correct fare system. Cars come in all sizes and colours, are metered and trips seldom cost more than €12.

What to see              Flyg och hyrbil -    Queensway Travel

Leinster House: The home of the Daíl was built in 1745 and became the parliament of the new Irish Free State in 1921. On Saturday mornings you can visit the Taoiseach's (Prime Minister) office on Kildare St. The public can visit by prior arrangement and in some circumstances view the press gallery overlooking the Daíl, when TDs are 'in session'.

A few hundred yards from Leinster House on Merrion Square are theNational Gallery and Natural History Museum. The National Gallery houses an extensive permanent collection and exhibits the Turner Watercolours in Jan when light levels are at their lowest.

The National Museum, also on Kildare St, houses extensive collections which spill over to the former Collins Barracks at Islandbridge on the outskirts of the city centre. The two sites have space enough to display the collections at their full potential.

Guinness Brewery: The home of Guinness Stout, Ireland's number one export. Visit the 'World of Guinness Exhibition' before retiring to the bar to sample the exhibits. Good souvenir shop for that authentically 'oirish' gift.

Irish Whiskey Corner: Set in an old Jameson Whiskey depot, visits include an audio-visual introduction to whiskey making, followed by a tasting session in the Ball o' Malt Bar, then a tour of the museum if you're still able to walk. Recently extended to accommodate a restaurant that's quickly become a top corporate entertainment venue, with dinner and a cabaret of traditional music and dance. Smithfield is the 'new' Temple Bar area, and is quickly becoming popular in its own right.

Writers Museum: Restored 18c mansion house paying homage to Ireland's literary giants - Shaw, Yeats, Beckett, Joyce - with manuscripts, portraits and memorabilia.

Temple Bar Food Market: Dublin's foodie paradise congregates every Sat in Meeting House Sq. Fruity farmhouse cheeses, home-made chocolates, delicious breads and lots more besides. The scents alone will break all dietary resolve.

Where to walk

Dublin is compact to the point of intimacy and easily explored on foot. Close cultural ties with Europe have bestowed a continental feel of late, with a cosmopolitan selection of cafés bars, ethnic restaurants, lively young people and bustle everywhere. There is vibrant street life in Temple Bar and Grafton St, elegance and serenity in and around the campanile of Trinity College and acres of green space in St Stephen's Green, Merrion Sq and Iveagh Gardens, hidden away behind the National Concert Hall on Earlsfort Terrace. Temple Bar is the generic name for the knot of colourful streets between Dame St and the Liffey, where Dubliners meet visitors in a cosmopolitan melting pot. Trendy bars, hole-in-the-wall eateries, upmarket restaurants, galleries and avant garde clubs rock, if not around the clock, then for a good deal of it. Moreover, it is virtually all pedestrianised so one can wander at will whatever one's state.

Just to the east of Temple Bar is Trinity College, founded by Elizabeth I in 1595 and alma mater to Bram Stoker, Samuel Beckett and countless other luminaries. Closes and cobbled squares make for a secluded antidote to the bustle of the streets outside. College Park is popular for summer picnicking. The college library holds Ireland's largest collection of books including the famous Book of Kells. From Trinity, head south down Dawson St to St Stephen's Green, laid out in 1880 through the beneficence of Lord Ardilaun, a member of the Guinness family. An elegant oasis of flowers, lawns, fountains and lake, it's a lovely place to stroll, especially in summer when a shady bench offers shelter from the rigours of the day to the tune of a brass band on the bandstand (lunchtime concerts in summer). Don't be alarmed if you hear a cock crow: he's a leftover from a France v Ireland rugby match. If in need of a restorative, pop into the bar at the Fitzwilliam Hotel on the western side of the park.