Georgian Dublin

If there's one travel poster that signifies "Dublin" more than any other, it's the one that depicts 50 or so Georgian doorways—door after colorful door, all graced with lovely fanlights upheld by columns. Today, heading south from Merrion Square all the way to Ballsbridge, visitors can enjoy perfectly planned, tree-lined Georgian streets with some of the most elegant 18th-century buildings in Europe. Included in these are four of the most fascinating and glamorous museums in Ireland, sitting cheek by jowl: the National Gallery, National Library, National Museum of Natural History, and best of all, keeper of the Celtic treasures of ancient Ireland, the National Museum of Archaeology. No part of the city is more uniquely and gloriously Dublin. For convenience we have included the areas slightly farther south, around the Grand Canal and in the heart of the leafy suburb of Ballsbridge, in this section, as they have their own Georgian delights.