samtraveler

We are in London for a few months and snagged some ultra-cheap tickets to Dublin on Ryan Air (.79GBP each way out of Gatwick!). We'll just have the weekend, so this will be a super fast trip. I'd love advice as this will be our first time in Ireland. There are two adults and two children (ages 2&6) on this trip. We arrive in Dublin on Friday, March 10 at 10:10pm. We return to London on Monday, March 13 at 8:15am.

*How best to reach Dublin late at night (probably around 11pm) from the the aiport?
*Hotel, something central, quiet, kid-friendly and under $150 a night--is that unrealistic?
*Places to eat, again kid-friendly--we'd love to experience some Irish music as well (we do not drink)
*With just two days, I assume most would advise we stick to Dublin. Yes, or is there something else we should consider as well--we'd certainly love to see some of the pretty country if we had the time.
*What Dublin sights would you not miss?

Thanks a lot!

SiobhanP

Check out www.laterooms.com for hotels. Stivck with Dublin 2 area and do not stay on Gardiner street with kids..too noisy and dodgy.

Try Jurys IFSC or Jurys Christchurch. I cannot think of a place for Trad music with small kids in tow to be honest as they would be more "adult" opubs and not toddler friendlt. Not kids on any bar premise after 7ish pm.

Kid friendly places would be Milano in Temple bar and Dawson street (Same as pizza Express in the UK) Gotham Cafe on S. Anne Street is Vhild Friendly. Also the Cafe in the Chester Beatty Library has a great child menu and good food for adults too! Its an asian art museum behind Dublin castle beside the MAze garden. They often have events for kids at the weekends.

Elephant and Castle in Temple Bar is also very good for Children with choice and usually is packed with families on the weekends. Oh also the IFI (Irish Film Institute) has wonderful food and would be good for kids as well. Casual atmosphere. Its on Eustace Street in Temple Bar.

Do the tour bus the kids may like the top of it and go to the tourist office on Suffolk street the next day and check out what is on. There is a Viking splash tour kids like that goes around the city and then into the water (One of those army sub aqua vehicles things!)

Take a taxi from the airport at this time of night. there is a airlink bus but its probably too much that late at night for a toddler.

samtraveler

Great suggestions--thank you very much! Any specific hotels you'd recommend (or avoid)? Thanks!

tower

Sam....try my favorite...Staunton's on the Green...smack across the road from St. Stephen's Green and easy walk to ped street, the river Liffey, etc. Beautiful park in the rear of the hotel, large rooms with fireplaces...should now be under $150

Stu T.

tower

sam:

www.stauntonsonthegreen.ie

julia_t

I found the best discounted rates for Dublin hotels were on

www.hotel-ireland.com

samtraveler

Well, looks like we're in for crowds--it's rugby weekend that weekend. Thus I'm having a hard time with hotels. Staunton is booked. Then as for the Jurys, what is Jurys IFSC? Didn't see one on their webiste that matched that. And I don't know about Jurys Christchurch. You mention sticking to Dublin 2, but Christchurch is Dublin 8. Don't know how central/handy this will be to sightseeing. And when I go to book they offer me a room for two adults only, noting the room will not be assigned until check-in. I really need a room that sleeps 3, one bed for my son as well (we have a port-a-crib fot the 2 year-old). They don't give any info on this room indicating if this would work for our situation. Additionally it makes me nervous to book when they say they don't assign the room until arrival--we're arriving quite late and that could result in a poor/limited room selection. Some neg reviews on tripadvisor also have me concerned. The only good option I've found is the Molesworth Suites. It seems great. At 180 euros it's a ways beyond what we wanted to spend, but in every other way it seems perfect. Any thoughts on this place? Thanks for the help!

samtraveler

Oh, I see IFSC is the Custom House location. Mixed reviews on Tripadvisor.

youngblueeyes

Molesworth st is very central.You can get the aircoach bus from the airport and it will leave you off at Trinity College which is just a 5 min walk to Molesworth St. If you prefer to get a taxi there is a rank at the airport, expect to pay about 30euro. For the kids bring them to The Natural History Museum, Merrion St., it's free and my 4 yr old nephew and 2 yr old niece loved it. Wander down Grafton St on a saturday and listen to the buskers & musicians play. If the weather is nice, at the top of Grafton st is a park, St. Stephens Green, take a walk. Go to Trinity and see the Book of Kells. These are all within 5-10 min walk of your hotel.Avoid temple bar on a rugby weekend at night, it's very loud and crazy busy with lots of drunken rugby fans, prob not your scene with 2 small kids.

samtraveler

Just wanted to post a quick reply to those who posted ideas to help us on our weekend in Dublin. We had a fantastic weekend, and we loved it so much we are already thinking of our next trip to Ireland! It was chilly, but we had very little rain. We managed to do quite a lot in two days--Dublin Castle, Trinity and Book of Kells (my 6 year-old loved seeing the illuminated manuscripts), leisurely shopped Grafton and surrounding streets, free play-time at St. Stephens Green twice (we just loved this beautiful little park!), St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christchurch Cathedral, O'Connel Street, wandering around the river, breakfast and lunch in Temple Bar (Temple Bar was perfect for our family during the morning and lunchtime hours--and excellent food!) and Natural History Museum. We had a full weekend--I think the only thing we missed that I would have like to see was the National Museum, but the kids were so good to let us see so much of what we adults wanted to see that we let them choose the Natural History Museum instead. We ended up staying at the Crowne Plaza airport. With good bus service to downtown (bus stop just a few yards from hotel), plus their handy airport shuttle it turned out to be a good option for us--much cheaper than anything in the town center. Thanks again for all of your wonderful advice--Dublin was great!

julia_t

Thank you for posting back to let us know how you got on.

I'm glad you had such a good time!