Small town /village within an hour of Dublin Airport
 

We plan to fly into Dublin for four days on our way to Rome in late June. We have never been to Ireland and are thinking about staying in a small town outside Dublin.

Any suggestions? Or should we just stay in Dublin? Any suggestions for a pleasant B and B in the old part of Dublin?

We do love villages and countryside.

We are doing this partly because we have always wanted to see some of Ireland and also because we can fly there for $932 plus $200 more to Rome as opposed to Rome for $2000!

We are meeting friends in Rome for a trip to Umbria.

Malahide is a nice village close to Dublin Airport but also only a 20 minute DART (train) ride from the city centre. There is also a nice castle there and all mod cons in terms of restaurants and bars. It is a very affluent area. The Grand Hotel in Malahide is nice and reasonably priced.

Howth would also fit the bill.

Thanks. they both sound like good possibilities.

I would stay in Dublin. Buswells is not a B&B but an old style hotel and very nice area. http://www.buswells.ie/index.cfm
easy to take aircoach in and out of the city, bus stops close by.
I had breakfast at the Grand Hotel before visiting the castle one trip. Very nice. Malahide is nice.

Grey stones is a nice seaside village just south of Dublin and is serviced by DART. Small enough to lose that city atmosphere but nice pubs and sea views.

I would stay in Dublin. I can't think of anywhere nearby that is of interest in itself - there are lots of places that are pleasant enough commuter suburbs, but IMO wouldn't really have much on offer for a tourist. If you stayed near the DART line you could take the DART train out to the villages of howth, dalkey or even greystones (a bit further, and the darts are less frequent) if the city centre got too much for you. There are a good few nice Georgian guesthouses around the Lansdowne Road area, which would be fairly handy for the city centre but also close to the DART, for example Butlers below (but there are many others in that area, in all sorts of price ranges)

http://www.irelandhotels.com/hotels/...-house///--/--

In June you can stay B&B at Trinity College and the DART station is a walkable distance.

I would like to stay at Trinity College.

We liked Trinity and it is right in the middle of a lot of interesting things. http://www.tcd.ie/accommodation/Visitors/

The HOHO buses stop right outside the gates, too.

Trinity is a great suggestion - the rooms are very basic (some don't even have ensuite bathrooms, so make sure you know what you are signing up for) - it's atmospheric, central and quiet.

Thanks, I will definitely check on it. We often stay in convents and monasteries in Italy so we don't mind basic. It does sound like a very interesting place to stay.

I would stay in Dublin, but if you want to be outside the city and close to the airport, I'd also suggest Malahide, or Drogheda.