In spite of Bill and others who trash talk Dublin, I prefer to keep an open mind for my first trip to the Emerald Isle. I have a half day in Dublin at the beginning of my tour and another half day at the end of the itinerary. I'm staying near the intersection of Pembroke and Northumberland Roads in Ballsbridge. Is it a reasonable walk to the Christchurch and The Guiness Storehouse from there or should I cab it? I plan on taking in the Literary Pub Crawl in the evening, where's a good place to eat an early (by Irish standards) dinner that won't drown me in cholesterol and eat away my tour budget?

I can't give you advice, but I will offer encouragement. Dublin is the great northern Mediteranean city. It has great neoclassical architecture and an exhuberant people who spill into the streets at the least indication of the sun. Enjoy yourself!

To walk from Northumberland/Pembroke road to Christchurch would take about half an hour. To walk from your hotel to Smithfield (where the Guinness Storehouse is) would take about 40 minutes.
An alternative to a cab would be to hop on a bus. A bus from Northumberland Road to Trinity College takes about 5 minutes. When you get there Christchurch is about a 10 minute walk up Dame Street. To get to Smithfield, take a bus to O'Connell Street and it's about a 15 minute walk from there.

There are quite a few threads with restaurant recommendations. If you do a search you should find some!

CAilin,

I think you have it mixed around. It is a 40 minute walk to Christchurch and 1 hr to Guinness.

Guinness is NOT in Smithfield (I live in the area) it is on Thomas Street in the Liberties (Opposite side of the river) I think you have it confused with the Jameson Distillery which is in Smithfield.

You could cab it or take a bus into town and walk like Cailin described.

Restaurants around the Duke Pub where the Literary Pub crawl takes place are as follows:

Chili Club off South Anne Street
Spaco (S. Anne Street)
Gotham Cafe - Pizza PAsta Anne Street
Cafe Java S. Anne Street
Fitzers - Dawson street -Steaks, chicken etc

Enjoy

my apologies - I thought the Guinness Storehouse was in Smithfield.

But I do stand by my walking times! 30 mins from Northumberland Road to Christchurch, and 40 mins from Northumberland Road to Thomas Street (Guinness Storehouse).

To get walking route maps, see http://www.dto-journeyplanner.ie/dto...tent/lookUp.do

You are right about the walking times Cailin I misread your message .

Conan:

I appreciate the total misrepresentation of my opinion of Dublin and the superior intellect that it must take to have such an open mind. I have visited Dublin 3 times and will visit it again next May. Here is what I've said about Dublin in the past though there are probably a few posts that I didn't preface it by saying either IMO (which is really redundant on an opinion board) or "I prefer countryside to cities"

1. About a year ago, there was a much responded to thread asking for people?s choices for top 10 favorite European cities. Dublin was an infrequent member of those lists. That doesn't mean it's bad, it just doesn't make into the top ten. It doesn't mean you shouldn't visit the city.

2. I have stated again and again that I prefer countryside to city, which is my reason for not spending a lot of time there. That's clearly an opinion and not "trash talk" about the quality of the place.

3. I regularly point out, if it were me, I wouldn't drive all the way across Ireland on a short trip just to see Dublin. Then again, I wouldn?t drive all the way across Ireland to see any individual feature in the country.

4. What I have frequently suggested is that Dublin needs more than a couple of hours to enjoy. Lot's of people, (like you) try to see it in a half day here and a half day there. I don't think that does the city justice and I have repeatedly pointed it out.

5. I will admit to saying that it is a big city and is not particularly clean, but that is true of most big cities.

6. My general opinion is this and again (now listen carefully) it's an OPINION and thus based on my city vs. countryside view. If I were given a week in Ireland, and remembering that I think Dublin deserves at least 2-3 days to get a feeling for, I would suggest heading for the countryside. The goofy comments from people suggesting that those who prefer the countryside to Dublin expect a land that is filled with Leprechauns is as narrow minded as the idea they seek to mock.

In the end, just because someone states that they prefer one thing to another doesn't mean that they are trash talking the other. For instance, I prefer sex to corn (with all due respect to Garrison Keillor's opinion) but it doesn't mean I don't like corn.

Bill

PS: an amusing name

Thank you all for your outstanding replies in such a short time. I think I'll do the 40 minute walk, I'll see more that way. Apologies to Bill for misinterpreting his comments. My pattern for travel to a new place is to survey it first, then define where I'd like to spend my energies on return visits. I even use (gasp! gasp!) bus tours for this survey. I'm in the process of putting the final touches on hiring a barge boat out of Tullamore for a tour through the Grand Canal and Barrow for next season. Thanks again, heaps!!!