Ireland may bill itself as the land of “a hundred thousand welcomes.” Too often, tourists come away feeling like the saying really refers to exorbitant prices.
It doesn't have to be like that. Much of the best that Dublin has to offer is either free or the cost of a pint of stout. With a weeklong St. Patrick's Festival full of free events around the corner — and recession hitting Ireland hard — Dublin's delights can be had at a discount, particularly if you're happy to live more like a real “Dub” than a jet-setter.
St. Patrick's Festival
March 12-17 kicks off the Irish tourist season with an ever-growing list of street attractions, performances and cultural events. The best freebie if you've got preteens in tow is the weekend-long Merrion Square funfair, featuring free access to bouncy castles and handouts of sausage rolls.
There's also March 17's two-mile parade, which, if the weather's fine, attracts a half-million spectators. Stake out your position before 10 a.m. for a clear view of the noontime promenade — and brace for boozy bedlam on the streets afterward. Favorite lookout points: O'Connell Street on the north side and College Green outside Trinity on the south.
Getting around
Dublin reserves much of its cramped road space for buses and taxis. Metered taxi fares for inner-city trips are $12-$20 (8-15 euros).
As you exit Dublin Airport, taxis are to the right, buses to the left. Taxis to the city center will cost at least $25 (20 euros), so they're cost-effective only for groups of three or more. Otherwise, take the dark-green, comfy Airlink buses, $7.60 (6 euros) one way.
Regular blue Dublin Buses, just $2 (1.55 euros), head straight into the city's working-class reality. Save more with a multi-day Dublin Bus pass from a machine at the airport bus stop. Adults can travel citywide for a week for $35 (26.50 euros), children for $12 (9 euros). Slightly higher-priced tickets include the city's two LUAS light-rail lines, and the DART commuter trains, ideal for day trips to coastal towns north and south. Dublin Bus also offers day-trip packages to major tourist centers outside Dublin.
To find out if your hotel is near a bus route, check here.
The easiest way to get oriented in Dublin is with a hop-on, hop-off bus that stops at most of the important tourist sites for about $20 (15 euros).
The biggest mistake that car-loving Americans make is to study a map of Ireland, note that the country is 300 miles top to bottom, and think they can "do it" in a week. There's no surer way to ruin a short trip to the Emerald Isle.
Cheap digs
Dublin is one of Europe's most compact capitals, with plenty to see and do by foot, so book a hotel or B&B in the urban heart. Dublin's inner north side — delineated by the River Liffey that cuts the city in two — is scruffier and less desirable to the image-conscious, but convenient on foot or by bus.
Hotel rooms in Dublin are pricey, usually charging per person rather than per room. Insist on a room rate or look elsewhere. Those traveling solo will fare better in Dublin's hundreds of home-based B&Bs.
The backpackers' Mecca is on down-at-heel but strategically located Gardiner Street. Next door lies the main Dublin bus station with shuttle buses to the airport; Connolly train station, with DART commuter trains and the option of a quick, cheap day trip to Belfast 100 miles north; and a light rail that links west to the Jameson whiskey tour and Guinness brewery. The nicest of the Gardiner Street guesthouses is the Townhouse.
For discounts on multi-day stays at more upscale hotels, check out the Irish Hotel Federation's page. Beware that many supposed Dublin-area hotels actually are somewhere between the sticks and the boondocks, of use only by car. If a hotel doesn't have a postal code at the end of its address, it ain't in Dublin. (Virtually the rest of Ireland goes codeless.)
The Bewleys Hotel chain offers rooms for up to three adults for $77 (59 euros) a night through year's end. Its flagship hotel in Ballsbridge (Dublin's answer to Beverly Hills) would be a bargain at that price. The canalside Mespil Hotel advertises discounts for the St. Patrick's period and beyond.
Cheap eats
Don't worry about finding authentic Irish cuisine. It doesn't exist — and if it did, would almost certainly be served by an immigrant from Spain, Poland or China.
The authentic Irish dining experience, however, means the pub — preferably a buffet-style lunch for about $13 (10 euros) a head before drinks. The word “carvery” on a pub's chalkboard sign typically means lunch includes beef, ham, turkey and stuffing, with salmon and pasta options, plus spuds and other vegetables — drowned in gravy if you like.
Beat the lunchtime crush — and enjoy the freshest grub — by arriving at 12:30 p.m. sharp when the food is unveiled. Two of the best are Nancy Hands on Parkgate Street outside a main entrance to Phoenix Park, and Fagan's on the main Drumcondra Road to the airport. Fagan's is best known as the favorite pit stop for former Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. You might bump into him; his office is across the road. Fagan's walls are also covered with pictures of Bill and Hillary Clinton's visit in 2000.
Or opt for one of Dublin's “superpubs” — cathedrals to Ireland's modern fusion of hops and hubris. The most impressive are the Odeon Bar & Grill, a converted train station south of St. Stephen's Green; the Bank, a converted bank just west of Trinity College; and the Cathedral, a converted church still replete with organ pipes, stained glass and headstones on the premier Henry Street shopping thoroughfare.
Most proper restaurants are overpriced and particularly scalp you for wine. Stick to a pint of beer or cider; if you find a pint for under $5 (4 euros), you're doing well.
THE place to get a coffee and watch the world go by — if you can stand the wait for an upper-window seat — is Bewley's Cafe on Grafton Street. Its food and service have greatly improved under the ownership of Cafe Bar Deli, which also runs a vegetarian-friendly restaurant on a parallel street.
But two pre-Celtic Tiger restaurants remain most worth the money: Elephant & Castle in the heart of Temple Bar, and 101 Talbot Street, tucked away on the more stubbly faced end of Dublin's biggest shopping thoroughfare. Both restaurants are usually packed to the rafters. Talbot makes a perfect pit stop before an evening performance at the nearby Abbey or Gate theaters.
The best burger for your euro? The jaw-popping “Double Take” for $10 (8 euros) at the U.S. '50s diner-ripoff Eddie Rockets chain.
Dublin Pass
Dublin Pass offers entry to more than 30 attractions, restaurant discounts and a free city guidebook for a flat fee. The Web site has 20 percent discounts tied to St. Patrick's Day.
Must-sees
Guinness brewery tours are $19 (15 euros), or 10 percent less if you book online. It's worth it for no other reason than to enjoy your tour-ending pint of the black stuff from the brewery's panoramic rooftop bar, which offers the best view of Dublin.
Trinity College has student-run tours for $13 (10 euros), which get you insight into Ireland's oldest academic institution, an incredible view of the Long Library (yes, it did inspire the design of the Jedi library), and a gander at Ireland's most famous book, the painstakingly illustrated Book of Kells. Or wander through the pretty, compact campus on your own for free.
Catch the choirs' evensong performances in St. Patrick's Cathedral, entry $6 (5 euros) — or Christ Church Cathedral, $7.60 (6 euros). Christ Church also has magnificent bell-ringings.
Should-sees
The National Museum of Ireland has two Dublin branches, both free. Ditto the National Gallery which features the impressionistic works of Jack Yeats, less-famous brother of the Nobel laureate poet William Butler Yeats. The excellent James Joyce Centre charges $6 (5 euros). The Dublin Writers Museum costs $10 (7.50 euros) (too much for what's there!) but offers a 2-for-1 deal if you download a coupon from the Web site. Next door, the free Hugh Lane Gallery hosts an oddball collection of artworks — and the reconstructed chaos of Francis Bacon's art studio.
Great strolls
Walking the paved towpaths and restored locks of the Grand Canal is an easy calorie-burner (unless you stop at pubs on every corner). More temptations await in the cobblestoned, riverside Temple Bar district.
Phoenix Park is the biggest urban park in Europe, home to Ireland's president, the U.S. ambassador, and a delightful but pricey zoo. Free attractions include informal cricket and polo matches.
The must-do walk is through St. Stephen's Green, particularly on crisp spring days as the bulbed flowers burst into bloom. Head to nearby Fitzwilliam Square to take in the smallest, finest Georgian square in Ireland.
Greater hikes
Bring a waterproof windbreaker and mud-loving boots and you're set for a proper Dublin hike. Two of my favorites are accessible by DART train.
To the south, a (safe but occasionally vertigo-inducing) cliffside trail runs from Bray to Greystones — both towns have DART stations — and takes 2 1/2 hours, offering breathtaking views of the Irish Sea. Bray also features old-time arcades, amusement park rides and a rocky seafront.
To the north, one DART line ends in the sleepy marina suburb of Howth on its own peninsula. The northern end of a four-hour trail around the peninsula starts at the east end of town. It usually works better to be dropped by taxi on the south trailhead overlooking Dublin Bay and finish in town, where there are cheapish eats in a few pubs, a fish and chips place, and ice cream parlor.