A Perfect 24 Hours in Dublin

Greetings Internet Stranger and welcome to 24 hours in Dublin. As an American with Irish ancestry, Dublin will always hold a special place in my heart. Because so many Americans are of Irish descent, there are a lot of us that feel the same way, even though we know we’ll never be Irish Irish.

But whether you’re Irish, Irish-American, or just a hibernophile, I recommend you spend as much time as possible in Ireland’s capital. With 24 hours in Dublin you can learn tragic history, eat amazing food, and learn why Irish writers are the greatest who have ever lived. (Yeah, I said it. Suck it, Russia!)

Want to cut right to the chase, Internet Stranger? The best activity in Dublin is this bus tour right here with tons of five-star reviews!

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24 Hours in Dublin

Where to Stay?

It can be hard to find an affordable place in Dublin for your 24 hours in Dublin. The best affordable place to stay in Dublin is a private room in Trinity College. The rooms are nothing fancy, but the location is amazing and the price is perfect.

If you have a little more to spend, try McGettigan’s Townhouse. This adorable place has free Wifi, a yummy breakfast, and a great location near the Guinness Storehouse. It can be your home away from home for your 24 hours in Dublin!

If you’d like to find great deals on these hotels, just click here or here. And if you’d rather explore great deals on over 1000 hotels in Dublin, click here. This search engine will help you find the perfect place to stay during your 24 hours in Dublin. With plenty of options to choose from, I’m sure you’ll find something for your schedule and budget.

24 Hours in Dublin

Morning: Dublin Castle

In most European cities I’ve been to, the castles are relatively uncontroversial monuments to the country’s present ruling family (if you are in England, Spain, or Denmark) or the country’s past (if you are in a place like France). But Dublin is not most cities, and Dublin Castle is not most castles.

Dublin Castle used to be the administrative headquarters of the English government in Dublin back when Ireland was under English rule. Now it is an Irish government building, and all Irish presidents are inaugurated here. (Keep in mind that the Irish president is a largely ceremonial position, so it’s not that weird that they are inaugurated in a castle.)

Some advice before starting our 24 hours in Dublin in Dublin Castle. The best way to visit is on one of the 60 minute guided tour. (Self guided tours are also an option.) I recommend buying the ticket for your tour in advance online to save time. After the tour is over, you’ll be able to explore on your own. Now that the boring part is out of the way, I give you…breakfast!

24 Hour Treat: Queen of Tarts

Historically, Ireland is not famous for its food. But one area of the culinary arts at which the Irish excel is baking. One of my favorite bakeries for breakfast in Dublin is the legendary Queen of Tarts. This cafe was founded by two sisters who wanted to share their passion for brown bread and apple crumble with the world.

I always start my 24 hours in Dublin with their “Queen’s Delight” for breakfast, which is a fresh scone with orange juice and coffee. Just look at that adorably flopsy scone in my photo! You can tell it was handmade with lots of fat and love. After I eat it, I always start yelling at the customers, “Off with your head!” Then they kick me out of the restaurant.

One tip: there are two locations, so for this itinerary, choose the one on Cow’s Lane. It’s closer to Dublin Castle. That way, as soon as you’re done with breakfast, you can head straight to the castle and start learning…

three fun facts about dublin castle

1) What’s this fancy building?

The Chapel Royal on Dublin Castle grounds was built in 1814. It looks real fancy, but the walls are painted, not real stone. The chapel was officially deconsecrated, so services are no longer held here. But my favorite fact about the chapel are its windows that can tell the future.

Above, you can see the names of various Viceroys of Ireland. (The viceroy would have been the representative of the English monarch. He was in charge of managing the colonial rule of Ireland.) The coat of arms of the viceroys are displayed in the stained glass windows in the chapel. The very last window was filled with the coat of arms of the last viceroy of Ireland, who stepped down in 1922.

How did the windows know when the last viceroy would leave Ireland? And can the windows of the Chapel Royal help me see the future in other areas? Can they help me play the stock market or bet on the World Series? I see a lot of money here.

2) What’s the deal with the harp?

You can see the symbols of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom all over Dublin Castle. For England it’s the lion, Scotland has the unicorn, Wales has the dragon, and Ireland has the harp. I have so many notes about this. First of all, dragons and unicorns aren’t real. (I learned this lesson the hard way.)

Second, a harp is NOT an animal, not even an imaginary animal. Like maybe this is why England was able to dominate Scotland, Wales, and Ireland if they are the only country that knows what real animals are.

Our Dublin Castle guide told us that they put this harp up in the castle when ownership of the building transferred from the United Kingdom to Ireland. However, the harp was already the symbol of Guinness beer, so Dublin Castle had to get permission. Guinness said it was fine, as long as they turned the harp the other way. This is one of the most Irish stories I have ever heard.

3) Whose throne is this?

“Wow!” you might be thinking. That’s a big ol’ throne, as thrones go. Well, you’re not wrong, Internet Stranger! Our guide told us that this throne was built especially big for King George IV, who I guess was the William Howard Taft of English monarchs.

Apparently the rhyme “Georgie Porgie pudding and pie, kissed the girls and made them cry”, was written about him. I used to think it was just an adorable children’s rhyme, but maybe it’s about sexual assault? History is very messed up.

Two monarchs later, the petite Queen Victoria rolls up, and they need to accommodate her. So they had the brilliant idea of putting in a footstool so she could actually sit in this massive throne.

People are so helpful when you are ruler of the most powerful nation on earth! I’m asking people all the time to clean up the vomit on the New York City subway cars so I can sit comfortably and they just ignore me. They’ll regret it when I am queen!

24 Hours in Dublin

Afternoon: North of the Liffey

The Liffey River is the main waterway that runs through London. It has been immortalized by Irish writers from James Joyce to Brendan Behan, so we need to visit it during our 24 hours in Dublin. In true Irish fashion, it is often its ugliness and not its beauty that are praised. But these criticisms come from a time when the Liffey was more polluted.

Nowadays, it seems as adorable to me as any smallish river in any smallish European city. Of course both sides of the Liffey are worth seeing, but I often choose the North Bank when I am looking for good food and high culture. See if you don’t agree after exploring my…

approximately top 5: North of the Liffey

1) Lunch at the Winding Stair

The Winding Stair has two main points going for it. The first point is that it serves cozy and seasonal dishes made with fresh Irish produce. The second is that it is located on the top floor of a bookstore. Books and food are absolutely my two favorite things in the world! The Winding Stair doesn’t take reservations, so I like to come here for a big lunch during my 24 hours in Dublin because you are pretty much guaranteed a table.

My first course was a classy presentation of little balls of haggis served with an egg on top. Haggis is Scottish, not Irish, but both the Scottish and Irish appreciate a fine piece of offal. After all, the first line of Ulysses is “Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls.”

Ireland is an island, and an island that is finally starting to take advantage of its excellent seafood. I strongly suggest getting the fish of the day, whatever it might be.

Mine was served with white asparagus, which I always think of as being very European. I keep asking if white asparagus is the ghost of a regular asparagus, but the waiters just ignore me.

For dessert, I had this adorable portion of a strawberry crumble served with vanilla ice cream and lashings of warm custard. I’m pretty sure that only in the United Kingdom or Ireland can you get a dessert that comes with both ice cream and custard. I say, “Erin go bragh!” to this fine tradition!

2) Hugh Lane Gallery

This gallery, which is also known as the Dublin City Gallery, is dedicated to modern and contemporary art. Admission is free, which is a treat in Dublin, a surprisingly expensive city. I never spend 24 hours in Dublin without stopping here.

One of the most notable painters featured in the Hugh Lane is Francis Bacon, the British painter who was born in Dublin. Bacon is mostly well known for his paintings of demons with their faces melting off, like the image you can see above.

After he died, his heir donated the Francis Bacon studio to the Hugh Lane Gallery. It definitely looks like the perfect space in which to paint melting-faced-demon-people.

My favorite artist in the Hugh Lane is Harry Clarke, the master of stained glass. Above you can see his series depicted “The Eve of Saint Agnes”, a poem by John Keats.

It tells the story of a girl named Madeline and her true love Porphyro. Her father forbids them to marry, but they come up with a clever plan and escape together. It has a happy ending, which is how you know the story wasn’t written by an Irishman.

3) O’Connell Street

This street is the main drag north of the Liffey. It’s definitely as broad a street as you are likely to find in any Irish city. Many important protests in Irish history have taken place here. (And this is Ireland we’re talking about, so when I say a lot of protests, I mean a LOT of protests.)

There are tons of monuments on O’Connell Street, but my favorite is the one of Charles Stewart Parnell you can see above. It was done by an Irish-American sculptor with the really Irish name Augustus Saint-Gaudens. In the US, he’s perhaps most famous for his Boston monument to Robert Gould Shaw and one of the first black regiments during the Civil War.

Parnell was a beloved Irish nationalist whose career was ended because of a scandal involved an affair with a Married Lady. My Irish-American mother was a huge fan (of Parnell’s politics, not the whole Married Lady thing).

4) Hop on Hop Off Bus Tour

Our day in Dublin continues with a Hop on Hop Off Bus tour. As you may have heard, the weather in Dublin can get a little rainy, so it’s super to have an option that will work well for us whether it is rainy or shiny. (Never bet on shine in Dublin.) Plus, it’s just so affordable for a tour.

You can easily hop on the bus right near the Hugh Lane Gallery. Of course, you can get off at any stop that you please, but I like to just sit for an entire loop and enjoy the experience of getting to explore this charming city. You’ll be able to see everything from St. Stephen’s Green to the doors of Dublin. What more could you want?

You can go ahead and book this tour for yourself easily by clicking here.

24 Hours in Dublin

Evening: Dinner at Bastible

Bastible claims to have the best food in Dublin, which used to not be saying very much. When I first went to Dublin as a little girl in the 90s, I definitely left raving that Dublin had the worst food in the world.

Now I didn’t have a lot of cities to compare it to at the time, but I was basing this on the fact that I got terrible food poisoning and all the vegetables I met on the trip looked boiled and sad. Even my mother said the only food she enjoyed on that trip was Guinness.

But now Dublin is an official gastronomic destination with many Michelin starred restaurants. Bastible is not as fancy as that. In 24 hours in Dublin, you can treat yourself to some amazing food! It bills itself as a bistro, not a fine dining experience.

However, I strongly recommend trying their tasting menu so you can experience…

approximately top 5: bastible edition

Course One

Each small plate was designed to showcase the fine produce and seafood used in the dish. The star of this dish were the sweet fresh carrots. I always like it when a restaurant encourages me to eat with my hands, so I relished dipping each orange line into the garlicky taramasalata.

I’m pretty sure the fish roe in the taramasalata was from Ireland because I could hear them discussing the repercussions of Brexit on the Ireland/UK border.

Course Two

This dish features Irish seafood instead of Irish produce. There’s no better way to show off the quality of your shellfish than by serving it raw. These uncooked scallops were more than up to the challenge!

Course Three

Bastible must have recently gotten in a shipment of amazing broccoli because this was the first of two broccoli dishes on the menu. Here we have it served as a light tempura.

Fried vegetables always excite me because there’s nothing better than taking a healthy food and turning it unhealthy.

Course Four

Now we have a proper salad made with beets and blackberries. I am a big fan of blurring the boundaries between sweet and savory ingredients.

Both beets and blackberries are sweet and go well together, so who really cares if one’s a fruit and one’s a vegetable? After all, in a country in which a harp is considered an animal, anything is possible.

Course Five

The chef at Bastible must agree with me about mixing sweet and savory because the next course was a salad made with greengage plums and green tomatoes. Look how pretty this salad is! If there’s any country that should know how to serve a green-on-green dish, it’s Ireland.

Also, I have to be impressed with Bastible’s salad game because I’m pretty sure that salads weren’t brought to Ireland until 2001. Little known fact: when St. Patrick kicked the snakes out of Ireland, he also tossed out the salads.

Course Six

Finally we come to the main course, monkfish with mussels and potatoes. As an Irish-American, it’s satisfying to eat a rich seafood course like this where potatoes are just the side dish when I know that my ancestors would only have been allowed to eat the potatoes. Probably all the seafood would have been sent directly to the viceroy’s table or something.

Even though monkfish are very common in the waters around Ireland, apparently it was considered bad luck to fish them for many years because they are an extremely ugly fish and Irish fishermen thought they were maybe the devil. Ireland, we really need to work on your ability to identify animals! Fish are not the devil! (And harps are not animals.)

Course Seven

You thought we’d had enough salad, Internet Stranger? Wrong! We can never have enough salad, especially when there is mildly burned broccoli and almonds coming up. I’m assuming the broccoli was intentionally burned.

Burnt broccoli salads are actually really trendy in my hometown of NYC. It takes a sophisticated palette to appreciate the slightly bitter flavor, and the burning adds a pleasing crispiness.

Course Eight

After all those vegetables, a light dessert was most welcome. I desserted on a goat cheese mousse with shortbread and blueberries. This felt pleasantly like a deconstructed cheesecake.

I like having the crumbles on top of the sweet cheese instead of underneath because then they don’t get soggy. All in all, Bastible proves how far Irish cooking has come since the days of my food poisoning. Slainte!

24 Hours in Dublin

What to Pack?

• A cell charger so that you’ll be able to keep taking photos all during your 24 hours in Dublin
• The best international travel adapter because if you’re American like I am, or British like I am not, you’ll need one to be able to plug in electronics in the EU
• The most reliable travel umbrella that is small enough to fit in my purse, but strong enough to stand up to powerful winds during your 24 hours in Dublin
• These great TSA approved clear toiletries bags, so I can always keep spare toothpaste and travel sized toiletries in any carry-on.
• My book Get Lost, that I wrote myself with all my best travel tips. This book will show you how travel can take you on a journey of self-discovery.
• My favorite travel guide to Ireland.

24 Hours in Dublin

How to Get There

Now, I wish I knew where you lived, Internet Stranger, because I could send you a bottle of the finest Irish whiskey. But sadly, I do not, and so I can’t tell you exactly how to get from your home to Dublin.

But I can tell you that you can use an airplane to get to Dublin, and since it’s such a big city, there are many direct flights that will take you straight here in a jiffy. I recommend Expedia for the best way to find the cheapest flight to Dublin.

Just click here to start looking for the best possible deals on your flight, so you can head out on your 24 hours in Dublin.

That’s a Perfect 24 Hours in Dublin!

What would you do with 24 hours in Dublin? Are you ready to start booking your hotel in Dublin? And is a harp secretly an animal? Please email me at stellajane@aroundtheworldin24hours.com and let me know!

Note: If you want to know how I put my travel itineraries together, just click here. Keep in mind that while each article is about how to spend 24 hours in a place, that doesn’t mean you should ONLY spend 24 hours in Dublin. If you have time for another 24 hours in Dublin click here. If you want to add on another itinerary for Kilkenny, Ireland, click on this link here or here to explore Kilkenny hotels.