The 10 best Hotels with spa in Dublin region

About Dublin

Dublin is one of the oldest cities in Europe that offers history, culture, trendy bars and traditional pubs as well as stylish restaurants, international shops and much more. A complete city, that meets the needs of the individual travelers, from those who love sports, that can visit the city during the famous Six Nations Rugby tournament, to lovers of history, which will visit the Castle, its churches and will get lost in the narrow downtown streets; not to mention beer lovers, who can visit the factory-museum of the famous Guinness beer.

Moving around

Dublin's Airport is located 12 km from the city. There are several buses that connect the city and the airport. The following are the most important companies: Aircoach, Dublin Bus and Urbus.
By axi, the cost of the trip is about 16 euros. You will be charged an extra fee depending on the number of passengers, luggage, and transport of animals and also during the weekend.
If you travel by car, you must take the M1/N1 and follow the signs for Dublin.
Dublin is well connected by bus, which connect the neighbourhoods of the centre and the outskirts of the city. The city is divided into zones: if you visit the city for tourism, a ticket covering zones 1, 2 and 3, will do for you: it costs 1.20 euros. There are also urban and suburban trams (LUAS company).

Out & About

One of the symbols of the city is the Trinity College: founded in 1592 by Elizabeth I, an area of 16 hectares located in the centre of Dublin and south of the River Liffey. It consists of eighteenth and twentieth century buildings, gardens and paved squares, open from 8am to 10pm.
Another important monument of the city is the Dublin Castle, on the south bank of the River Liffey. From 1171 to 1541 it was the home of the Norman Lordship of Ireland, from 1541 to 1800 of the Kingdom of Ireland and from 1801 to 1922 of the Irish Parliament for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is possible to visit the interior of the castle with a guided tour every day of the week from 10am to 4:45pm (Sunday 12pm to 16:45pm) for a fee of about 5 euros. The first Wednesday of the month the entrance is free.

The castle hosts the Chester Beatty Library, a library-museum containing priceless works, belonging to Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, a mining magnate who left his library to the Irish people as a gift in the year of his death, in 1969.

The Temple Bar district is the cultural and social centre of the city, because of its myriad of pubs, restaurants, unusual shops and nightclubs. In the '70s the CIE' (national transport authority) bought some plots of land to be allocated to a bus depot, and rented some of the old warehouses and buildings to young artists and independent traders, before starting the works. This led to several records, clothes and book stores, that sold new and second-hand material: they were a hit, therefore the CIE abandoned his initial plans.
If one of your passion is discovering new outdoor markets on Saturdays you can visit the Temple Bar Food Market (food, fruits and vegetables) and the Designer Mart at Cow's Lane (handicrafts and art by local artists) as well as the Temple Bar Book Market, also open on Sundays. In this area you will also find the city's oldest store, the Read's Cutlers, which has over 240 years, and the oldest street in the city, Fishamble Street.

The Christ Church Cathedral, in Christ Church Place, was founded in 1038 by the Danish King of Dublin. In 1038 the Danish King of Dublin laid the foundation stone of what for centuries to come would become one of the cathedrals of the city. The present structure is from the nineteenth century, a period in which the church was rebuilt according to the architectural era. His crypt (1170) is the only evidence of the medieval period of the structure.

The St Patrick's Cathedral is located in the district of Temple Bar and is the largest church in Ireland as well as one of the most beautiful of its capital. Its origins probably date back to the fifth century, although current appearance refer to a purely English style. It is said that it was precisely here that the saint baptised the Irish pagan, with the waters of an existing well, which gave the first foundations of this Christian church.

Those who love beer can not visit the Guinness Storehouse, a beer museum opened in 2000. It's a structure of 7 floors, built around a central atrium made of glass, shaped as a pint of Guinness. The brewery was founded by Arthur Guinness in 1759 and is now one of the most famous breweries in the world.
Other notable buildings, architecturally and historically speaking, are the Four Court, home of the Irish Court since 1796 and the General Post Office, in O'Connell Street, built in 1818.

Other places of interest and entertainment are Merrion Square, a green area surrounded by Georgian buildings, once frequented by writers such as Oscard Wilde, Yeats and many others. Impossible not to mention the largest green area of the city (two times Central Park), the Phoenix Park, which houses a zoo, a castle, sports fields, lakes and gardens.

If you would like to get to know the history of Irish culture in a bit unusual way, do not miss the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl, at The Duke Pubs (9 Duke Street), that offers an intensive course on literature, history and Irish architecture, hopping from pub to pub.

What's going on in

The most important and characteristic annual event of Dublin is the feast of St Patrick, which lasts from the 15th to the 19th of March, a festival full of colours, joy and beer! On the 17th of March thousands of people, including Irish, Dubliners and tourists occupies the streets of the city in one of the most famous parades in the world.
They also celebrate the typical Christian holidays.

The following are the major cultural events: in February the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, which shows the best of national and international art films and the Six Nation Rugby, the world most important rugby competition.
In June, there's the Dublin Writers Festival, an international meeting of writers and poets, which increases its prestige from year to year; in September the Dublin Fringe Festival, the most important festival of its kind, with music, dancing and parades, and the Dublin Theatre Festival, which lasts from late September until mid-October.

Shopping

In Dublin there are two main streets where to shop: Grafton Street/Stephen's Green on the south bank of the city and Henry Street on the north bank.
Grafton Street is located between Trinity College and St Stephen's Green and is home to several trendy shops such as Brown Thomas, Weirs, the city's most popular jewelry and the most famous of the Bewley's Cafés. The nearby shopping center Towncentre Powerscourt is one of the best in town. A few steps away is also The Georges Street Arcade, a covered market, rather interesting. On Henry Street, you'll find the Arnotts Department stores and various shops of clothes and shoes. The famous outdoor market in Moore Street, always has good deals.

What's cooking?

The ingredients of the Irish cuisine are the products of its crops and livestock. The introduction of the potato in the second half of the 16th century has strongly influenced the Irish cuisine. Some of Ireland's most typical dishes are the Irish stew, bacon and cabbage, boxty, coddle, and Colcannon.
Irish stew: dish made of lamb or mutton, (used because fatter and with a stronger flavour), potato, carrots, onions and parsley.
Cabbage and bacon: bacon boiled with cabbage and potatoes. Sometimes it comes with other vegetables like turnips, onions and carrots. Sometimes it's made with smoked bacon.
Boxty: traditional Irish potato pancake.
Coddle (also called Dublin coddle): consisting of layers of pork sausages, chopped into large slices of bacon, thinly sliced, with sliced potatoes and onions. According to tradition, you can also include barley.
Colcannon: the Colcannon is a traditional dish made of mashed potatoes and cabbage (or savoy cabbage), with shallots, butter, salt and pepper. It may contain other ingredients such as milk, cream, leeks, onions and chives.

Weather

The Irish climate is temperate, due to the influence of the Gulf Stream. The prevailing winds (SW-NE) are the main authors of the characteristics western mountains and wild coast. It rains very often. January and February are the coldest months of the year and temperatures range between 2ºC and 7°C. July and August are the warmest, with average temperatures about 14-16°C, although sometimes it also reaches 25°C. The sunniest months are May and June, with an average of 5-7 hours of full sun a day.

Practical information

In Ireland, as in the UK, they drive on the left side. Be very careful when crossing!
Plugs are different from the European ones since they have three poles, as in Great Britain. The ideal solution is to bring an adapter.
Unlike Britain, the official currency of Ireland is the Euro.

So...

Discover a city full of surprises: you won't get bored easily while visiting its monuments, walking through the colourful streets and typical streets or along the river and drinking a pint of Guinness in one of its many pubs