Tour fun fact: A Trinity College superstition states that passing under the bell tower will result in never receiving a degree from the university.

Irish friendliness and wit are no secret, but perhaps the secret is that this mixture results in unusually good and authentic tour guides.  Dublin, when compared to London, Paris, Rome or Berlin, may not have as much well-known history but it still warrants taking some time to get to know the city beyond seeing it through the bottom of a pint of Guinness.  Dublin’s rich tradition of rebellion, literature, academia and wit provide excellent material for the city’s storytellers to spin a yarn or two.

Here are two tours that I highly recommend:

Dublin Literary Pub Crawl:

I was not going to take this tour but it was strongly recommended by a local, as in someone from Dublin, who has been on it twice.  My wife and I are both glad that we went because it was a very good use of our time and money.

Established in 1988 by a group of unemployed actors this tour seems like the perfect ‘do what you are’ type situation.  Apparently the actors were literature enthusiasts that liked pubs, so bingo they had a business.  Now a word of warning: this is not your cheap drinks pub crawl that is that is about body shots and shot gunning beers.  Rather it’s an informative and entertaining tour given by actors who act out and tell stories about different Irish authors.  It is a unique tour experience not only because of the quality of the content but also because it focuses on one of the most famous aspects of Dublin that can only be understood in a pub crawl, which ironically is usually about quantity drinkers.  This does not mean that it is not still a pub crawl that takes you by fun pubs and makes it possible to meet a lot of fun people, because it surly is.

The program is pretty standard.  Arrive to the Duke Pub to sign up for the tour and have a pint.  From there the group is led to three other historical pubs and through Trinity College while the guides tell stories about Shaw, Wilde and Joyce among others.  While the content does focus on the pantheon of Irish greats don’t worry if you have not read much or can remember anything because the guides make the the info easy to understand.   There are plenty of interesting stories and fun details that are told along the way which becomes material for a quiz at the end.  Yes there was a prize but I won’t spoil the surprise.

There are no drink discounts or free shots so if you are expecting that you will want to give this a miss.  With this said the drinks seemed to be cheaper by .50€ to 1€ than we were paying in the Temple Bar area and other pubs around Dublin.  Surveying a dozen or so pus a pint of Guinness ranged from €4.10 to €6.50 with €5.00 being the most common price.  The pints at the pubs on the tour ranged from €4.50 to €5.00.  If you are looking for an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours in the early evening (the tour lasts from 7:30 till 9:30) then this should be on your radar.  Added tip: They cut the number around 50 people and they will turn people away so get there in time, tickets go on sale at 7:00.

Meet: The Duke Pub- 9 Duke St. (upstairs).

April to October: Every evening @ 7:30 pm

November to March: Thur, Fri, Sat @ 7:30 pm

Sundays: All year 12 noon and @ 7:30 pm

Regular price €12, students €10

www.dublinpubcrawl.com

The Official Walking Tour of Trinity College-

Led by students this 30 min walking tour gives a brief overview of one of the world’s most famous universities, Trinity College.  The campus is not that big and perhaps does not in itself warrant a tour.  However, the student guide, the one that I had anyways, did a good job of giving the history while adding in a ghost story and a few sprinkles of trivia and humor that always make seeing something more valuable.  The tour runs for a solid half hour and costs 10€, which you might think is a lot until you factor in that the ticket price includes admission to the Book of Kells and Trinity College Library which costs 9€ for adults 7€ students.  So for an extra 1€ or 3€ respectively you will get at least a few good stories and some laughs.  If you want to skip the Book of Kells the tour only in 5€.

To find this tour enter into the main gate of Trinity College and you will see a stand just to the right as you enter the courtyard.  Tours run throughout the mid-day at intervals.

I’m sure there are many more good tours in Dublin and around Ireland so please feel free to offer any recommendations and I will try to check them out the next time I’m there.

Happy Travels,

Chris

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