Dublin City · Ireland
Where to stay in Dublin
Dublin is a city in Dublin City, Ireland, home to about 593,000 people. This guide covers 7 hotels in Dublin, with about 977 rooms between them. Every one carries a published guest score, and the list below is ordered by it.
- Places to stay in this guide
- 7
- Best months
- July
- Nearest airport
- DUB9 km · Dublin Airport
- Currency
- EUReuro
- Time zone
- Europe/Dublin
- Language
- English, Irish
About
About Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, part of the Wicklow Mountains range.
Dublin is in a low-lying, fertile area, not boggy by Irish standards, and with good sea access. It became the core of the Gaelic kingdom of Leinster, and the Vikings established a large settlement by what is now Dublin castle, until ejected by Brian Boru at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. This set a pattern that Dublin was fought for, not fought in. The Normans colonised the southwest and Leinster from the 12th century, and further out they battled with the Gaels, but Dublin sat snug within the "Pale" — the defensive palisade.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Dublin
See
Dublin's top attractions sell out in summer. Buy tickets online in advance if you know you want to see something, especially for the Book of Kells where even early arrivals may find all the day's slots are filled. The Dublin Pass gives you free and fast track entry to thirty-some attractions in Dublin. Adult prices in 2024 are €79 for one day, €109 for two, €129 for three, €154 for four and €164 for five, child prices about half, and days must run consecutively. You'll struggle to break even on this deal as only the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour and the Jameson Distillery and Guinness tours charge over €25; most are way cheaper.
- GPO Museum
- St Mary's Pro-Cathedral
- National Leprechaun Museum
- Hugh Lane Gallery
- James Joyce Centre
- Ha'penny Bridge
- The Famine Memorial
- EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum
- The Jeanie Johnston
- Samuel Beckett Bridge
- Green on Red Gallery
- Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre
Do
- Guinness Storehouse
- Teeling Distillery
- Jameson Distillery
- The Lazy Bike Tour Company
- Walking Tours
- Dublin Literary Pub Crawl
- Abbey Theatre
- Gaiety Theatre
- Gate Theatre
- National Concert Hall
- Bord Gáis Energy Theatre
- The Helix
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
The best-rated places to stay in Dublin
Ordered by guest score as each operator publishes it, weighted by the number of reviews so a handful of perfect scores does not outrank thousands of very good ones. Scores are shown on their own scale.
| # | Place to stay | Rooms | Guest score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Travelodge Dublin City Centre hotel | 95 | 4.8/5 1,586 reviews |
| 2 | NYX Hotel Dublin Christchurch hotel | 120 | 93/100 6,946 reviews |
| 3 | NYX Hotel Dublin Portobello hotel | 175 | 91/100 11,098 reviews |
| 4 | Leonardo Hotel Dublin Christchurch hotel | 182 | 90/100 10,719 reviews |
| 5 | Leonardo Hotel Dublin Parnell Street hotel | 253 | 89/100 16,695 reviews |
| 6 | Travelodge Dublin City Centre, Rathmines hotel | 54 | 3.7/5 937 reviews |
| 7 | Travelodge Dublin Airport North 'Swords' hotel | 98 | 3.1/5 1,678 reviews |
Schematic: the city centre in orange, each place to stay as a dot, distance rings in kilometres.
When to go
The best time to visit Dublin
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Dublin are July. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 19 °C; December is the wettest, with about 120 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Dublin: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Dublin Airport (DUB), about 8.8 km from the city centre in a straight line; Isle of Man Airport (IOM, 135 km) and George Best Belfast City Airport (BHD, 143 km) are also within reach.
Getting around
You can see much of the city on foot. Public transport in Dublin consists of trains, trams and buses. Unlike many other European capitals, the rail network in Dublin is quite limited, so buses are by far the main mode of public transport. Public transport is not run by a single agency, but by a number of state-contracted operators, and most information is provided separately on each operator's website. Trains are run by Irish Rail and trams by Luas, while most buses are run by Dublin Bus, except some local buses in suburban areas which are run by Go-Ahead Ireland.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
DUB · Dublin Airport
IOM · Isle of Man Airport
BHD · George Best Belfast City Airport
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Dublin
Eat
Dublin has a wide range of eating places in all price brackets, though visitors may consider them overpriced by European standards – one factor is VAT of 23%. Cuisines such as Indian and Chinese were slow to appear as Dublin only had small ethnic communities, but they now have a good presence especially north of the river. Indian food is generally North Indian. Chinese food in Ireland has become something of its own thing, with the omnipresent "Spice Bag" an idiosyncratic new food of 21st century Ireland. Vegetarian, vegan and GF options are also now readily available.
Drink
Water in Dublin is fresh and clean from the Wicklow Mountains. The water of Vartry reservoir at Roundwood is commended in Joyce's Ulysses but the characters go boozing instead. Poulaphouca at Blessington was built later, and Sally Gap is the scenic road between the two catchments. Pubs: it's reckoned that Dublin has over 600. You can but make a start. In 2021 you might pay €6 for a pint, glass of wine or measure of spirits, somewhat more in Temple Bar. Pubs are generally open Su-Th to 23:00 and F Sa to 01:00 or later.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Good to know
Accessibility, parking and families in Dublin
How many places to stay in this guide offer each, in their operators' own words.
of 7 places
of 7 places
of 7 places
of 7 places
of 7 places
of 7 places
of 7 places
Questions
Dublin: questions travellers ask
What are the best-rated hotels in Dublin?
By published guest score: Travelodge Dublin City Centre (4.8 / 5 · 1,586 reviews · www.travelodge.co.uk (operator's own guest score)); NYX Hotel Dublin Christchurch (93 / 100 · 6,946 reviews · www.leonardo-hotels.com (operator's own guest score)); NYX Hotel Dublin Portobello (91 / 100 · 11,098 reviews · www.leonardo-hotels.com (operator's own guest score)).
When is the best time to visit Dublin?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Dublin are July. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 19 °C; December is the wettest, with about 120 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Dublin?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Dublin Airport (DUB), about 8.8 km from the city centre in a straight line; Isle of Man Airport (IOM, 135 km) and George Best Belfast City Airport (BHD, 143 km) are also within reach.
Are there accessible hotels in Dublin?
3 places in this guide list accessible rooms.
What currency is used in Dublin?
euro (EUR).
Nearby
Destinations near Dublin
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.