What is the Dublin self-guided walking tour?
The Dublin self-guided walking tour is a walk you take at your own pace, with audio narration on your phone instead of a guide at the front. Allow about 3 hours: 59 minutes of that is walking, the route covers 4.7 km, and there are 10 stops where you stand still and listen. Nobody sets off without you and no hour is fixed.
On O'Connell Street the narration begins with the bronze Parnell made by Augustus Saint-Gaudens and unveiled in 1911, and with the 120-metre Spire that went up in 2003 where Nelson's Pillar stood until 1966. At Christ Church you hear about the Norse king Sitric Silkbeard and a church begun around 1030, and at St Patrick's about Jonathan Swift, dean and buried there, and about the old door said to have given the language the phrase chancing your arm. Outside St Andrew's Church the story is Molly Malone's, and on Grafton Street the Irish words uisce beatha, water of life, explain where whiskey got its name.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 59 min · 4.7 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Polish, Chinese
What you do on the walking tour
Listen
At each stop the audio gives you the history of the place, its legends and the details you would otherwise walk past. The same text sits on the screen for anyone who would rather read.
Cross the river
Google Maps links the stops on either side of the Liffey: 59 minutes of walking over 4.7 km, at whatever pace suits you.
Break off
Take a coffee or an hour in a museum, then pick the walk up again, the same afternoon or another day.
Eat and browse
Tips for food and shops near the route arrive along with the stops. The opening point and the order are yours to rearrange in the app.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of people. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Walk when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Who the walking tour is for
A first visit
One walk puts the Georgian north side, the medieval quarter and the streets around Grafton Street in order and explains what you are looking at.
Anyone who avoids groups
No umbrella to follow and no meeting point: you stay where something holds you and move on when you decide to.
One day in the city
3 hours covers the centre, which leaves the afternoon free for a museum, for the Liberties or for an evening indoors.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Groups of up to 5 work best; larger groups split up, one ticket per person.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
The walk stop by stop: O'Connell Street, the two cathedrals, St Stephen's Green, Grafton Street
10 stops · about 59 min walking · start: Parnell Monument · finish: Irish Whiskey Museum
The opening stop is the Parnell Monument at the top of O'Connell Street, with the Spire a short way down and O'Connell Bridge at the end of it. South of the Liffey the route takes in Dublin City Hall and climbs to Christ Church Cathedral and St Patrick's Cathedral, then swings east to Fusiliers' Arch at the corner of St Stephen's Green. Kildare Street brings the National Museum of Ireland, Molly Malone stands outside St Andrew's Church, and Grafton Street closes the walk at the Irish Whiskey Museum. Another opening stop or another order is a setting in the app, and nothing on the way asks for an entry ticket.
Open the route map ↗
1Parnell MonumentStart
This monument at the north end of O'Connell Street honours Charles Stewart Parnell, the 19th-century leader who campaigned for Irish Home Rule. Augustus Saint-Gaudens made the bronze statue, set against a granite obelisk, and it was unveiled in 1911. Look for the gilded harp and Parnell's words about the march of a nation.
Read the full story →
2The Spire
The stainless steel Spire, also called the Monument of Light, rises 120 metres above O'Connell Street. Designed by Ian Ritchie Architects and completed in 2003, it stands where Nelson's Pillar stood until it was blown up in 1966. At night its tip is lit from inside.
Read the full story →
3O'Connell Bridge
James Gandon's Carlisle Bridge crossed the River Liffey here from the 1790s. It was rebuilt and widened around 1880 and renamed after Daniel O'Connell, the campaigner for Catholic emancipation, and it is almost as wide as it is long. His bronze monument by John Henry Foley stands at the end of O'Connell Street.
4Dublin City Hall
Thomas Cooley designed this domed neoclassical building, built between 1769 and 1779 as the Royal Exchange for Dublin's merchants. In 1852 it became the seat of Dublin Corporation, the city council. Its Corinthian columns face Parliament Street, and Dublin Castle stands right behind it.
5Christ Church Cathedral
The older of Dublin's two medieval cathedrals goes back to around 1030, when the Norse king Sitric Silkbeard founded a church here. The Normans rebuilt it in stone from the late 12th century, and its present look comes largely from George Edmund Street's restoration in the 1870s. A covered bridge links it to the former Synod Hall.
6St Patrick's Cathedral
Founded in 1191 beside a well where, according to tradition, Saint Patrick baptised converts, this is the largest church in Ireland and the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels, was its dean and is buried here. The phrase chancing your arm is said to come from an old door in the cathedral.
7Fusiliers' Arch
This granite arch at the Grafton Street corner of St Stephen's Green was put up in 1907 to remember the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who died in the Boer War in South Africa. The names of the fallen are carved on its underside, and some Dubliners called it Traitors' Gate. Marks on the stone are said to date from the 1916 Rising.
8National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology
The museum on Kildare Street opened in 1890 in a building by Thomas Newenham Deane and his son, entered through a domed rotunda. It holds Ireland's archaeology collections, including the Tara Brooch, the Ardagh Chalice and Iron Age bog bodies. Next door stands Leinster House, seat of the Irish parliament.
9St Andrew's Church
This Gothic Revival church on Suffolk Street was built in the 1860s on the site of an earlier oval church that Dubliners called the Round Church. The parish gave its name to nearby St Andrew Street. Outside stands the bronze statue of Molly Malone, the fishmonger of Dublin's best-known song, first unveiled in 1988.
Read the full story →
10Irish Whiskey MuseumFinish
The Irish Whiskey Museum stands on Grafton Street, opposite the front gate of Trinity College. Inside, guided tours tell the story of Irish whiskey, whose name comes from the Irish words uisce beatha, meaning water of life.
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Sergio– Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
France –
Collected on GetYourGuide