Dublin Castle was originally built in the early 1200s as a medieval fortress under the instruction…read moreof King John of England. For centuries, it was the headquarters of English (and eventually British) rule in Ireland. In 1684, a large fire destroyed a large portion of the castle. Instead of matching the original Gothic style, most of it was rebuilt using a Georgian style, similar to what you'd find in the French Palace of Versailles! It's quite the contrast. When you visit Dublin Castle, you can choose to explore it in two ways: with a self-guided tour to the state apartments or with a scheduled guided tour that visits the Viking Excavation, the Chapel Royal, and the State Apartments. When you first enter the courtyard, you'll immediately see the newer Georgian architecture in the neat red brick buildings surrounding the square. From the 13th century to the early 20th century, the castle was under British control. It served from being a royal palace and parliament to a prison. Dublin Castle was eventually handed over to General Michael Collins on the 16th of January in 1922. Collins was a soldier and a politician who lead the Irish people through their fight for Independence Dublin Castle plays a huge role in Ireland's history and a walk around the grounds is time well spent. Today the castle is a government complex and tourist attraction. Stroll through the famous Chester Beatty Library if time permits

Nice stop for a fancy castle that doesn't take too long…read more Convenient free lockers upon entry. No lines & self guided. They did have audio tour I believe but we only had an hour to spare. Some cool history here w/ the monarchy here & some old pictures from centuries ago to compare. They could have a few more plaques with info in some of the empty rooms.

Absolutely fantastic collection of Irish historical finds…read more The bogs of Ireland preserved things such as fish traps, textiles, lots of gold jewelry, and, most notably, some human beings. The acidic and anaerobic nature of the peat bog was so effective at preserving these bodies that we even knew what the men had been eating. And even more interesting - the methods that had been used to MURDER them so long ago. Because these men had not just randomly fallen into the bog, oh no; there are all sorts of things to learn including why the nipples were cut off! But I will refrain from going in to more detail. If you are interested, and are in Dublin, you MUST go there yourself. It is free so you have no excuse not to. Well, unless you are not interested in things such as I described here. Whatever. Note: there is not a cafe in the museum, and no storage lockers for your bag. Also, I thought the gift shop was pretty boring as it had very few things that were relevant to the museum displays. Which is disappointing as the museum artifacts themselves are very local and specific to Ireland and are extremely interesting.

Wonderful museum. It is in the smaller side and a bit dark but it feels cozy somehow…read more The exhibitions tell a story of the history of Ireland. I wanted to visit to view the big bodies and I was not disappointed. They also had hordes of gold in display which were surrounded by beautiful jewelry. The museum is free.

Loads of fun. I already enjoy these drinks, but I did learn more about Irish Whiskey…read more My friend took notes so that we can try to replicate these drinks at home, we all agreed the old fashioned and whiskey sour was one of the best we've had! Especially when you control the pour and ingredients! Our instructor was loads of fun as well, she gave her drinks she made during instruction to the quiz answer winner. Overall you will receive 5 drinks (plus unofficial "sips" of the whiskies). Not pictured here is the welcome whiskey shot and the ending dessert drink, Baby Guiness, which is Irish Cream and Kahlúa.

We did two different experiences here. First was the tour and whiskey tasting and second was…read morecocktail mailing class. The tour part was not really too fun for us but the cocktail making class was a 10/10. Our mixologist specialist André was the best ever. He was very knowledgeable and dealt with our group of rowdy individuals with professionalism. We made a whiskey sour (the best I have ever had), an old fashioned, and a version of an Irish coffee which was also the best ever! If you do a later tour, be sure to visit the shop beforehand because it'll be closed afterwards so that was a bit of a disappointment. I highly recommend the cocktail making class for sure! Thanks for the fun time and good drinks!

Just back in U.S. from great trip to Ireland--launched by Jody's excellent introduction to Irish…read morehistory as he guided us around the city. Jody had a wealth of knowledge and is a marvelous story-teller. tour was Informative, entertaining, energetic and a great start to our visit!

I booked our tickets for the Historical Walking Tour online far in advance of our June holiday. The…read morecost was €12pp for adults. We met up with our tour guide, Grace, outside of the Trinity College main gated entrance. Overall I enjoyed the tour we had. Grace was very knowledgeable and gave a lot of history of the sights we stopped at: first on the grounds of Trinity College, then through the nearby neighborhood, including Old Parliament and Temple Bar. She also took us to an area close to Temple Bar to discuss Viking settlements, which was neat! It was difficult to hear her for a good amount of the time due to the volume of traffic and the fact our group was on the larger side. I wish that the company might consider this and either make adjustments to group size, look into a portable voice amplifier, or simply have the guide speak in an "outdoor voice." Unfortunately I did not know the area and parked by timed metered parking, so we had to depart the tour early since my meter was expiring! (Oops.) I would recommend the tour, but suggest that you ensure you cozy right up to the tour guide so you don't miss out on any information!

Walking tours are a way to see some of the areas that you might not just stumble across, we took…read moretwo tours while we were in Dublin and both were excellent, the guides are always friendly and answer all your questions. What people need to understand is that these are walking tours that take you around to place were things happened and the guides are telling a story you are not always going to see or experience a ghost, they are stories, maybe you will get lucky and see something, but enjoy the experience, see some things you might not have seen on your own and take in the history of the city. Highly recommended.

Kate was a wonderful tour guide and full of interesting facts. We had a lot of fun on this tour. We…read morewould highly recommend it.

Outstanding tour. Liam was a great storyteller, drawing us deep into the experiences of the people…read moreinvolved in a rebellion and opening up this time in Dublin's history in an easy and accessible way. To add to the experience, he sang us songs that were sung on the barricades. Superb tour.

Passion, history, easy - so accessible. Thomas couldn't have…read morebeen better. It rained, it shined, I learned so much more than I thought I already knew.

This bike tour was a disaster from start to finish. 18 people and one guide on congested Dublin…read morestreets. Yikes! Fortunately only one person crashed and his bike could not be repaired.

Had a great cycle tour of Dublin. Nice guide who was very informative and funny. It's a great way…read moreto see the city and get a good idea what to see and what to do. Would recommend doing this tour!

Niamh and Billy are the best duo. The day didn't feel like a 13-hour day because of how Niamh…read morebreaks up sharing stories, pointing out sites and tying them to songs. Loved learning about history and culture from Niamh. Learned so much and now have a better appreciation for the Irish history. Billy's driving is so smooth- as a person who gets motion sickness, I appreciated his driving skills. Both are very nice. Loved Niamh clarity for expectations. The Cliff of Mohrs is beautiful and wish we had more time at Galway. Definitely a nice way to see the countryside and another town in Ireland.

Our guides were all wonderful--very knowledgeable and friendly. It was great to pay for everything…read moreupfront and not having to worry about securing tickets to the attractions. We also appreciated not having to drive ourselves everywhere; it made the trip so much easier! The downside to not driving ourselves was being on someone else's schedule. We really could've used another hour in Kilkenny; if we could change anything, we would skip the walking tour to have more time in Kilkenny Castle and exploring more of the city. Also, the WiFi on the buses barely, if ever, worked. That's not a huge deal, except we were really trying to rely on WiFi and not paying extra for our cellular network while we were abroad.

Absolutely beautiful location with a great guide who was friendly, informative and fun to spend…read moretime with. Bikes were great too.

From the owner: Dublin’s leading provider of adventure experiences and award winning family run tours, whose…read morepassion is sharing the beauty, history and nature of Howth with locals and guests from around the world. Our eco-friendly activities include walking, hiking, electric bike and boat tours. Howth Adventures are family and friends whose passion in life is to share the beauty, history and nature of Howth with locals and guests from around the world. We go out of our way to create exciting, meaningful, personal and memorable, adventure experiences connecting the stories, people, land, sea and sky in Howth. Howth is part of the Dublin Bay UNESCO Biosphere and our mission is to share this beauty, leave no trace and keep it a unique and glorious sustainable treasure where nature, people and culture can thrive.