Day 1 — Trinity College, Grafton Street & Temple Bar
Start at Trinity College, Ireland's oldest university, founded in 1592. Book your Long Room and Book of Kells ticket online — it fills up daily. The Long Room's barrel-vaulted ceiling and 200,000 ancient volumes make it one of the finest library interiors in Europe.
From Trinity, walk Grafton Street, Dublin's main pedestrianised shopping street, usually with a busker or two playing. Duck into the streets either side — South William Street and Drury Street have the better independent shops and cafés.
Lunch around South Great George's Street, then spend the afternoon at the National Museum of Ireland — Archaeology, free and criminally underrated. The bog bodies and the Ardagh Chalice are genuinely extraordinary. The natural history annexe next door, nicknamed the "Dead Zoo," is a wonderfully preserved Victorian cabinet of curiosities.
Evening: dinner in the city centre, then Temple Bar for a first taste of Dublin nightlife — cobbled streets, live music from every doorway, and a carnival atmosphere that's worth an hour even if you don't stay long.
Day 2 — Kilmainham Gaol, the Guinness Storehouse & the Liberties
Book Kilmainham Gaol for the morning — tickets sell out, often days in advance in summer. The guided tour through the decommissioned 18th-century prison, where the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were executed, is essential Irish history told through the actual cells and stone-breaking yard.
From Kilmainham it's a 15-minute walk to the Guinness Storehouse. Seven floors trace the brewing process and the Guinness family's history, ending at the Gravity Bar with a 360-degree panorama of Dublin and your included pint.
Afternoon: wander the Liberties, Dublin's oldest neighbourhood, now home to independent coffee roasters, vintage shops, and a revival of Irish whiskey distilling. Teeling Distillery here offers excellent tours and tastings if you want to go deeper than beer.
Evening: dinner around Camden Street, then Mulligan's on Poolbeg Street or the Long Hall on South Great George's Street for a properly poured pint away from the tourist crush.
Day 3 — Georgian Dublin, the Cathedrals & Phoenix Park
Morning: Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Square, the heart of Georgian Dublin — brightly coloured doors, elegant townhouses, and the National Gallery of Ireland, which is free and holds a strong collection including Vermeer's *Woman Writing a Letter*.
Walk to Christ Church Cathedral and St Patrick's Cathedral, ten minutes apart in the old medieval core. St Patrick's is the larger of the two and holds Jonathan Swift's tomb; Christ Church's crypt is the oldest surviving structure in the city.
Lunch: Leo Burdock's near Christ Church, a Dublin institution for fish and chips.
Afternoon: Phoenix Park, one of the largest enclosed city parks in Europe at 1,750 acres. Rent a bike or just walk the main avenue — the herd of wild fallow deer has roamed here since the 17th century, and the Irish President's residence sits inside the park gates.
Final evening: back to the city centre for dinner somewhere off Grafton Street, then a last pub — Kehoe's is a good place to end a Dublin trip the way you started it.