Day 1 — Trinity College & the City Centre
Start at Trinity College. Book the Long Room and Book of Kells tickets online ahead of time — the 9th-century illuminated gospel manuscript and the barrel-vaulted library that houses it are Dublin's single most-visited attraction and queues form fast.
Spend the afternoon walking Grafton Street and the surrounding lanes — South William Street, Drury Street, Castle Market — for independent shops and cafés. St Stephen's Green, a Victorian public park at the top of Grafton Street, is a good spot to sit down.
Evening: dinner in the city centre, then Temple Bar for an hour of the full-volume version of Dublin nightlife before retreating to a quieter pub.
Day 2 — Kilmainham Gaol & the Guinness Storehouse
Book Kilmainham Gaol for the morning — it sells out, sometimes days ahead. The tour through this decommissioned 18th-century prison, where the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were executed, is essential to understanding modern Irish history.
Walk 15 minutes to the Guinness Storehouse for the afternoon. Seven floors of brewing history and brand mythology culminate in the Gravity Bar, where your included pint comes with a full panorama of the city.
Evening: the Liberties, Dublin's oldest neighbourhood, for dinner and a wander through its independent food and whiskey scene — Teeling Distillery is here if you want a tasting.
Day 3 — Georgian Dublin & the National Museum
Morning: Merrion Square and the National Gallery of Ireland, free to enter and home to a genuinely strong European collection including work by Vermeer and Caravaggio.
Afternoon: the National Museum of Ireland — Archaeology, a short walk away. Free, world-class, and undervisited — the Iron Age bog bodies and the Ardagh Chalice are among the finest ancient artefacts in Europe. Budget at least two hours.
Evening: Christ Church Cathedral and St Patrick's Cathedral, both open late in summer for evensong or a quiet look inside. Dinner and pints around South Great George's Street.
Day 4 — Phoenix Park & Traditional Pub Culture
Morning: Phoenix Park, 1,750 acres of parkland — one of the largest enclosed city parks in Europe. Rent a Dublin Bike and cycle the main avenue past the wild fallow deer herd and the Irish President's residence, Áras an Uachtaráin.
Afternoon: cross to Stoneybatter or Smithfield, two neighbourhoods with far fewer tourists and much better neighbourhood pubs. The Smithfield area also hosts the Jameson Distillery Bow St., a good alternative or addition to the Guinness Storehouse if whiskey interests you more than stout.
Evening: a proper pub crawl. Mulligan's on Poolbeg Street, Kehoe's on South Anne Street, and the Long Hall on South Great George's Street between them cover everything that makes Dublin's pub culture worth the reputation.
Day 5 — Howth Day Trip
Howth is a fishing village on a peninsula 30 minutes from the city centre by DART commuter rail — one of the best half-days out of Dublin and simple to do without a car.
Walk the cliff path around the headland (roughly two hours), with views out over the Irish Sea and, on a clear day, back towards the Dublin and Wicklow mountains. Look out for seals around the harbour.
Lunch: fish and chips on the harbour wall, as fresh as it gets, watching the fishing boats come in. Browse the small market stalls near the DART station on weekends before taking the train back into the city for a final dinner.