MORNING: Beat the crowds to the Guinness Storehouse
9:00am Morning After we finish breakfast, we need to grab a cab and ride to the Guinness Storehouse. Morning is by far the best time to visit the Guinness Storehouse, the country's most popular tourist attraction. It's only going to get more and more crowded as the day goes on. If you need a quick cup of coffee, we can fuel up at one of the nearby cafes—like Groundstate Coffee, a pleasant place that's a four-minute walk from the entrance at St. James's Gate—and get to Guinness when they unlock the doors. Our tour begins at 9:45 am. The seven levels at Guinness take about two hours to explore.Focus on the exhibits on the second floor, especially one about the on-site coopers that made the company’s wooden barrels for 200 years. The fifth floor is another fave, which focuses on advertising. Turns out a trip to the circus inspired all the company’s most famous mascot. Our tour ends with a pint in the Gravity Bar, a glass-walled bar floating above the building. The views of the city can't be beat. We should head out by 11:45 to meet our next tour.
AFTERNOON: Beer, now whiskey
12:15 pm . It's a 20 minute walk over to Jameson to learn how the family has made this iconic drink since the late 18th century. We have a 45 minute tour (scheduled for 12:30) and a few extra minutes for a tasting.
1:45pm After our tour, we take an hour or two rest for lunch. Can I suggest Bell Pesto Cafe? The reviews are amazing and the menu has italian pastas, sandwiches, fresh bread, nice salads. The prices for lunch are under €20, very reasonable! Ít's a 20 minute walk from Jameson.
3:00pm Next, we walk off our lunch for another 20 minutes and head to the imposing Kilmainham Gaol, a museum set inside a notorious jail dating back to the 19th century. The name alone still gets a reaction from Dubliners, who know it as the place where 14 men were executed by firing squad for participating in the Easter Rebellion in 1916. The place looks like a movie set, and that's because it was where they filmed In the Name of the Father. Our timed entry tickets are for 3:45pm.
Taking a cab back to the hotel, we will arrive around 6pm and get some rest!
EVENING: Dinner, then music at Temple Bar
It's easy to forget that Dublin is on the ocean, and that the seafood here—especially the catch of the day from Dublin Bay—is spectacular. One spot that takes advantage of this fact is SOLE, not far from Trinity College. The king crab legs and other specialties are great, as is the service, but the best part of the experience is the dining room, which looks like something out of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
After dinner, do a crawl through the bars and pubs of Temple Bar. If you love the loud and lively energy of this neighborhood, hit up Oliver St. John Gogarty Pub.
From here you can fan out into the neighborhood popping in and out of pubs—there are usually a couple of different live performances going on every evening. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself dreaming of becoming a regular at these spots.