Can you do something for free in Dublin? When you prepare a trip to the capital of Ireland and start looking at prices for accommodation and the most important places to see in Dublin, you quickly realise that this is one of the most expensive cities in Europe.
DO A FREE TOUR IN DUBLIN
I begin this list of things to do for free in Dublin by a classic that has become popular in all the major cities of the world in recent years: the free tour. Also in Dublin you will have the opportunity to do a free tour in Spanish through the most popular places in the historic center of the city. You must hire him in advance here. It lasts between two and three hours. In this free tour, not only will they show you some of the most relevant places in Dublin but they will also tell you about its history and some of the anecdotes of the city.
NATIONAL GALLERY. MANY PUBLIC MUSEUMS ARE FREE IN DUBLIN
Among the many things to do for free in Dublin we find several museums. The Irish, like the British, seem quite clear about the importance of culture in people’s personal growth, so in this country, most public museums are free. And the truth is, it’s appreciated.
Well, perhaps the best of Dublin’s museums is the National Gallery, a world-famous art gallery that ranks immediately below that of Europe’s 4 or 5 major art museums. Many of the most important Western painters since the 14th century are represented here. The collection includes paintings by Vermeer, Caravaggio, Velázquez, Rembrandt and El Greco. The avant-gardes of the 20th century are also present in this museum, so we can enjoy cubists (including Picasso), impressionists (such as Renoir, Monet or Morisot) or expressionists.
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
Another free museum in Dublin is the Natural History Museum. Maybe if I didn’t get caught in a sudden rain I wouldn’t have visited it, but the truth is that it was for this reason (and, by the way, because it’s something else to do for free in Dublin) that I entered the Natural History Museum.
The truth is that this institution seems to have remained anchored in the nineteenth century. What is shown here is an enormous expanse of thousands of dissected animals (also skeletons) from both Ireland and the rest of the world. Probably, with the advent of the great television documentaries that have brought the world’s fauna closer to the couch of our house, this type of museum no longer has the scientific relevance it once did, so it could be considered something like a reminiscence of the past.
TO WALK ON GRAFTON STREET.
Walking is free in Dublin and any other city in the world. And, in addition, mandatory. One of the most pleasant shopping areas in central Dublin is the pedestrian Grafton Street, nurtured by all types of shops, from large international chains to local shops and souvenir shops. There are also pubs, as in the whole city and some department stores. The truth is, you’re going through Grafton Street more than once. If you are coffee growers, don’t forget to enter Bewley’s Orinetal Cafes, at number 79. Of course, drinking coffee isn’t free, but enjoying the incredible smell of this place is priceless. Walk around there and you’ll see.
In addition, 50 metres from Grafton Street is where you’ll find the city’s most famous statue: Molly Malone (yes, the famous fisherwoman who names so many Irish pubs around the world).
ST. STEPHEN´S GREEN.
Another thing to do for free in Dublin is to enjoy some of its urban parks. Our favourite is Saint Stephen’s which is also one of the most central, as you will arrive from Crafton Street in five minutes walk.
In this park you will find everything you would expect in a green area of a big city. A couple of ponds, flower beds, a lot of birds, fountains and a lot of grass, as is normal in Ireland. The truth is that it is a very relaxing place, with a perimetral part with leafy nails and a central much more open. You can entertain yourself by looking for some famous Irish and foreign statues. Among them writers James Joyce and Tagore.
Another must-see park is Phoenix Park, where you’ll even find some herds of deer living in semi-freedom. But that’s a little further from the centre. The Dublin tourist bus stops at this park.
STROLL THROUGH TEMPLE BAR
Walking around Dublin’s bar area, Temple Bar, is almost a must in Dublin. I dare say that in no other European city is it so important to walk around the bar area of a city as it is in Dublin (if anything, we live something similar to visiting Liverpool recently). The reason is none other than that Irish pubs and traditional music are part of the idiosyncrasy of this nation. You wouldn’t understand Ireland without its pubs, its paintings and its music.
You’ll find hundreds of pubs in Temple Bar (several of Dublin’s best pubs are here), but among the most popular are the Temple Bar Pub, and the Oliver St. John Gogarty. In the latter, by the way, I enjoyed a very good Irish dinner and quite well priced. Of course, neither beer nor food are part of the things you can do for free in Dublin, but you can walk around this neighborhood where you can also find singers or duets in several corners. And on the other hand, nobody is going to tell you anything if you go into a pub with music, particularly if it is one of the most typical ones that tend to be crowded, and you enjoy the atmosphere and the music without having any pint. Actually, it’s a very lively place.
CITY HALL
Visiting the City Hall (i.e. the town hall) is another thing you can do for free in Dublin. There is no ceremony or reception, because I needed three attempts to visit your reception hall, known as Rotonda. The truth is that this room under an enormous dome supported by immense Neocorinthian columns is frankly impressive. Several statues of illustrious men of the history of the city also ornament this exit.
In the basement of the City Hall you can visit an exhibition about the history of Dublin as the capital of Ireland, also free of charge.
CENTRAL POST OFFICE
Mail as a place worth visiting? Well, the truth is, if you go ahead, I advise you. And it’s easy to do so, because Corres’ Dublin headquarters are located in a huge neoclassical building on O’Connell St, the main street north of the Liffey River and accessible from the bridge of the same name.
Well, when you enter this enormous post office it will give you the impression that it has been anchored in the nineteenth century, with its nineteenth-century windows so characteristic. I also thought the janitor was anchored in the past, and shouted baldly, he began to warn the staff that we were there that it was time to close the office.
It was in this central post office that Ireland’s independence was proclaimed in 1916, during the events that gave rise to the Rising or Easter uprising. That being said, a visit to the central correios office is another thing to do for free in Dublin and it is not going to take you more than a few minutes.
WALK ALONG THE BANK OF THE RIVER LIFFEY, BETWEEN THE BRIDGE OF HALF A PENNY AND THE BRIDGE OF CALATRAVA.
Another walk worth taking in Dublin is the one that will take you from the Half Penny Bridge or Ha’Penny Bridge (half a penny was precisely the price of the toll that had to be paid each time the locals wanted to go to the other side of the Liffey) and the Samuel Becket Bridge, also known as Calatrava Bridge, because it was this one who designed it. This is a tour that will take you half an hour to complete.
Not even 100 meters separate the ship from the Samuel Becket Bridge, designed as I explained by Santiago Calatrava. Right across the street is the Convention Center.
