Dublin Travel Guide

For as long as it's been around, Dublin has looked beyond Irish shores for inspiration. Once the second city of the (British) empire, Dublin has always maintained a pretty cosmopolitan outlook and in the last two decades has conspicuously embraced diversity and multiculturalism. You'll hear languages and eat foods from all four corners of the globe, and while it used to be said that real Dubs had to be born within the canals like their parents and grandparents before them, these days youre just as likely to meet a Dub whose parents were born in Warsaw, Lagos, Cairo or Beijing.

By Fionn Davenport, Writer

Dublin's had a rough ride the last decade or so, but it has retained the quintessence of its true self: affable, easygoing and never forgetting to take the rough with the smooth with a kind of grumpy dignity. I love how small and intimate the city is, how I can go for an amble through town and always meet someone I know or strike up a conversation with a stranger. Forget Paris: Dublin is the flneur capital of Europe, for it still puts a premium on the art of slowing down enough to take in the world around you.

A good puzzle would be to cross Dublin without passing a pub, mused Leopold Bloom in James Joyces Ulysses. A conundrum, given theres at least one on every street, but the answer is simple: go into each one you find. A hundred years later, the centre of all social life in Dublin remains the bar. There are more than 1000, from traditional boozers, such as , to the trendiest watering holes. Its where youll meet Dubliners at their convivial, easygoing best and get a sense of what makes this city tick.