Spotlight: Dublin

From standout restaurants and rollicking pubs to a rugged sea-swimming spot, writer Gráinne McBride plots out the perfect weekend in Dublin.

Born in Kerry, Gráinne went to university in Dublin (twice) before heading off to see the world and working for Condé Nast Traveller magazine in London. Now back in Ireland, she regularly returns to the Irish capital.

While a top tip in many cities is to look up, in Dublin the best approach is to wander in – whether it’s a pub snug, neighbourhood restaurant or impromptu exhibition. The easygoing Irish capital rewards the curious, and often the best fun is to be had behind the most unassuming exteriors. Here are some of our favourite things to see, eat, drink and do around town.

Borrow a hotel bike for a morning espresso at Kaph, then people-watch from the bench outside as Dublin’s Creative Quarter swings into action. Browse handmade pieces and homeware at the Irish Design Shop and Industry & Co, just across the street, or head to the column-fronted Powerscourt Townhouse, with its cherry-picked boutiques. In nearby Temple Bar, Scout is another standout, with its gingham totes and blackberry-scented candles, while Indigo & Cloth is the place for cool menswear. For lunch, pedal over to the Liberties, where a hip crowd congregates at Two Pups’ pavement tables; try the herby Turkish eggs, or black pudding-spiked sausage roll. Afterwards, stroll along Francis Street, with its gilt-edged antiques shops.

James Joyce references are never too far away in Dublin. If you covet first editions, swing by Ulysses Rare Books, where the air is thick with the scent of leather bindings and old paper. Alternatively, call into Sweny’s, a 19th-century pharmacy that popped up in Ulysses. These days, it’s a tiny, cluttered curiosity shop, run by volunteers, with live readings from the book and neatly -packaged bars of its signature lemon soap for sale. Afterwards, cross St Stephen’s Green to visit the Museum of Literature (AKA MoLI). Come for the changing exhibitions then stay for the secret garden, claiming a café table below the gnarled old tree.

If contemporary art is more your thing, visit the vast galleries of the nearby RHA, whose annual Summer Exhibition is a fixture on the city’s art scene. If you prefer ancient history, the National Museum of Ireland, Archaeology is home to petrified bog butter and the exquisite, eight-century Ardagh Chalice, unearthed more than a thousand years later by a local lad digging for potatoes.

After all that history, hurtle back to 21st-century Dublin with dinner and drinks at Bar Pez. It’s where the city’s off-duty chefs head on a night off, for natural-leaning wines and seafood-forward small plates (Connemara oysters, say, or salsa verde-laced squid). Finally, head for a snifter of Dublin-distilled Teelings whiskey in the Victorian snug in Kehoe’s. Drinks appear via the serving hatch, and Saturday nights are always buzzing.

Join the queue under the railway bridge outside cult bakery Bread 41 to see if the sugar-dusted morning buns and cream-filled cruffins live up to the hype. If the wait’s too long, pink-painted Mr French is only a few streets away, serving up note-perfect coffee and Argentinian alfajores.

You’re right beside Pearse Street Dart station, so there’s time to catch the train along the coast to the smart southside village of Dalkey. Dubliners have gone wild for sea swimming in recent years, so follow the hardy crew taking the steps down to Vico Baths. Carved out of the cliffs more than a hundred years ago, it’s a rugged spot for a dip. After braving the Irish Sea, warm back up by climbing nearby Killiney Hill for 180-degree views over Dublin Bay, ending your weekend on a high.