Dublin is a great city to visit for a weekend. There’s lots to do, from museums to Irish pubs. Here’s how to make the most of visiting Dublin in a weekend.
Updated: February 2025
Dublin is one of the best cities in Europe for a weekend city break. Visiting Dublin in a weekend gives you plenty of time to see all of the top sights in Dublin, and have a nice break from work. You’ll also have time to explore some of Dublin’s famous pubs, enjoy live music on a Saturday night, and drink plenty of Guinness.
I visited Dublin in a weekend in February. I think February was a good time to visit Dublin. The weather was ok – it wasn’t warm, but it was fine for exploring the city. It wasn’t too busy everywhere as February isn’t peak tourist season in Dublin. And in February, I just felt like I needed a break. I’m from the UK, and was fed up of cold and rainy weather but I wanted to save my annual leave from work for the summer. But I needed something to keep me going until spring. The answer: a weekend in Dublin!
Dublin is just a a short flight from the UK, and flights can be really cheap in February. It’s easy to fly out on a Friday night and back on the Sunday night. The city is small, so despite having just a weekend there, I felt I saw the main things and got a good taste of Dublin. So here are my top things to see and do in Dublin in a weekend.
Friday night – the first Guinness in a Dublin pub
I arrived late on the Friday evening, as I travelled to Dublin after finishing work on the Friday. But the great thing about Dublin is that the pubs are open until late on a Friday night. So, as soon as I arrived at my hotel, I could head out for a quick drink. I had my first Guinness of the weekend at the Hairy Lemon pub (such a great name for a pub, and it had a great atmosphere on a Friday night).
Saturday: Seeing some of Dublin’s top sights
On Saturday, I decided to spend the day seeing some of the top sights in Dublin. There’s lots to see in Dublin, but I spent a while researching and decided that these were the top things I wanted to do in Dublin in a weekend.
Trinity College, Dublin
The perfect start to a weekend in Dublin is a trip to Trinity College. This was one of the places I most wanted to see in Dublin, so I went there on the Saturday morning. It’s the main university in Dublin, with beautiful historic buildings. The front quad was nice in the winter sunlight,
Book of Kells Museum and Library
The real highlight of Trinity College for me was the Book of Kells museum, and the library. I’d seen photos of the room in the library called the Long Room and I was desperate to see it for myself. It’s the library of the university, and it’s a stunning place to visit. The queue wasn’t too bad – another advantage of visiting in February when it’s not peak tourist seasons. And the museum about the Books of Kells was interesting and gave a good background before you actually saw the book. I loved the library.
Oscar Wilde statue
After visiting Trinity College, Dublin and the famous library, I decided to walk around more of Dublin. I walked to the Oscar Wilde statue. This statue is definitely worth a visit. It’s next to the house where Oscar Wilde used to live. I remember reading A Picture of Dorian Grey years ago when I was still at school, so it was great to stand outside the house he lived in.
The quotes written next to the statue were amusing too. It was a great reminder of some of the history of Dublin, and how the famous Oscar Wilde used to live here.
Dublin street life, lunch and River Liffey
I then walked through the centre of Dublin, taking in the Dublin street life. As a tourist from the UK, Dublin felt very familiar. Everyone speaks English, they drive on the left, and so many of the shop chains we know in the UK are there, so in many ways it felt like it could be a small city in the UK. It had a nice friendly and relaxed vibe – maybe more so than a lot of UK cities. There are lots of places in the centre of Dublin to grab a quick lunch. Or, you can find a restaurant for a more relaxed, longer lunch if you’d prefer.
I was lucky with the weather in February to have a sunny day so the river looked lovely. There are some nice bridges over the river which are great to take photos. I enjoyed walking along the river in the sun.
Temple Bar, Dublin
Temple Bar is one of the most famous pubs in Dublin. There’s a great song called Temple Bar as well (which I listened to on repeat for about a week before and after this trip…). It’s a nice pub, and it’s great to visit such an iconic place in Dublin.
I went inside Temple Bar for a mid-afternoon Guinness. It was nice at Temple Bar. But there are so many nice pubs in Dublin every few metres, so without the song and the fame I’m not sure I would have taken particular notice of Temple Bar in Dublin. But it was still a nice excuse to stop for another Guinness.
Dublin Wax Museum
My final stop on my day of sightseeing on my Saturday in Dublin was the Dublin Wax Museum. The Wax Museum was fun and weird, and I still have no idea what the point of most of the stuff was. The wax models looked nothing like who they were meant to (which added to the amusement). There were weird things to poke and make light up for seemingly no reason at all.
The mirror maze was great fun, and that led into an even weirder room with a dinosaur you could ride around a blue-lit room with a cityscape in the background and models of the Simpsons in the corner. Who wouldn’t want to spend an afternoon doing that?! The final room was just as weird, dragons and toadstools and pink trees. If you like weird stuff, this museum is definitely underrated as a tourist attraction in the city!
Saturday night in Dublin: Live Irish Music and more Guinness
Visiting Dublin in a weekend has to include spending your Saturday night in an Irish pub with live Irish music. Even if you’re not normally a big night-life fan, it’s a must-do activity in Dublin.
Saturday night live Irish music in Dublin
Saturday night in Dublin means live music in many pubs. If you want a proper Irish night out, you can do a pub crawl with a Guinness in each pub, taking in the atmosphere of the world-famous Irish pubs. Even if you don’t drink too much, doing a pub crawl on your Saturday night in Dublin will give you the chance to try out a variety of different pubs and different musicians.
Pubs I’d recommend in Dublin are McNeill’s Pub, The Stag’s Head and Foggy Dew. I thought these were the best pubs in Dublin for a Guinness and some Irish music. All of these pubs had a great vibe. But this is Dublin, so you’re never far from a pub, a good laugh with some local people, and a pint of Guinness.
Walk along the river at night
After your pub crawl, you can enjoy a peaceful walk along the river in Dublin as night. Dublin is a safe city, but obviously take normal precautions if you’re out walking at night, as you would in any city. The river in Dublin is really peaceful in the evening, and looks lovely.
Sunday – an Escape Room and more Guinness in Dublin
You can continue your fun times in Dublin in a weekend on the Sunday. If you book a late evening flight home, then you can have most of the day on Sunday to continue exploring Dublin. I’d done a lot of the main sightseeing on the Saturday, so Sunday was mostly spent having fun at an Escape Room and then drinking more Guinness at the Guinness Storehouse.
Dublin Escape Room
On Sunday morning, I did an Escape Room at Escape Dublin. I did one of the escape rooms here and it was great.
For anyone who’s not familiar with Escape Rooms, the idea is that you get ‘locked’ in a room and have an hour to solve a series of puzzles that will eventually lead to you finding what you need to find to escape. The clues in this one were complicated in the sense they were non-linear, but solveable, and we escaped in 57 minutes (wearing some red cloaks that we’d discovered along the way).
Dublin Castle
After enjoying the escape room, I took a walk to see Dublin Castle. Dublin Castle was first founded in the 13th century, although a lot of the current building is more 18th century. It plays an important role as a government building, but it’s also a tourist attraction with some really interesting history and state rooms.
Guinness Storehouse
My final stop in my time in Dublin in a weekend was the Guinness Storehouse. This is another of the top things to do in Dublin, so make sure you give yourself a few hours to enjoy the Guinness Storehouse.
For the Guinness storehouse, I’d recommend booking tickets online if you know when you’ll be going. I didn’t book and the queue was reasonably long, but this was February so I imagine it can get really busy in the peak tourist season. And no one wants to waste important Guinness drinking time standing in a queue in a windowless room.
The museum part of the Guinness Storehouse was good. There was interesting information about the brewing process and I particularly liked the area about the ways that have been used to advertise Guinness. Who doesn’t want to see a fish riding a bike?
The highlight for me was the end of your time in the Guinness Storehouse, where you get to a bar at the top of the building with a great view over the whole city. You get a free pint of Guinness with your entrance ticket.
It was busy and it took a bit of time waiting for a space next to the window to become free, but once you got to the window it was great to be drinking Guinness while looking over Dublin. It was a really fantastic way to end a great weekend in Dublin.
But I have to admit, by this point on the Sunday evening the joy of Guinness was beginning to fade…I was glad this was the last pint…and I haven’t wanted to drink any since…
Enjoy your time in Dublin in a weekend! Ireland has lots of amazing scenery, so you can continue your time in Ireland to see more of this great country. Check out my guide to the best Ireland road trip where you can visit some of Ireland’s best coastal scenery. Or you can enjoy adrenaline-filled outdoor adventures in Connemara National Park. Alternatively, you can head over to nearby Scotland – check out my guides to visiting the Isle of Skye in one week, or spending time in Fort William, Scotland.
