Dublin With Kids Itinerary

Dublin Itinerary: Where To Go & What To Do!

There is so much to see and do for 5 days in Dublin with kids! We barely scratched the surface with this Dublin itinerary. I worked especially hard researching fun things that the kids would enjoy that didn’t make me want to poke my eye out.

First, after doing a bit of research, I sat down with the family and we talked about our options. For this Dublin itinerary, here’s what was on the list:

Dublin Zoo
Dublinia
Museums
Historic buildings
Guinness Storehouse
Little cute towns outside of the city
Cultural events
Parks & play areas

Second, after some discussion, I ask everyone:

The dreaming continues. Looking at the websites and more discussing. Finally, each person picks “the one thing”.

Everyone knows that the parents probably don’t want to spend the entire trip at play parks, and kids don’t want to spend the entire trip in museums. So we strike a healthy balance and do our best to keep everyone happy and engaged in the activities. Believe it or not, with this Dublin itinerary we actually got to do almost everything on the list!

Here’s How The Dublin Itinerary Came Together.

Day 1 Dublin Zoo

Dublin Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in Europe, and possibly the world. This was the top pick from my 8-year-old. Unlike many families, we haven’t actually done very many zoo trips (they always seem so expensive, compared to a museum). I’m so glad we did this on the trip! For us, it was really memorable.

Image of 2 kids at Dublin Zoo enjoying the giraffes.

Day 2 Dublinia

This was my 11-year-old’s top choice. She loves history and really digs archaeology too! Who could resist a day in medieval Ireland and hanging out with Vikings! Dublinia offers great activity sheets that correspond with each floor of exhibits. You can ask for them at the information desk.

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Day 3 Bray Cliff Walk

After a couple of days roaming around Dublin, we were ready to see some of the green hills of Ireland. We needed a break from the city. So off I went to talk to the guy at the train station. The station attendant was so helpful! I flashed my Dublin Leap Card and said, “Where can we go with this tomorrow to get out of the city for the day?” He pointed out several villages along the train line and made a point of telling me which towns Bono, The Edge & Sinead O’Connor lived in! Well, off we went the next day for a good hike and some celebrity hunting!

The walk along the coastline between Greystone and Bray was absolutely breathtaking and just what we needed! We had sunny skies and so little breeze we didn’t need our windbreakers! After a quick coffee, we were on our way. The walk was so close to the edge and so high up! We even saw a guy rowing his boat with his dog in it. Pretty sure he went down and back between the 2 villages while we walked the path. At the end of the hike, we splurged on fish & chips for lunch.

After a quick walk around Bray, we were back on the train toward Dublin, but we took some time to see if we could spot any celebrities at their local hangouts. We stopped in Dalkey. What a great little village with cute pubs and shops, but no celebrities for us this time. We were back in Dublin in time for bed. Another perfect day in Dublin!

If your crew is not up for a 3-mile walk. That’s ok! You can easily take the train and stop at each village along the way. They are so cute!

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Day 4 Guinness Storehouse

On our last full day in Dublin, we had our pre-booked tickets for the Guinness Storehouse. Some might think it’s not a place for kids. That’s what I thought before we got there and had an alternate activity just in case. I’m so glad we did it as a family! It was a day full of teachable moments! We discussed science, chemistry, marketing, and we talked about wise decisions. Hubby took a lesson in how to pour (or pull, as they say) a Guinness properly and we all got to sip the drink of our choice at the top of the tower! Kids selected a soda, adults savored a cold Guinness. Truly the best Guinness we ever had! The 360° view of Dublin from the top made it all the more memorable.

Day 4 (cont.) Kilmainham Gaol

While I didn’t originally plan the day this way, it turned out that our next stop was the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) Museum 2016 was the 100 anniversary of Easter Rising. If you are like me, you didn’t cover this in your history class. It’s definitely worth reading up on before you go. Since the whole city was celebrating, we figured we better find a show or read some books before we got there!

That’s just what we did! It was amazingly helpful in allowing us to understand this piece of modern history and how it shapes the Republic of Ireland we know and love today. We (the parents) watched this documentary narrated by Liam Neeson and this historical fiction series, Rebellion.

The nationalists’ stories retold by the tour guides at the Gaol are heartbreaking and inspiring all at the same time. It was a sobering end to the day but created a great opportunity for discussion on the price of peace and independence.

Day 5 Museum of Archeology

The Museum of Archaeology is free, so of course, we wanted to check it out. Since we had an afternoon flight, we did this museum first thing in the morning with luggage in tow.

Pro-Tip: If you have kids, ask to store your luggage in the education area lockers provided for schools – it’s free!

This museum is near the main campus of Trinity College where the Book of Kells Tour is located. If you want to poke around a really old university and see the museum, allow for ample time. Alas, this museum wasn’t one that everyone voted for originally, but everyone was glad we did it in the end. We will do the Book of Kells next time!

Finally, we jetted to the airport; eating our lunch on the bus en route. I would have preferred lunch in the park rather than on the bus, but we needed to catch our plane home.

Well, That’s Our Dublin Itinerary!

We really enjoyed Dublin and can’t wait to go back and see the things we couldn’t squeeze into five days. I’d love to explore the rest of Ireland too.

Ready to plan your trip? Let my other Dublin posts help you put together your Dublin adventure.