Tourist Information, Dublin

Favorite thing: You can find the tourist office in Suffolk Street in a beautiful 19th Century building that was formerly a church.The staff are very friendly with a wealth of knowledge and will help you with almost anything from your hotel to tours around Ireland and local information on buses and ferries. Inside this beautiful building they also have a small shop selling books and souvenirs and a restaurant upstairs. The tourist office also has locations in the following areas. If your thinking about calling home open an account with www.swiftcall.com, you will save a considerable amount and never use hotels as there is always hidden charges. A new tourist office has just opened in Dame street, beside Trinity College, have not been in there yet so can't give you an opinion.. but will test them soon..

Arrivals Hall, Dublin Airport
Ferry Terminal, Dun Laoghaire Harbour
The Square Towncentre, Tallaght, Dublin 24
Upper O Connell Street, Dublin 1

Favorite thing: Normally we are so tight over here that no one leaves a tip. However, we are starting to take our hands out of our pockets and leave at least a 15% of the total bill.. Of course that is if your happy with the service... Most Irish people don't complain enough and therefore the service won't change. Normally in hotels expect a service charge of between 10 and 15%, this however does not always go to the person that has served you so if the service was good you might want to leave them a tip. No tipping takes place in pubs unless you have someone serve you, it really depends on what you want to leave that person, anything from 1 Euro to 5 depending on how many people you are. Taxi men do expect a tip but l believe they make enough money and never tip them having heard all the excuses of not having change etc. This has changed and you do get a receipt if you want one. Always best to ask as there are some Taxi men out there just looking for tourists to rob...if you feel the taxi man deserves a tip about 10% of the bill is the norm. In hotels porters expect about 1 to 2 euros.

Favorite thing: The legal age to buy alcohol in Ireland is 18. Some clubs and pubs will serve you only if your over 23. Most pubs with bouncers will look for some form of identify... wish l had that problem. The bouncers can be very agressive, when they say no they mean no and no amount of chat will change their minds. My advice is to walk away ..muttering unreconisable words in whatever language takes your fancy, because lets face it, they are not on the door for their intelligence... so the chances of understanding what you say to them are slim. Don't say Pogue mi thon.. that means kiss my arse....and just about every tourist uses that phase. But don't let me put you off, there are some really great pubs and clubs in Dublin which can be a very enjoyable experience especially if your looking for Traditional Irish Music venues, and some really old fashioned pubs where they pull a great pint of Guinness. See my pub page for more information.

Favorite thing: Almost all Irish people are friendly. You do get the odd drunk annoying you for money. We don't have a summer but never mind, its still an exciting place to visit and as l said very friendly. In fact actually we do get some sunshine and you will find Irish people in teeshirts even if it's cold outside lapping up the little bit of sun that comes through the clouds on the way to England...June, July and August are probably the best months to visit Ireland but only for the weather. Then again a lot of people would disagree because our weather is so unpredictable. It's usually warm and its also the liveliest time of year with festivals on throughout the country. During September and October would be a better option if you want to avoid the hundreds of tourists and also reasonably mild weather. You can catch a game in Croke Park of the hurling and football finals.

Other months the weather is pretty bad but no queues. And people tend to be more relaxed. This year 2010 in January the weather has been recorded as the coldest in 28 years with snow, sleet and rain.

Favorite thing: The Dublin Tourism Centre is located on Suffolk Street, at the heart of downtown Dublin, in what used to be St. Andrew's Church (Dublin Tourism bought the church in 1995 when the number of parishioners had dwindled down to only two!). It is therefore very easy to spot, and it's a good place to go to get more information about what to see and do in Dublin. There are plenty of brochures available, and there's an information counter where you can get help booking tickets, among other things. It's also a good place to go when you're looking for souvenirs. I found that most souvenir shops in Dublin were extremely tacky, but I was able to find a few decent items at the Tourism Centre (and I got some more at the airport because believe it or not, there was a better selection and it was cheaper!). We also stopped by a few times during the week to use the public restrooms :o)

The Dublin Tourism Centre is open daily, from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm (10:30 am to 3:00 pm on Sundays). Website: http://www.visitdublin.com

Favorite thing: The Dublin Tourism Centre is located just past Grafton Street on Suffolk Street, here you can pick up free information leaflets and get personal advice on: things to do, what's on, places to visit and to eat and drink. Browse the shop for a wide choice of local books and maps, postcards, prints, gifts and souvenirs.

Favorite thing: As a very tourist-orientated city Dublin is well equipped with Tourist Information Offices. Not only are the offices keen to dispense advice but also can assist with hotel and hostel booking, theatre and concert tickets, bus tickets and information and city tours. Staff are knowledgeable and friendly and between them speak several languages including French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish, English and, of course, Irish!

The main office is on Suffolk Street, in the restored former Church of St Andrew, with other offices situated on O'Connell, at the airport and at Dun Loaghaire ferry terminal.

The tourism website is also well worth a visit with loads of useful info and some downloadable discount vouchers. Click here to get there: Dublin Tourism

Favorite thing: There is a Tourist Information desk located inside the Dublin Airport, so if you arriving by air, this can be a very useful place to check out before you head to the city center.

They can provide you with maps, information about transportation, and you can even purchase your Rambler Ticket from them as well .

You can also obtain information about the outerlying areas of Dublin and hotel information as well.