← 2025 Dublin, Amsterdam, & Italy

Dublin

Dublin was the trip's opening chapter — a city where centuries of history sit comfortably alongside a lively, present-tense buzz. The Ha'penny Bridge arcs gracefully over the Liffey, one of the city's most photographed crossings and a natural starting point for a walk along the river. A few streets over, Temple Bar draws the crowds, its cobblestone lanes strung with lights and spilling over with flower baskets outside pubs that never seem to close. The Brazen Head, tucked away nearby, claims the title of Ireland's oldest pub — established in 1198 — and still pours pints beneath the same low ceilings that have hosted centuries of conversation. Across town, Kilmainham Gaol tells a very different story: a former prison whose grand, light-filled central hall belies the grim history within its cell blocks, each heavy iron door a reminder of the revolutionaries once held behind it. Two of the city's great cathedrals — Christ Church, with its crenellated bell tower, and St. Patrick's, ringed by gardens and lit inside by vivid stained glass — anchor the skyline just a short walk apart. Down along the quays, the sweep of the Samuel Beckett Bridge's harp-shaped span gives way to the somber bronze figures of the Famine Memorial nearby, a quiet tribute to those who left the city behind during the Great Hunger. No trip to Dublin is complete without the Guinness Storehouse, either, where towers of oak casks give way to a walkthrough of the stout's four humble ingredients — barley, water, hops, and yeast — and ends with a pint poured to order, its foam stamped with a personalized "Stoutie" portrait. A short trip out to Howth rewards with cliffside views of the Baily Lighthouse, gorse and fern crowding the path above the water, while back in the city center, Trinity College's Long Room stacks two centuries of leather- bound volumes beneath a barrel-vaulted ceiling — its rows of marble busts standing watch over whatever exhibit happens to be suspended down the middle that season. It's a city that moves easily between solemn and celebratory, sometimes within the same afternoon.

String lights and flower baskets along Temple Bar in Dublin — The Temple Bar, lit up for the evening

A mural for the Brazen Head, Ireland's oldest pub, in Dublin — The Brazen Head — Ireland's oldest pub

The panopticon-style central hall of Kilmainham Gaol — The central hall of Kilmainham Gaol

A rusted iron cell door inside Kilmainham Gaol — An old cell door at Kilmainham Gaol

The bell tower of Christ Church Cathedral against a clear blue sky in Dublin — Christ Church Cathedral's bell tower

St. Patrick's Cathedral and its gardens in Dublin — St. Patrick's Cathedral and gardens

Stained glass windows inside St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin — The stained glass of St. Patrick's Cathedral

The Samuel Beckett Bridge's harp-shaped span over the River Liffey in Dublin — The Samuel Beckett Bridge over the Liffey

Bronze Famine Memorial statues along the Liffey quays in Dublin — The Famine Memorial on the quays

Wooden Guinness casks stacked at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin — Casks stacked at the Guinness Storehouse

Illuminated signage for the four ingredients of Guinness — barley, water, hops, and yeast — at the Storehouse — The four ingredients of Guinness at the Storehouse

Close-up of a field of barley displayed at the Guinness Storehouse — A field of barley at the Guinness Storehouse

A pint of Guinness with a personalized photo portrait poured into the foam, known as a Stoutie — A "Stoutie"

The Baily Lighthouse perched on the cliffs of Howth Head, seen through ferns — The Baily Lighthouse at Howth Head

Rows of centuries-old leather-bound books lining the shelves of the Long Room at Trinity College — Centuries of books lining the Long Room

Visitors beneath a large illuminated globe suspended in the Long Room at Trinity College — The Long Room at Trinity College

← 2025 Dublin, Amsterdam, & Italy