The Ultimate Dublin Travel Guide

Ireland’s national contemporary-art museum, housed in the 17th-century Royal Hospital Kilmainham — and free to enter.

Viking and medieval Dublin brought to life through hands-on exhibits, in the former Synod Hall next to Christ Church Cathedral.

Ireland’s medieval capital — the 12th-century Kilkenny Castle, the Medieval Mile, and the country’s oldest brewery, 90 minutes south-west of Dublin.

The ‘Valley of Two Lakes’ — a 6th-century monastic city deep in the Wicklow Mountains National Park.

Palladian mansion set in 47 acres of formal gardens, voted #3 garden in the world by National Geographic.

Ireland’s largest Anglo-Norman castle — a 12th-century fortress that doubled for medieval Scotland in Braveheart.

Gothic Revival castle in the Boyne Valley — famous for its legendary rock concerts and the on-site Slane Irish Whiskey distillery.

One of Ireland’s oldest castles — home to the Talbot family for nearly 800 years — set in a 260-acre estate with botanical gardens.

5,000-year-old UNESCO World Heritage passage tomb — older than the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge, famous for its winter-solstice alignment.

See Dublin from the water — paddle along the River Liffey past historic bridges and landmarks.