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Condé Nast Traveler picks
 Best of Dublin
There’s a new Dublin, a vital, international city. The old Dublin, steeped in a rich oral and literary tradition, survives in pockets. Whether the Irish capital can find the right balance of the two remains to be seen, but the dissonance between them is vibrant and creative. A recent wave of Eastern European immigrants—particularly Poles—has helped to loosen up what could otherwise seem a smugly parochial culture. For visitors, there’s never been a better time to enjoy the city: The natural friendliness of the people has been bolstered by greatly improved standards of hospitality and dining.
Attractions & Activities This is a great walking town. The dark, viscous River Liffey divides the city into distinct north and south sections, and one walk combines highlights of both. O’Connell Street is the axis of northern Dublin. Begin here, on the western side, at the General Post Office, still pocked by shrapnel and bullets from the 1916 Easter Rising and the 1922 civil war. Continue south across the bridge, looking back eastward to the majestic eighteenth-century Custom House. Proceed to Westmoreland Street and take it right into Fleet Street and Dublin’s bohemia, Temple Bar, which is thick with pubs. Straight ahead is the main shopping drag, Grafton Street, with its statue of Molly Malone. Then turn left onto Duke Street for Davy Byrnes, the pub famed for its role in James Joyce’s Ulysses (it still serves Leopold Bloom’s lunch of red wine and Gorgonzola sandwiches; see “Dining,” below). Head east into stylish Dawson Street, or south to the Mansion House, the Lord Mayor’s compact Palladian villa and overture to the glories of Georgian Dublin. Ahead is the 22-acre St. Stephen’s Green, a wonderful park; continue east to Merrion Street, with the Irish Parliament on the left and, to the right, the Georgian classic Merrion Square. Two art highlights are not to be missed. At the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art (north of O’Connell Street), you’ll find the 345-square-foot studio in which Francis Bacon painted his major works. Transported here from London after his death, it is as it was—with both the detritus of his chaotic life and the instruments of his genius (353-1-222-5550; hughlane.ie). And in the National Gallery of Ireland, in Merrion Square, is Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ (1602), lost for 200 years—until it was discovered hanging in the dining room of the Society of Jesus, in Dublin. The stark, chiaroscuro documentary realism gives the biblical scene the feel of a street mugging in Naples (353-1-661-5133; nationalgallery.ie). You could spend your whole time in Dublin and not realize that it’s a seaside city. Give at least half a day to Dublin Bay. Begin in the south, at high Sorrento Point, which looks to the Wicklow Mountains. Progress to the Martello Tower, a Napoleonic-era British-built fort in Sandycove, where Buck Mulligan and Stephen Dedalus launched the debauch of Joyce’s Ulysses. The James Joyce Museum in the tower merits time. (Joyce fans should note that Bloomsday, every June 16, is the culmination of a week of decadence masquerading as homage.) Finish at the northern end of Dublin Bay, in the cozy little port of Howth, with a view of a swath of sand and mud flats running north to the resort town of Malahide. Lodging The city’s most venerable hotel, The Shelbourne, with a prime location on St. Stephen’s Green, has been closed for several years and is due to reopen with very swish new appointments (and under the Marriott brand) in February 2007. In its absence, two hotels in converted Georgian town houses picked up the slack, becoming the city’s ranked properties on Condé Nast Traveler’s Gold List of the best places to stay in the world: The Merrion, particularly loved for its proximity to key government buildings and two classical gardens, and the Four Seasons, slightly hobbled by its more distant location in residential Ballsbridge but popular for its suites’ expansive views of tree-lined streets. U2 fans may prefer The Clarence, owned by Bono and The Edge. This small hotel on the Liffey, in Temple Bar, has modern digs, Irish hospitality—and hefty room rates. A more low-key alternative, Number 31 is a Georgian guesthouse near the action but tucked away for optimal R and R. Two others favored by adherents of hip are The Mercer, near St. Stephen’s Green, and The Morrison, on the banks of the Liffey. Dublin may be one of Europe’s most popular—and expensive cities—but there are a few good budget hotels to be found there. The deep history of Brownes Townhouse includes a raft of eighteenth-century personages and the 100-year tenancy of the Ancient and Most Benevolent Order of the Friendly Brothers of Saint Patrick. But in its 11 individually designed rooms, Brownes’s version of old-world charm comes with such modern amenities as plasma-screen TVs and wireless Internet access. The George Frederic Handel Hotel, on ancient Fishamble Street, occupies part of an old concert hall and keeps the composer’s memory alive with an annual Handelfest. Despite the hotel’s heritage and name, its bar has a DJ every night. Two other good budget choices are in Smithfield Village, a revitalized area around the Old Jameson Distillery: Chief O’Neills and the new Comfort Inn. Dining There are murmurs that the Dublin pub, prone to be either a tourist trap or a binge-drinking mecca, has had its day. Bear in mind, though, visiting Dublin and not eating and drinking in its pubs is like touring Seattle without having a latte. There are moments when a pint of Guinness and a sandwich, both consistently good in most pubs, can seem the cozy essence of Dublin cuisine, though not the bilious Gorgonzola sandwich that Bloom ate in Davy Byrnes (21 Duke St.; 353-1-677-5217; entrées, $7–$32). There are also a few very fine chippies (fish-and-chips shops), of which the best is Leo Burdock’s, alongside Dublin Castle in Werburgh Street. Fish-and-chips are ideally eaten alfresco, from the wrapping, in the nearby park at St. Patrick’s Cathedral park (2 Werburgh St.; 353-1-454-0306; entrées, $7–$9). Dublin can now stand beside any European city of equal size for the style and sophistication of its restaurants. For the movers and shakers, wine bars are the answer. Ely, in a town house off St. Stephen’s Green, was a pioneer of the form when it opened in 1999 (22 Ely Pl.; 353-1-676-8986; entrées, $18–$30), and has now expanded to a second location, Ely Chq, in the Custom House (353-1-672-0010; entrées, $18–$30). At both outposts, a huge wine-by-the-glass list comes with a menu featuring superb organic Irish produce. A wall-length mural of drinkers smiling through their meal adorns Peploes main room. Hazy and pleasant, the painting is instructive: Don’t expect much flash and you’ll have a grand time. Once the waiter remembers to take your order, he’ll rattle off drinks advice and pick the perfect glass for each course. Wine also figures in the sauce on the luscious veal roulade and the by-the-book roast salmon (16 St. Stephen’s Green; 353-1-676-3144; entrées, $22–$38). The Town Bar and Grill is refreshingly true to its simple name, with a friendly bar, a busy grill, and a straightforward menu. The food is resolutely Italian, accompanied by a wine list that features selections from Italy and the United States. The dinner menu mixes familiar dishes—osso bucco with a pea and saffron risotto, beef carpaccio with arugula and Parmesan—with more interesting choices such as ribollita with pancetta and shaved pecorino, vitello tonnato, and roast crown of pheasant with polenta and glazed shallots (21 Kildare St.; 353-1-662-4724; entrées, $30–$40). The polished, French-accented cooking at Mint comes with a great board of Irish cheeses (47 Ranelagh Village; 353-1-497-8655; entrées, $12–$35). Take the quintessential American steak house, combine it with Irish seafood, and set it in a Georgian house on St. Stephen’s Green and you have Shanahan’s, a hit with well-heeled visitors of Irish ancestry (353-1-407-0939; entrées, $25–$47). A more radical innovator is Fallon & Byrne, which has both a wine cellar serving charcuterie and a food hall with a Parisian-style restaurant (11-17 Exchequer St.; 353-1-472-1010; entrées, $18–$27). If you need serious food, the heavy-hitter is Patrick Guilbaud, in The Merrion hotel. With a salon-style dining room and staff and food that are fastidiously Gallic, the restaurant has won two Michelin stars. The prices match the rating, but the wine list has a few smart buys, particularly from southwest France (entrées, $42–$70). Truth in Travel is the guiding principle for all content published in Condé Nast Traveler. Other travel publications often accept free travel and accommodations. Condé Nast Traveler does not. It is independent of the travel industry. The magazine always pays its way, and, as far as possible, its correspondents travel anonymously. By doing so, they experience the world—both the good and the bad—as other travelers do, and their reports and recommendations are fair, impartial, and authoritative.
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