The Irish are famous for their welcoming attitude and in Dublin you will experience this deeply-rooted aspect of Irish culture in so many ways: the helpfulness of the people in the street, the friendly conversations in Dublin Pubs and, most importantly the comfortable and considerate environment provided by Dublin Escape in their holiday apartments.
The personal touch matters in Dublin and for that reason this is one of those cities in which short-term apartment rentals are an excellent alternative to hotels if you want to have a uniquely Dublin experience.
Of course for your convenience this website also offers not just vacation rental apartments but also the most complete range of Dublin accommodation including Hotels, Bed & Breakfasts and Guest Houses
For those on a tight budget we also list all Dublin hostels and other cheaper Dublin accommodation including rooms and even couches , so whatever you are looking for accommodation wise you'll find it here.
We highly recommend the privacy, convenience and comfort of your own apartment so why not start by viewing our selection of Dublin vacation rental apartments.
Getting Around Dublin
Dublin has a relatively small city center with clean, well-managed public transport, including buses and trams, but this is certainly also a walkable city. The "Dublin Bike" scheme, allowing you to use your credit card to unlock and immediately hop onto a bicycle, makes it even easier to get around at your own pace. We highly recommend it so be sure to read our "Dublin Bikes" article for more details on this innovative scheme.
What Dublin has to Offer
As a destination, Dublin certainly appeals to a broad range of interests. With over a thousand years of history, stretching from Viking settlement to merchant riches, from literary greats to the fight for independence, from economic struggle to the recent "Celtic Tiger" boom years, Dublin is a city with a rich story to tell and interesting details at every turn. This variety is reflected in the sheer range of vacation rental options.
We can help you to find the perfect Dublin accommodation, whether you are coming for a romantic weekend, sightseeing with friends, having a stag or hen weekend, visiting on business or looking for Dublin group accommodation.
Our team are Dubliners who have been in this business since the year 2000 and we know Dublin like the back of our hands. You will find that each property page on this website gives a knowledgeable and perceptive description of what the property is suited to, both in terms of ambience and location.
Areas of Dublin
There are some aspects of the Dublin experience that are well-represented in all areas of the city - Dublin's deservedly famous pub culture is something you can sample for yourself in just about any pub and your most memorable nights can occur in the most unpresuming wee establishments. You can, of course, choose to spend time in the pubs frequented by Dublin's literary greats, such as Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift, Samuel Becket, W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Bram Stoker and Brendan Behan, but you may well have more fun experiencing current day wit, which is spread fairly evenly among the populace as a whole and you will find it on parade nightly in all Dublin pubs.
In those pubs, you will notice many people supping at pint glasses full of dark black liquid, topped with a creamy white head: Guinness. The Guinness family have been producing this fine stout in their Brewery at St. James' Gate since 1759 and it is probably Dublin's most famous contribution to the world along with its writers and musicians of course.
For sight-seeing, you should not miss the adjoining areas of St .Stephen's Green, Grafton Street, Trinity College and Temple Bar, all south of the river Liffey.
The long, entirely pedestrianised Grafton Street is Dublin’s most upscale shopping destination, featuring the Brown Thomas department store, which a natively Irish equivalent to Harrods, Selfridges or Harvey Nichols in the United Kingdom or Saks, Nieman Marcus or Nordstrom in the United States. Grafton Street is certainly a good place to wander and pick up on the unique energy of the Irish capital. It can however become a little too crowded at times, particularly during the weekend.
St. Stephen’s Green is a pleasant green space to escape to and recharge your batteries after the hubbub of Grafton Street. You can take a nice long walk around the beautiful designed gardens and the decorative lakes. It can be particularly relaxed to sit on a bench and feed some bread to the ducks but don’t bother speaking to them as they only understand Gaelic.
St. Stephen’s Green is also the starting point for Dublin’s excellent tram service, the “Luas”, on the southern side of the city. Here you can purchase a ticket from a machine using cash or credit cards and in mere minutes you will be gliding at speed out into the suburbs of Dublin and towards the Dublin mountains. The Luas certainly opens up the option of staying outside the city center, knowing that you have a quick way to move back and forth.
At the other end of Grafton Street is Trinity College and again, once you pass through the main gate you discover an enclosed oasis of rarified, old-world academic calm. Founded in 1592, this is one of the oldest universities in the world. You can unwind by wandering the through the various squares or “quads” and enjoy the thought that you are walking upon the same cobblestones as Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift, Samuel Becket and Bram Stoker, Oliver Goldsmith, and many other literary greats.
Temple Bar AKA Temple of Bars is an area that spreads out from the front of Trinity College and the northern end of Grafton Street and down along the river Liffey for a mile or so, all the way to Christ Church. It is known as Dublin’s artistic quarter, although to be honest, it could more accurately be called Dublin’s “tourist quarter”. Packed with restaurants, bars, hotels and shops, rents have long exceeded what genuine artists can afford but, even so, it is still a lively and visually stimulating place to hang out, particularly is the weather is nice. Certainly, the area does a good job of catering to the needs of tourists so you won’t have any problem finding something to do .The atmosphere in Temple Bar pubs tends to be fun although at times, the gangs of stag and hen parties who have flown in from other parts of Europe, particularly the UK, can be somewhat over-bearing but many of the pubs have wisely banned such groups.
North of the Liffey, Northside -v- Southside is the striking grand thoroughfare of O'Connell Street dominated by the "Spire of Dublin", a metallic monument almost 400 feet in height which is illuminated at night so that it can be seen across most of the city - a handy navigation point for visitors who have enjoyed their Guinness just a little too much.
Another famous Dublin export is music. Nothing is nicer then discovering a traditional Irish music band in full flow in the corner of a pub and it was from this scene that internationally loved groups such as The Dubliners, The Chieftains and The Wolfe Tones emerged. Far more famous around the world, however, are the rock band U2 and you can visit their Windmill Lane Studios just a mile or so down the Liffey in Ringsend.
This is where Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen, Jr. recorded their first tracks and went on to make it their "home" studio. Other famous Irish artists who have recorded here include The Corrs, Sinead O'Connor, Van Morrison, Clannad and The Waterboys. The entire street of Windmill Lane is famously covered in Graffiti left by avid fans from all over the world, go down and add your words of wisdom.
Eating Out in Dublin
One good side effect of the long years of economic boom was that the standard of restaurants in Dublin was raised significantly. You can now find pretty much every cuisine imaginable somewhere in the city and the top restaurants really are of world standard. The one downside to Dublin restaurants, however is price. Bills for relatively average meals can be sky-high. There are of course more budget-oriented options but you may well find these surprisingly expensive too. What you generally find is that in Dublin pubs serve the social role that restaurants serve in other countries and, so, eating out is a relatively unusual extravagance and is priced as such.
While you should certainly enjoy some Dublin restaurants, it might be wise to prepare some of your meals such as your breakfast, in your own accommodation - this is another reason why opting for a short-term apartment rental can be better than a hotel.
There are supermarkets, both large and small, all over Dublin, making it easy and cheap to stock up on essential groceries. All of our Dublin vacation rental apartments include a fully-fitted kitchen and we hope you will take the time to look at our selection.
