A Dublin city break, done in two nights

Dublin is the city break you can decide on at lunchtime and be in by evening. Around ninety minutes from most UK airports, no passport control on arrival from the UK under the Common Travel Area, and a centre small enough to cross on foot in half an hour.

It is also, honestly, the one destination on this site where going off-season saves you least. Dublin's hotel supply is tight all year. You still save — just not the way you do in central Europe.

When to go

September to March, and genuinely not in summer. Dublin's weather is not why you go, so a summer premium buys you nothing but longer evenings. The city is indoors-shaped — pubs, museums, long afternoons — and that works best when it is dark by five.

Two dates to plan around rather than walk into. St Patrick's Day in March fills the city and takes room rates with it. Six Nations weekends do the same on a smaller scale.

Getting there

Flights from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, Manchester, Birmingham and most regional airports.

From the airport, the Dublin Express or Aircoach into the centre costs €8–12 one way and takes about half an hour. The public bus with a Leap card is about €2 and takes longer. A taxi is €25–40.

Two practical notes. Ireland uses the euro, not sterling. And although there is no passport control arriving from the UK, airlines still require photo ID, so bring the passport anyway.

How long to give it

Two nights. The centre is genuinely small, and a third day is better spent getting out — the cliff walk at Howth, or further into Wicklow — than on more of the same streets.

Where to stay

Around Grafton Street and St Stephen's Green

Central, walkable to almost everything, and the dearest. Fine for two nights when you will barely be in the room.

Temple Bar

Honest answer: don't, unless the stag-party atmosphere is the point. It is loud until very late and the pubs charge for the postcode.

Portobello and the canal

Ten or fifteen minutes' walk south. Quieter, better value, and better pubs than anything in the tourist core.

What two nights costs

Per person, two people sharing a mid-range central room, off-season:

• Flights — typically £30–80 return from the UK. Short, competitive and frequently discounted, but it swings; check live.
• Room — off-season mid-range runs €95–190 a night, against €150–300 in peak season. Sharing, that is €95–190 each for two nights.
• Everything else — budget €70–130 per person per day. Breakfast is €12–22, lunch €18–30, dinner €30–55.

Call it £235 per person at the lean end for two nights, and comfortably double that if you eat properly and drink at central-pub prices.

On which: a pint runs €6–8, and tourist-heavy pubs charge at the top of that. Two people on a decent evening out will spend more on drinks than on dinner, which is the line in the Dublin budget people reliably underestimate.