3 days in Dublin with kids: The Itinerary You’ll love
Three days in Dublin with kids: a fun, expert Dublin itinerary for families with the best things to see, kid-friendly attractions, family restaurants and travel tips, by a local mom.
Dublin is a great city to visit with kids.
Compact, easy and full of cool activities for kids of all ages, it is a city you can choose as a destination in its own right for a quick city break or add as a stop to a family road trip around Ireland.
I know Dublin well, and so do my kids. Did you know that we live there most of the year?
We have been living in Dublin for many years, have explored the city ourselves and showcased it to visiting friends on many occasions.
So, if you are looking for a tried, tested and first-hand experience itinerary to visit Dublin with kids, we are good people to ask!
On this page, share our favorite Dublin itinerary for families. I have included the top Dublin attractions, the places I believe you should see on a first visit, and stops that are just for kids.
I hope you have fun!
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Three days in Dublin with kids: resources
Stay in a family hotel in Dublin city center: depending on budget, we recommend the Hilton Garden Inn on the Quays, The Maldron Hotel on Merrion Road or the Merrion Hotel.
Get Tickets for Popular Attractions such as the Book of Kells and Guinness Storehouse online to avoid lines. I use GetYourGuide, so I have all confirmations in one app.
Consider a hop-on-off tour: Dublin city center is compact and walkable, but some attractions, such as the Guinness Storehouse or the Zoo, require transport.
A hop on hop off bus tour can be a fun way to include them in your itinerary and see even more of the city. If you have kids who need car seats, this also saves you from having to catch a taxi without one (taxis do not require child seats but they don’t offer them either).
Day one
Morning in Dublin: Trinity College, Grafton Street, Stephen’s Green
I recommend starting your day with a visit to Trinity College and the Book of Kells, one of Ireland’s most significant treasures.
The Book of Kells is a medieval manuscript with incredibly detailed calligraphy and drawings.
It is now preserved inside the historic Trinity College Dublin, one of Dublin’s most prestigious and ancient universities.
The book is exceptional for grown-ups to see, but lately, the exhibition area has been equipped with a fabulous, immersive experience that makes it easy to enjoy also for kids.
The book itself is showcased in one of the historic university buildings: I recommend you start here and get the info booklet for kids available at the entrance. The visit will also lead you into the incredible Long Room, the college historic library.
The immersive experience is further into the campus and has an immersive cinema room, light show and interactive installations that make you feel like you are actually IN the book!
Advance booking mandatory, make sure you include the ‘experience’ ticket to get to the interactive part >> click here for tickets
Playground nearby: there is no playground in Trinity College, but nearby, there is a fabulous one in Merrion Square, which also allows the grown-ups to get a glimpse of Ireland’s Government Buildings.
After the visit to Trinity College, head to nearby Grafton Street, South Dublin’s main commercial street.
Grafton Street is a fun, lively place for kids to experience: it is full of shops (fashion, gifts, sports…) and is always busy with street performers: music and acrobatic shows are always happening here, free for all to see!
Grafton Street is closed to traffic and stroller-friendly.
This is a busy street and later in the day it becomes very busy, but the mornings here are lovely.
The side streets (Wicklow Street, St Anne’s Street) are lovely and full of cafes: my favorite is called ‘Le Petit Parisienne’ on Wicklow street which while not traditionally Irish, as you may have guessed from the name, has good coffee and excellent pastries!
Playground nearby: At the top of Grafton Street there is one of the best places in Dublin City center for kids: St Stephen’s Green. Here you find a pond with ducks and a fabulous playground, full of local kids at weekend.
St Stephen’s Green in a large park and it has a lovely playground, plenty of areas to sit and relax and a pond with ducks.
For lunch, stay in the area and have lunch on South William Street / Wicklow Street
There are plenty of lunch options in the Trinity College / Grafton Street area and you won’t have difficulty finding what you like.
Some places to consider are Dunne and Crescenzi (Italian), Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Poort House (Spanish).
As you walk in this area, keep an eye out for the famous statue of Molly Malone, now located just in front of the tourist office!
Afternoon: Dublin Castle (Outside) and Dublinia
A place I love in Dublin for kids is Dublinia, where they can experience how Dublin used to be at the time of its foundation and in Viking and Medieval times.
Dublinia is only a short walk from the city center, so it works really well for your first afternoon, it is interactive, indoors and educational.
You can walk here via the courtyard of Dublin Castle which is free to access and nice to see.
Again, you will be spoilt for choice when it comes to dinner options, but a couple to seek out are The Millstone (Irish) and the Poort (two Os) House (Spanish) or Rosa Madre (Italian).
Day 2: day trip to Howth
This second day in Dublin is actually my favorite in this itinerary and very much my secret winning formula to wow visitors to Dublin: it’s my Howth Day!
Howth is now an elegant suburb of Dublin but it feels completely different from the rest of the city as it is still maintains the charm of its origins as a small fishing village.
It is a great place to experience coastal Ireland without having to drive or leave Dublin!
Here, kids can see seals in the wild (it’s a fishing port, so the seals come hoping for food!), you can go on a family hike along Howth Head, you can spend time at the playgrounds and have fish at one of the many restaurants serving the catch of the day.
If you are sporty and have good walkers, on a sunny day the Howth Coastal Walk is wonderul!
You can read here >>> all about Howth with kids
Howth can easily take up your whole day and if you have little kids, chances are they will be tired at this point and ready for dinner and rest.
However, if they are not, you can also make the most of the afternoon by going to St Patrick’s later in the day or taking a stroll and dinner around South Great Georges’s Street.
This area is very much the same as the one you visited on your first day, but the variety of places to eat gives won’t make it feel repetitive!
For dinner, you can go to one of the many family-friendly restaurants such as Yamamori (Japanese) or Brasserie 66.
Day 3 in Dublin
One of the best attractions for kids in Dublin is Dublin Zoo, which is hosted in beautiful Phoenix Park.
The Zoo is an easy win for kids but it also works very well for parents as it is a great place to let the kids lose safely and where to get an easy hot meal (we love the Meerkat cafe, with the meerkats looking into you!).
Dublin Zoo will easily take up one morning, leaving the afternoon free for a stop at the Guinness Storehouse, one of the most famous attractions in Dublin!
You may think that the Guinness Storehouse is not a place for kids but actually, it is a really cool place to visit a pretty much any age!
The Guinness storehouse is a beautiful industrial space, all done up to give the visitor an immersive, welcoming experience.
It is worth visiting both for the significance in Irish culture and its location, industrial and with a very different feel from the Dublin you have seen so far.
The place is massive and very much geared towards tourists but despite this, it is still impressive and worth a stop.
The tour of the storehouse includes several parts and a stop at the panoramic Gravity Gar, where you are offered a pint of Guinness (taste it! It’s lovely here) and from where you catch 360-degree views of Dublin.
The kids, of course, cannot have Guinness, but they will be offered a soda!
The Storehouse is really popular so I recommend booking tickets in advance. You can do it here.
A fun place to end your stay in Dublin is the IFI Cafe, in the the Irish Film Institute in Temple Bar.
Here, you can get a taste of Temple Bar, but have dinner in the relaxed and family-friendly IFI cafe, which has burgers and kid-friendly dishes (worlds apart from the messy atmosphere of Temple Bar Pubs!)
Rainy day alternative!
In Dublin rain is possible and, in that case, you may want to replace the zoo and Howth with indoor child- friendly attractions. In this case, I recommend you visit the Explorium (children museum) and EPIC, the museum of Irish Emigration.
I hope you enjoyed my itinerary for three days in Dublin with kids and it helped you plan your stay! Safe travels!
