Livelier than ever, the Irish capital promises culture and craic a-plenty – plus wild adventures in the great outdoors, right on its doorstep

Friday

The Winding Stair

This bookshop and restaurant is a local institution, inside a rickety townhouse by the Liffey. Riffle through its new and second-hand titles over a coffee or head upstairs for home cooking of seasonal local produce, the likes of 28-day-aged Irish beef, Dingle Bay crab and chocolate torte.

Gate Theatre

Ireland’s famously literary capital is an excellent place to catch a play. Head to the Gate Theatre, whose elegant 18th-century surrounds have hosted many a historic debut. Irish, European and American classics make up the bill, and you might even catch a movie star sharpening their craft, as Orson Welles and many others did before them.

The Cobblestone

With its wood-panelled walls and well-trodden floorboards, the Cobblestone is an old-school boozer that’s well off the tourist trail in one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods. Billing itself as a ‘a drinking pub with a music problem’, the convivial spot hosts nightly music sessions where traditional musicians and new folk talents let rip-settle in with a good pint.