Dublin

The DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) runs along Dublin Bay's north-south arc, connecting central Dublin to the coastal settlements that were once distinct fishing and market towns. Heading north from Pearse or Connolly Station: Clontarf (promenade and the site of the 1014 Battle of Clontarf where Brian Boru defeated the Vikings), Raheny, Harmonstown, and Killester pass in quick succession before reaching Howth Junction. The Howth branch ends at Howth village — 40 minutes from central Dublin, with a working fishing harbour, a cliff walk circuit of the peninsula (about 9 km, 2-3 hours), seafood restaurants on West Pier, and Howth Castle demesne with rhododendrons in late spring. The Malahide branch (north) goes to Malahide Castle and Coastal Park — a 12th-century castle set in 260 acres of parkland with botanic gardens. Heading south from the city center: Sandymount Strand (where Leopold Bloom walks in Ulysses), Booterstown (bird sanctuary), Blackrock, Dún Laoghaire (Victorian harbour town, ferry port to Holyhead), Sandycove (Martello Tower used by Joyce as setting for the opening of Ulysses, now the James Joyce Tower and Museum), Dalkey (village with castle, restaurants, and literary connections), and Killiney (bay view and hillside walk).

The southern DART corridor is Dublin county's most scenic stretch. Dún Laoghaire (Victorian harbour, East and West Piers each about 2 km of waterfront walking, the People's Park on the hill, and the excellent Sunday food market at the People's Park) is a destination in itself as well as the ferry port for Stena Line services to Holyhead in Wales. Sandycove's Martello Tower — James Joyce lived here briefly in 1904 and it became the opening scene of Ulysses — is now a museum containing Joyce memorabilia, first editions, and his death mask (€8, short but atmospheric). Dalkey village has a castle (Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre, €10), an atmospheric medieval ruin on the main street, and a stretch of good restaurants. The James Joyce connection runs throughout the south county: the Forty Foot bathing place below the Martello Tower at Sandycove has been a year-round swimming spot since the 18th century. Killiney Hill Park — free, accessible by a short walk from Killiney DART station — offers one of Ireland's great urban views: the bay sweeping from Howth to Bray Head, with the Wicklow Mountains behind.

The southern edge of County Dublin merges into the Wicklow Mountains — upland blanket bog, pine forestry, and granite moorland accessible by bus from the city center. The Hellfire Club on Montpelier Hill (accessible on foot from the Killakee car park, about 40 minutes each way) is a ruined 18th-century hunting lodge associated with the Hellfire Club scandal and offering views across the entire county. The Wicklow Way — Ireland's oldest waymarked trail (128 km from Marlay Park in Rathfarnham to Clonegal in Carlow) — begins in the county at Marlay Park, accessible by Luas Green Line. The Massey Woods forest walk at Killakee is an accessible short loop through mature woodland. Enniskerry village (just over the county boundary in Wicklow) and Powerscourt Estate (waterfall and gardens) are logical extensions of a Dublin Mountains day — accessible by bus 44 from central Dublin.