Top Photo Spots in Dublin
Top Photo Spots in Dublin - Best Places to Take Photos in Dublin - A photography guide to Dublin!
Are you traveling to Dublin, Ireland and hoping to take some great photos while there? If you enjoy architecture, history and of course those awesome Irish pubs, then you are in for a treat!
This town is full of incredibly nice people, wonderful things to point your camera at, and great beer. Well, maybe you don't care about the beer, but it's there if you need it!
This list is not in any particular order, but it's a collection of spots I photographed and enjoyed during my visits there. Let me know your thoughts and if you have any additions, be sure and add them in the comments section if you like!
1.) The Temple Bar
When I found out I was heading over to Dublin for my fist trip there, Temple Bar was the first place that came to mind. To me, it represents the city. It's historic, beautiful, and serves great beer. :) I arrived on a Saturday evening, and walked over for dinner to that area and guess what I found out? This place is crowded on Saturday nights! (go figure)
So, I made sure to get up early on Sunday morning, so that I could shoot it without all the crowds. It worked out great. Of course, if you spent a long time there on Saturday night, that does make it a little harder to get there on Sunday morning....
On subsequent visits, I always make sure to get a hotel nearby (even though it is sometimes noisy at night) so that I can get up at sunrise and get to this spot easily. I love being able to stand here and fire away in the cool before dawn and have the entire street to myself.
2.) The Temple Bar District
The Temple Bar (#1 above) sits right at the heart of the Temple Bar District, and is the heart of it in my opinion. The entire area is full of shops, pubs, restaurants, and more. It's really cool and a great spot to hang out, whether you bring the camera or not. Of course, I brought the camera, but hey, I'm addicted to this stuff. I recommend a morning photo walk here too, but that's because my preference is to have places to myself. Sunday morning is perfect for that, because all the tourists are still in bed, and besides, folks don't head out to bars on Sunday mornings anyways.
3.) The Guinness Brewery (and this incredible waterfall!)
Ah, The Guinness Brewery! This place rocks!! I shot around Dublin all Sunday morning, until it started to rain. At that point, I took a cab over to the Guinness Brewery and went on my tour there (self-guided). It's not very expensive, you can take all the time you want, it's very interesting, and it ends with a free pint in their SkyBar with a 360 degree view of the city. It's all good! Plus, they don't mind you walking around with a tripod. It's well worth the visit, just be sure and leave yourself plenty of time for it (I spent ~3 hours there, but I was taking a LOT of pics). This waterfall sits on the ground floor and is one of the first things you see. It's pretty awesome to see an indoor waterfall.
4.) Along the River Liffey
The River Liffey cuts through the middle of town, and is right next to the Temple Bar District. In other words, it's very convenient to pop over here and enjoy the flowing water and the sights. I walked up and down the river, quite a ways in each direction, and shot all sorts of things. There are several bridges you can use to cross, in case you find something interesting on the other side.
5.) Christ Church Cathedral
This is a huge church and I stumbled upon it accidentally, but I am glad that I did. I was walking back from the Guinness Brewery and decided to detour through here. I love shooting in churches, especially in Europe. They are just beautiful, and this one is no exception. And of course, they were totally cool about the tripod, so I just had to wait out a few tourists, and it was all mine!
6.) St. Patrick's Cathedral
While I am talking about churches, how about St. Patrick's? This cathedral is a monster and has a beautiful garden to shoot in as well. Here's a tip for shooting in churches (which are usually full of tourists): plan to arrive a little before closing time, preferably on a day early in the week. I arrived here about 30 minutes before they closed, and it was a Tuesday afternoon. The last few tourists were wrapping it up, and so I had a little while to get all my brackets before they closed. Then I wandered and shot in the gardens, until they closed that. Then I took a cab to the next stop, #7 below.
7.) The Samuel Beckett Bridge
I love this bridge - it looks like a harp to me. It's along the River Liffey, so if you are wandering there as I mention in #4 above, you are likely to encounter it. Take your time here, as there are interesting things to shoot in this spot (for example, that rounded building is cool!) as well as some cool perspectives you can get here. Note that this bridge is for cars and pedestrians, unlike many of the other bridges along the River Liffey, which are pedestrian only. In other words, just pay attention and remember they drive on the left side of the road here!!
8.) Trinity College
Trinity College is a nice little spot. It's a quick shoot, really. Plus, it turns out they don't allow tripods there, which I found out upon exiting while carrying my tripod with my camera attached. Luckily, I had already spent 45 minutes here, shooting to my hearts content. I never saw a sign that said no tripods. Really.
9.) St. Stephen's Green
This is a city park and although it is not very large, I thought it was beautiful. This arch sits at the entrance (well, at least from the direction I entered) and since it was just past sunrise, I was very happy with the light.
10.) Grafton Street
Shooting street scenes in Dublin is something that I just really enjoyed. Grafton Street is one such street. It's a busy shopping street and though I could care less about shopping, these places tend to offer up interesting scenes. I caught this one at a coffee shop - just couldn't resist the bike leaning there!
11.) Dublin Castle
Doesn't the word "Castle" get you all fired up? It does me. I love castles. And while this one isn't your typical tower/moat/princess/catapult setup, it's still quite beautiful and well worth a stop!
12.) Ha'Penny Bridge
This is not a large bridge - obviously - but I find it quite nice, and it's historically important, so there's that. But if you can catch it early, before the town is awake (like in this shot) you can have it all to yourself!
13.) Trinity College Library
Oh my, this place is something else!! I mentioned Trinity College above in #8 but when I was there taking that sunrise shot, the campus was basically closed, as was the library. It wasn't until a recent return trip to Dublin that I was able to get into the Library there. It houses the Book of Kells and as you can see from the shot, it's rather amazing inside!
14.) Dame Tavern
Ok, I admit it - I'm a sucker for interesting little pubs. It may not be your thing, but it's mine. And yes, I mean that both in terms of taking photos as well as visiting indoors for a refreshment. This little spot I found while wandering the streets there. I just loved the scene with all those kegs stacked up outside!
15.) The Four Courts
This place is rather awesome looking in my opinion. It's the seat of the Irish Supreme Court as well as some lesser courts. But since it sits there along the River Liffey, it's hard to resist getting some shots, especially when the skies are all awesome like on the day I took this one!
16.) Kilmainham Gaol (Kilmainham Jail)
This is a historic prison facility in Dublin, which is now a museum. It's a nice tour and the interior is some kind of awesome. The only issue I had was that I could only make it there on a weekend, and of course that means loads of visitors, so plan accordingly, but worth a visit for sure!
17.) The Jameson Distillery
I mentioned the Guinness Brewery above in #3, but wanted to make sure and get the Old Jameson Distillery on here too, it just took me a different trip to Dublin to do so. Darn, had to go back. ;-) I am not a whiskey drinker, but I really enjoyed the tour here and found the distillery to be quite fun.
18.) Bison Bar
Ok, this place may not make it high on everyone's list, and it's doubtful that it hits any list of places you have to see or shoot while in Dublin, but I really liked it! It's right on the river, and happened to be next door to my hotel. I am glad I got in here - I just love places like this! Isn't it just interesting looking?
19.) The Brazen Head
Now this IS a place you just have to go see! It's billed as the oldest pub in Ireland, and certainly seems as though it could be! I was in there with a couple of friends one evening, and several locals seem to have adopted us and just kept talking and talking to us. It was quite fun and entertaining!
20.) The Bankers Lounge
This one is just at the other end of the lane from Dame Tavern, #14 above, so these two are quick and easy to get together. And before you start thinking that all I do is go to pubs, well, I didn't go in this one. ;-) But, I do think that Irish pubs are pretty awesome looking!
21.) The Bank of Ireland
This beautiful building sits just across the street from Trinity College (from above) so that makes it an easy one to grab while you are in the area. I caught this one just after sunrise and loved that warm, golden glow on the building.
22.) The Mansion House
This is the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, and being a fan of architecture I just had to grab this shot. Plus, the fabulous sky behind it didn't hurt!
23.) Graffiti in the Temple Bar District
I do love graffiti, and stumbled upon this entire wall covered in it in the Temple Bar District. If you just wander the area a bit, you can't miss it. It's near a pub called The Foggy Dew.
24.) Chester Beatty Library
This one just caught my eye as I was wandering the grounds of Dublin Castle. It sits basically behind the Castle and right next to a lovely garden, which is also worth a few shots while you're at it!
