Shopping in Dublin?

tommy21

So my girlfriend and I shall be making the dangerous journey to Dublin from the real capital :P in September for a gig and a bit of shopping and so we have a couple of days in Dublin. We are staying bang smack in the middle of the city so getting around is no problem. However a few people have said to me that shopping centres on the outskirts of Dublin offer much better value for money (someone mentioned Dundrum Shopping centre?). Is this the case or is it six of one ...? Cheers!

edit: We'll be up there between the 15-17th of September so if anyone can suggest fun/unique stuff to do (bearing in mind we are Irish also!) while we are there it would also be great. Hurrah!

lightening

The Northside will offer better value, Arnotts, Henry st., Clerys, Jervis centre area, check out this thread for authentic Asian food in the area http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055651315

Southside is good too, more traditional restaurants and you have Great Outdoors and stuff like that.

Regarding what to do, what are you in to? Have you been on a city trip recently? What did you like there? There is the galleries and museums, Kilmainham gaol (A must if you are Irish!) The Guinness hops tour...

Enjoy your stay.

tommy21

lightening wrote: »

The Northside will offer better value, Arnotts, Henry st., Clerys, Jervis centre area, check out this thread for authentic Asian food in the area http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055651315

Southside is good too, more traditional restaurants and you have Great Outdoors and stuff like that.

Regarding what to do, what are you in to? Have you been on a city trip recently? What did you like there? There is the galleries and museums, Kilmainham gaol (A must if you are Irish!) The Guinness hops tour...

Enjoy your stay.

Thanks for ideas and link, looks like good eating! I have never been on a city trip in Dublin, seems a bit mad in one sense being an Irishman to do such a touristy thing, but a bit of craic at the same time. Kilmainham jail was one I hadn't thought of! So you think sticking to the city centre (well northside) is as good if not better value than hopping on a bus to these outlet centres outside Dublin proper?

wing52

Hi OP you and the OH could do a lot worse than take the dart fromconnoly to howth and maybe greystones.

It's a lovely trip if you get the weather.

Pensonally, i'd stick around the city centre during the day

there an awful lot of general stuff to see and do.

lightening

Personally, I would stick to the city center. I wouldn't bother with the "molls". Northside is better value sometimes, it has Zara and the like, your missus will love that. But Southside would offer a "nicer shopping experience" for some. Stephens green shopping center and the surrounding areas of Grafton st. are lovely, some great shops and pubs and restaurants.

A trip to a moll would eat in to a good bit of your weekend, they tend to have fast food and no atmosphere, but hey people love them! Maybe more people will log on, people that know the shopping centers better.

tommy21

Thanks for the replies so far everyone. Can I ask if anyone has seen the Chicago production been run by the Gaiety? It's fair pricey at as much as 60 a ticket, but if it was very good and worth it, I'd splash out as my gf loves it!

jdivision

You'll find more shops that aren't in Cork out in Dundrum (balally stop is nearer by the way) and it's cool going on the Luas if you haven't before

tommy21

NBB Bohs wrote: »

How about going to a League of Ireland match? You always get tourists from England, Germany, Scotland, France etc. at matches. You would do worse than taking in a game, either Bohemians or Shamrock Rovers.

My gf would gut me lol.

Sorted

tommy21 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies so far everyone. Can I ask if anyone has seen the Chicago production been run by the Gaiety? It's fair pricey at as much as 60 a ticket, but if it was very good and worth it, I'd splash out as my gf loves it!

It hasn't opened yet but, I believe, it's West End standard and half the price of London. Re shopping - don't believe the nonsense re southside/grafton street...unless you're in the market for a mobile phone! Brown Thomas is the only decent shop left on Grafton Street. The real shopping treats are on the Henry Street strip for all price ranges from exclusive designer stuff to argos and co.
The Dundrum Shopping Centre can be accessed via luas on stephen's green. I personally love it but it's far from cheap...Harvey Nicks, House of Frazer etc. Take a look at: http://www.dundrum.ie/.

After shopping, head back to the streets off Grafton street for some decent bars (you might enjoy the bars/cafes etc too of South William Street and environs). Finally, great little, relatively good value bistro called La Maison on Castle Market, D2.
Enjoy biy!

thegeezer

Restaurants - George Street - has all kinds from Italian to Persian. Also check the Italian in Temple Bar - they have great Italian and Spanish food and the prices are non ROI. Enjoy your stay !!!

lightening

Sorted wrote: »

don't believe the nonsense re southside/grafton street

Read my post again. I said Northside is better value, but you can't just ignore the Southside completely. Great Outdoors, Coast, Tribe are worth a visit. I was just trying to give him a broad shopping experience of the city, it's not nonsense at all.

Anto McC

Personally i'd hop a Luas and go out to Dundrum. It's an all round better shopping experience and has everything you need under one roof, whereas the city centre the good shops are spread from Grafton St to Henry St and everywhere between.

lightening

Anto McC wrote: »

whereas the city centre the good shops are spread from Grafton St to Henry St and everywhere between.

Each to their own, but that's what I like about it! Not one air conditioned box. I like the noises, smells, the sights, the fact that I can snack on crepes, Lebanese or Korean food, choice of coffee joints or pop in to a multitude of pubs for a scoop.

Edit, I see you live city center, so it's daily life for you, but the OP is from Cork and might get a better sense of atmosphere than in a moll.

Anto McC

Lightening, i think our difference is in what we constitute as shopping

As you can see from my location, i'm pretty much on towns doorstep so i have all the sights, sounds, food places and heroic pubs every day (and believe me i'm grateful, i love living in town).

But when i go shopping, i do just that. I don't scoop or stop to eat, i just buy what i set out for and then leave. I'd regularly walk into town with the intention of getting a few pints too and at no point would i consider shopping along the way. Basically what i'm saying is that, for me, there's no cross over but i know not everyone is like that

lightening

Anto McC wrote: »

Lightening, i think our difference is in what we constitute as shopping

Yeah, I'm not a great shopper! I have to make it an adventure, food, haircut, coffee, maybe a few scoops, meet friends etc...!

DublinWriter

Tommy,

If you're into going to Kilmainham etc, check out the hop-on hop-off tourist buses.

Sorted

lightening wrote: »

Read my post again. I said Northside is better value, but you can't just ignore the Southside completely. Great Outdoors, Coast, Tribe are worth a visit. I was just trying to give him a broad shopping experience of the city, it's not nonsense at all.

Oops! sorry lightening but I wasn't referring to your post at all! I was referring to the general pro-southside in the media etc

lightening

Sorted wrote: »

Oops! sorry lightening but I wasn't referring to your post at all! I was referring to the general pro-southside in the media etc

I grabbed the wrong end of the stick there, typical me!

tommy21

Thanks so far all for all your suggestions, some great ones hadn't thought of! Keep em coming:)

tommy21

The day approaches Looking for suggestions on where to eat too, anything except spicy foods, would like somewhere semi-way fancy and somewhere good value also!

edit: maybe suited to seperate thread in different forum?

tommy21

Hey all, just to say back from Dublin and it was a blast. Shopping was excellent, hotel was brilliant value and got to see two shows up there too. 20€ pp return on train is phenomenal, and Jury's was €59 per night per room! Laughing! Most enjoyable trip and thanks for all the advice.