Visiting Dublin in November / December - Buskers / Special "Winter" sights ?

DanTM

Hello guys !

Im getting to Dublin on the 25th of November to listen to Cara Dillon at the National Concert Hall. I will add a 3day stay in one of Dublins Hostels.

One of the main points why Dublin is that interesting to me is its buskers. I`ve seen so many clips of known and unknown musicians buskin in the streets of dublin and rockin like shiat. I want to spend hours and hours with just listening to them.

Question 1. - Will I get to see a few street musicians in November / December even though it may be quite cold ?

Question 2. - What is the tourist situation like in November / December ?

Question 3. - Three days can be a long time and just listening to buskers and drinking in a pub could become a bit boring. Are there any special sights you would recommend to visit "in wintertime" ? Any insiders' tip would be greatly appreciated. ( I`m 25 years old and intersted in everything that has to do with music , "beautiful places" and movies)

Thanks and best wishes from Munich
Daniel

DanTM

DanTM wrote: »

Hello guys !

Im getting to Dublin on the 25th of November to listen to Cara Dillon at the National Concert Hall. I will add a 3day stay in one of Dublins Hostels.

One of the main points why Dublin is that interesting to me is its buskers. I`ve seen so many clips of known and unknown musicians buskin in the streets of dublin and rockin like shiat. I want to spend hours and hours with just listening to them.

Question 1. - Will I get to see a few street musicians in November / December even though it may be quite cold ?
They're always out
Question 2. - What is the tourist situation like in November / December ?
Still busy. We're quite a tourist town!
Question 3. - Three days can be a long time and just listening to buskers and drinking in a pub could become a bit boring. Are there any special sights you would recommend to visit "in wintertime" ? Any insiders' tip would be greatly appreciated. ( I`m 25 years old and intersted in everything that has to do with music , "beautiful places" and movies)
That's our lives you're talking about! We don't really have "Wintertime" here. There'll probably be no snow and the weather will be quite mild 9/10 degrees. It's a great town to get lost in and take lots of photo's.
Thanks and best wishes from Munich
Daniel

Enjoy your stay,

Responses in bold

Oh, and I recommend you stay for the weekend, an you'll enjoy Sweeney Mongrels bar on Dame St. Great bands playing original music.

DanTM

Hey and thanks for that fast answer !

May I ask you about your honest opinion about the temple bar area ? I`ve heared good and bad stories and somehow I fear that this has become a place that is being loved by tourists but hated by locals because of those many tourists

DRUMorDIE

Temple Bar has a few art galleries and are usually free but is an absolute tourist trap since the drink prices can go past 5 euro. Id reccomend taking a wander in The Pheonix Park or St Stephens Green or seeing as your into music, check out MusicMaker on Exchequer Street or Xmusic out on the Red Cow Roundabout, the 2 biggest music shops in Dublin. Hope you enjoy the visit

fontanalis

DanTM wrote: »

Hey and thanks for that fast answer !

May I ask you about your honest opinion about the temple bar area ? I`ve heared good and bad stories and somehow I fear that this has become a place that is being loved by tourists but hated by locals because of those many tourists

From a going out point of view avoid it on a friday or saturday night, just too busy. On a thursday or a sunday it's not as bad and you can have a good night out but it's expensive. From a bar point of view you can't go wrong sticking between George Street/Dame Street/Grafton Street.

DanTM

Thanks guys ! I`m really looking forward to come to Dublin. Will be my first visit to Ireland Have been to Scotland once and if the Irish are as cool as the Scots then it will be a blast.

HivemindXX

Grafton Street seems to be the best place to find buskers, at least it's where I'd go if I was told I needed to find one. To be honest the quality is very variable in my opinion so don't expect too much.

There's a good chance the pre-Christmas orgy of shopping will already have started so there may be even more buskers than usual.

If you're looking for non-musical things to do during the day go to Trinity College and look at the Book of Kells. I went there recently having not been since I was a child and it's actually quite impressive. Trinity itself is an interesting set of buildings as well.

If you're looking for a coffee and cake or something more substantial go in to Bewleys Cafe on Grafton Street. It's been around since 1927 and is a Dublin institution. There's plenty of cheaper places but none with the same atmosphere.

FloatingVoter

....and its late November you're coming ?. In terms of weather, last year was atrocious here. So bring serious winter clothes. Although this being Ireland, this year we'll probably have a heatwave in early December. I wouldn't bank on that though.:)

DanTM

Yep - It`s my birthday on the 23rd of November so that little trip to Dublin is kind of a birthday present from me to myself :cool:

There`s a guy called GuitarDan666 on youtube ...... hopefully he will perform when I walk along Grafton Street. He puts so much feeling in his songs .....

Thanks again for all your advices !

Btw. if andybody knows some good reasons not to stay at the Generator ( Made some good experience at the generator hostel in London ) or Barnacles Hostel ..... please feel free to warn me