Walking in/around Dublin Area

Rhand

Me and my girlfriend like to walk and enjoy the scenery, and the last few weeks we went for the obvious walks that practically all the foreigners do (Howth, Malahide, Bray's Head), but for next week we're a bit lost for inspiration.

So I'm looking for some nice places in/around the Dublin Area to take a girl for a walk, enjoy the scenery, take pictures, etc. Prefer some hilly area close to the sea, but everything will do!

As we don't have a car or a bike, we need to be able to reach it with public transportation.

Do you have some tips?

ElleEm

What about Skerries? It has the beach, beside the sea, etc. Easy to get to by
DART. Ardgillan Caslte is in Skerries and is lovely to walk around.

trishasaffron

Take the dart to Dun Laoghaire - visit the Endurance exhibition, walk along the seafront to the Martello Tower in Sandycove, it is also a Joyce Museum, entry is free, the views from the top are stupendous. Then walk past Bullock Harbour in to Dalkey where you can have drinks/coffees/meals and get the Dart back to the city.

Enjoy.

P_1

Take a walk out along the South Bull Wall, brilliant views of Howth, the southside and a very interesting perspective of the city center from the lighthouse at the end of it.

hfallada

You could walk the pier in dun laoighire which is far nicer and twice the size of howth. Or walk the quarry in Dalkey.

Glasnevin has the cementry which is kinda nice and the botanic gardens which is really nice and you could kill a few hours in. But I dont know if theyre is many plants visible at the moment.

Duvetdays

Take the dart to killiney, walk killiney hill & dalkey hill then down to dalkey village for some lunch, then dart from dalkey home. Really nice views from the top of the hills.

Lawrence1895

Howth Head is nice indeed, a lovely scenery up there.

Or the Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin Cemetary (if you are interested in historic tombstones), a walk down the Canal (like Portobello) or one of the parks, for example Stephen's Green.

admiralofthefleet

ElleEm wrote: »

What about Skerries? It has the beach, beside the sea, etc. Easy to get to by
DART. Ardgillan Caslte is in Skerries and is lovely to walk around.

the DART doesnt go as far as skerries

op howth and malahide are lovely seaside villages, they are both easy to get to by DART

ElleEm

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

the DART doesnt go as far as skerries

op howth and malahide are lovely seaside villages, they are both easy to get to by DART

Sorry, I meant the train. Its just over a half hour from Connolly on the train.

liffeylite

Not hilly or seaside, but a walk through some of the nice suburbs is lovely on a sunny day. The houses, churches and Georgian squares around Rathmines, Ranelagh, Donnybrook, Ballsbridge and Sandymount are beautiful. And plenty of places to stop at for drinks or food in each village.

The fact they all sit next to each other means you can walk though each one. maybe get the Luas to Ranelagh and head east to Sandymount, through the villages, Herbert Park and finish up at Sandymount beach.

If you pick your day, you can coincide it with the markets run in Ranelagh.

Rhand

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. Got enough stuff for a few weekends now, but keep the ideas coming!

dd972

North Bull Wall walk out past Dollymount Strand off the Clontarf Road is a favourite of mine, carvery in The Yacht is savage as well.

ProudDUB

OP, I know that you said that you have done Howth, but do you know about the cliff walk around Howth Head, that starts in Sutton? I don't think it is as well known as the ones that start in Howth Village or up at the Summit. It is absolutely gorgeous. It starts just after the Martello Tower & the 31 bus (the one that goes to Howth Summit) stops just 5 mins away from it. Do a Martello Tower, Sutton search on Google Maps, and you'll be able to plot your way to it from the bus stop.

There is also a lovely cliff walk between Donabate and Portrane Beaches. It's about a mile or so from the Donabate train station to the beach. The walk starts to the left of the Waterside House Hotel. The beach at Donabate is lovely to walk on, but its not that long and if the tide is in, you can't walk on it at all as the tide comes very far in.

Portmarnock also has a gorgeous beach. It is very long, so you can get a good long stretch of your legs. The tide does not come all the way in, so you can walk on it no matter the time of day. Once you are done with the beach, the walk along the coast road into Malahide is fab !

Dord

Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin is quite nice for a walk.

Cianos

ProudDUB wrote: »

OP, I know that you said that you have done Howth, but do you know about the cliff walk around Howth Head, that starts in Sutton? I don't think it is as well known as the ones that start in Howth Village or up at the Summit. It is absolutely gorgeous. It starts just after the Martello Tower & the 31 bus (the one that goes to Howth Summit) stops just 5 mins away from it. Do a Martello Tower, Sutton search on Google Maps, and you'll be able to plot your way to it from the bus stop.

There is also a lovely cliff walk between Donabate and Portrane Beaches. It's about a mile or so from the Donabate train station to the beach. The walk starts to the left of the Waterside House Hotel. The beach at Donabate is lovely to walk on, but its not that long and if the tide is in, you can't walk on it at all as the tide comes very far in.

I was going to say the same thing about Bray to Greystones - the cliff walk around Bray head is really nice.

aaabbbb

ProudDUB wrote: »

OP,

There is also a lovely cliff walk between Donabate and Portrane Beaches. It's about a mile or so from the Donabate train station to the beach. The walk starts to the left of the Waterside House Hotel. The beach at Donabate is lovely to walk on, but its not that long and if the tide is in, you can't walk on it at all as the tide comes very far in.

You could get the 33B either OP from the station in Donabate to Portranne which would leave you the other-side of the cliffs and you could walk towards the hotel and have lunch at the end

Gillo

ElleEm wrote: »

What about Skerries? It has the beach, beside the sea, etc. Easy to get to by
DART. Ardgillan Caslte is in Skerries and is lovely to walk around.

It's the Drogheda Suburban train not the DART to Skerries, check the times as its not as frequent as the DART. It's a really nice town with so decent coffee shops and pubs for some post walk refreshment.

If you do go there's an island you can walk out to, as the tide comes in and you'll get stuck there.

Ardgillan is great to visit too, you are better off getting the 33 bus and getting off at the ladies stairs, just ask the driver to tell you when to get off.

John_Rambo

No real hills, but if you cross the wooden bridge at the bull wall and turn left at the crows nest scout den and march to the end of the island along the salt marshes, then go back via the beech or through the dunes you will have a cracking walk with plenty of wildlife including the seal colony at the end of the island.

HivemindXX

Enniskerry is one suggestion. There are hills but not much sea apart from the odd view in the distance. You can get the 44 or 185 bus there. Powerscourt is nearby which is very pretty, but does charge entry. There should be plenty of free walks in the hills (cycling is more my thing, but I see walkers there frequently).

There are some great forest walks in Wicklow, unfortunately most of them don't have public transport routes right to them. If you were willing to walk a couple of km from the nearest bus then there are a number of forest trails in the area. The 44B or 161 are probably the best for this.
http://www.dublinmountains.ie/recreation_sites/ticknock/

Cienciano

I assume you've been to the phoenix park OP, but across the river is the National War Memorial Gardens. It's a good place for a stroll around and some photos.
Marlay Park is nice too, it has a market there too (not sure what days) for some nice food afterwards.
Personally I'd go for South Bull Wall (I think a bus goes right out there) or Howth. Howth is probably better cos you have the cliff walk, the piers, loads of pubs, cafes, restaurants and the dart to get you there.

P_1

Cienciano wrote: »

I assume you've been to the phoenix park OP, but across the river is the National War Memorial Gardens. It's a good place for a stroll around and some photos.
Marlay Park is nice too, it has a market there too (not sure what days) for some nice food afterwards.
Personally I'd go for South Bull Wall (I think a bus goes right out there) or Howth. Howth is probably better cos you have the cliff walk, the piers, loads of pubs, cafes, restaurants and the dart to get you there.

War Memorial Gardens is a cracking walk.

It's a shame the West Gate of the Museum of Modern Arts is closed at the moment, you could have a lovely walk from Stephens Green up to Chapolizod if it weren't

homerun_homer

Poolbeg lighthouse walk is one I'm looking forward to doing, heard it's a nice walk.

Cienciano

If you're doing south bull wall with your girlfriend make sure she's wearing decent shoes. It's not exactly as smooth as Dun Laoghaire, you won't be roller blading out to it
It's not too bad, just wouldn't wear anything with heals, or a flip flops.

Rhand

Duvetdays wrote: »

Take the dart to killiney, walk killiney hill & dalkey hill then down to dalkey village for some lunch, then dart from dalkey home. Really nice views from the top of the hills.

Going to do this one tomorrow, hopefully it will be sunny