Temple Bar - Disappointing?

maryishere · 23-04-2014 7:53pm

Several times over the past few months I had visitors (friends / relatives ) from abroad visit Ireland. They had read a bit about Dublin first, and had heard of Temple Bar, and wanted to visit. They were all disappointed..."is this it?" , type of thing. It suited me to bring them there as I was working in Dublin anyway, but maybe in the competitive international list of tourist attractions it is not very impressive. One weekend I brought them down the country to a thatched Irish pub, live music, turf fire, friendly locals, cheaper prices....people hate getting ripped off for drink.....that was more like it.

RDM_83 again · 23-04-2014 8:25pm

I don;t really go out in Temple bar even when I lived there for two years, but it is what it is, yes most of the bars there are overpriced tourist traps but any tourist that makes the slightest effort in terms of research will know what its like, if you have the money to spend its not that bad a place to head out, the Foggy Dew, the Mezz, the Porterhouse, the Palace are all pretty nice and the Turks Head isn't too bad (and these are all just off the top of my head I am sure there is ones I am forgetting or don't know).

What Temple bar is good for is its convenient for tourists, I've been too a fair amount of European cities and sometimes I have wished for a Temple bar equivalent in a city you don't know well its good to have an area where you know there is going to a cluster of busy bars any night of the week.

In terms of the pricing yes its stupidly high in some of the bars but if you compare it too the normal 'tourist bar' mark up which can be expected in nearly any country/city of around 20/30% it actually works out ok, its just that in Dublin the 'normal' price is so high to begin with.

Cianos · 23-04-2014 11:53pm

If there were more alternative spaces (Exchange was one such place which was forced to close up recently) encouraged/supported within the area, rather than facilitating the likes of McDonalds, Costa, Starbucks etc ultimately devouring the place and eradicating any true charm and character, then the drunken messiness would be forgivable.

A cobbled street does not a cultural quarter make.