Leap, not tap. Dublin’s buses, trams and trains do not take a bank card at the door; Transport for Ireland says contactless tapping arrives in 2028, so carry a Leap card. The Leap Visitor Card (€8 for one day, €18 for three, €24 for seven) covers Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead, Luas and the DART to Howth; Spar in Terminal 2 sells all three, WHSmith in Terminal 1 only the one-day card. A standard Leap Card charges the TFI 90 Minute Fare instead: €2 for the first tap, then any bus, tram or DART within 90 minutes is free, capped at €6 a day and €24 a week.
The airport coaches are separate. Dublin Express and Aircoach run every few minutes to the quays and Trinity in about half an hour, from around €9 online; neither takes Leap. Dublin Bus 16 and 41 do, for €2, but take an hour. There is no train.
Trinity. The Book of Kells Experience is timed, from €25 online; doors open at 8:30 a.m. Monday to Saturday and 9 a.m. on Sunday, and the first slot is quietest. Every book is off the shelves for the Old Library restoration except the first four bays as you enter, and the Pavilion’s digital show now does the storytelling; Trinity gives no finishing date.
Guinness. Timed and priced by demand, from around €24 on a midweek morning, more on weekends and in summer; last admission is 5 p.m. most days, 6 p.m. on Saturday. The Luas Red line’s James’s stop is five minutes away; the Gravity Bar pint is included.
Free, and Monday afternoons. The National Museum (Kildare Street) and the National Gallery (Merrion Square) are free and five minutes apart. The Museum opens 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday and Monday; the Gallery opens from 11 a.m. on Monday and Sunday and runs until 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Pubs. Order at the bar, pay as you go, and do not tip there. If someone buys you a drink you are in a round and owe the next, so do not join a round you cannot finish. Last orders are 11:30 p.m. on weekdays and half past midnight on Friday and Saturday.
Euro, cards and tips. Cards work almost everywhere, pubs included. Tip about 10 percent in a restaurant if no service charge is on the bill; by law any printed charge goes to the staff. Carry €20 in small bills for stalls and the chipper.
On the day. Save the Kells and Guinness QR codes in Waystop’s Documents. If the day is a Monday, start with the shops and the Green and let the museums wait for the afternoon.