Things to do in Dublin & the East

At Trinity College, the Book of Kells Experience shows the illuminated manuscript in the Old Library Treasury before you walk through the Long Room, and nearby Dublin Castle opens its State Apartments, Chapel Royal and Viking excavation, while St Patrick's Cathedral and Christ Church Cathedral, which has stood at the heart of the city for almost 1,000 years, are a short walk apart. Free museums include the National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology, with its prehistoric gold and Viking Ireland galleries, and the National Gallery of Ireland on Merrion Square; EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum tells the story of those who left Ireland in twenty interactive galleries, Kilmainham Gaol is seen on a guided tour, and The Little Museum of Dublin on St Stephen's Green includes the U2: Made in Dublin exhibition. Phoenix Park, home to a wild herd of fallow deer, also holds Dublin Zoo, where Wild Lights fills nine zones with handcrafted lanterns in the Christmas season, and the Howth Cliff Path Loop circles the Nose of Howth past the Baily Lighthouse. Families can explore the Butterfly House and Fairy Trail at Malahide Castle & Gardens, and day trips reach St Kevin's monastic settlement at Glendalough, the Italian Garden terraces of Powerscourt Gardens below the Great Sugar Loaf, and the passage tombs of Brú na Bóinne & Newgrange.

Good to knowThe Book of Kells Experience is timed and has no bag storage or photography in the Treasury, and both Kilmainham Gaol and The Little Museum of Dublin are guided-tour-only, so book them on their official sites (resale Kilmainham tickets are not valid). Brú na Bóinne is reached only by guided shuttle tour, only Newgrange runs in winter, and every visitor, infants included, needs a ticket. Dublin Zoo has short winter hours, Wild Lights tickets are for a set date and time and the event closes for three days at Christmas, and rooms at Dublin Castle can close at short notice.