I have booked a bank holiday in Ireland, well the ferry anyway.

Can anyone recommend a nice area within easy reach of the city to stay for a couple of days.

Could be nice countryside, coastal or some activity or whatever you know about the area.

I want to stay in a pub atmosphere with live entertainment such as Irish theme and taking 2 Children.
The pub accomadation might be a problem with the young ones though so i would be also interested in other full board places.

Someone must have been.

I've been to Dublin and I know where I'd stay... but it's neither full board nor has a pub style atmosphere. So sorry, can't really help.

There is a seaside resort just down the coast from Dublin which would be great for kids and a short train ride with a regular service into the centre of Dublin .Been there but cant remember the name of it!

That will be Bray. Good pub called the Harbour Bar down by the harbour(!!), and the DART runs regullarly too and from Dublin.

Thats the place,Bray.

me and the missis went last april,we stopped right beside lansdowne road stadium in a hotel called the mount herbert,there was a small station on the end of the road and we had free rail travel in with the ferry tickets,we had a top 3 days.went went all over the place on the train to little towns/villages and we were only five minuets away from temple bar (main area in town centre)the people are very friendly but you'll need plenty of dosh..its about 3 quid a pint in the main area's and watch out for the beggars we saw loads.

I went last year. We stayed at the Paramount Hotel in Temple Bar area. We managed to get a real bargain off the Internet as the hotel had only just opened. Went to have a look at it again this year and the prices were ridiculous.

I'd echo what Kirky said about taking plenty of money. The euro has pushed the prices right up. Nothing is cheap. As our taxi driver said to us, "even fecking suncream is more expensive here than it is in Tenerife, when do we get any fecking sun?"

Also there are a few beggers and also child beggers. I did give money to one begger just for his honesty. He had a sign that said "Please give me money, I want to buy more beer"

Unfortunatly I didn't go on any trips, really wish I had though.

We flew with ryanair and it was about £45 return each.

You'll have a great time.

My parents are off to Dublin tomorrow and staying at the Temple Bar Hotel. Their web site looks very nice. The hotel has a bar and rsetaurant and right in the middle of town. Dad is excited as they will visit the Guinness brewery and the Jameson Whisky distillary. He's happy.

I'll let you know if they discover anything worth seeking out. I'm sure there will be plenty of places that you find along the way that aren't on the map.

Hi Cycleracer,

My parents got back for a wonderful week in Dublin. They enjoyed the usual stuff like the brewery, distillary and the National Stud, where they breed race horses. They also took an open top bus ride around town, where you could get on and off at any stop throughout the day.

The hotel was the Temple Bar Hotel. Nice rooms, very clean and modern. However, it had a disco on the ground floor, which they could hear thumping up to them on the third floor until 3 in the morning. Then the club turned out and people shouting on hallways, slamming doors, plus the noise on the street below from revellers and police. The hotel security couldn't stop all the parties in the rooms either. In 5 nights, my mum and dad didn't sleep a wink. Poor dad, he was pi**ed. The offered to move them but they could still hear the loud music. Apparantly it's always like that at that hotel.

Mum looked for a steak restaurant and in 6 days didn't find one single place that served steak at all. Plenty of chicken and fish and great pubs of course. Dad said the Guinness was much better than at home in England.

So if you have kids the Temple Bar area may be too noisy at night time. But then again, maybe you might like all that hustle bustle and the club scene??! Watch out for pick-pocketers!

Apart from the hotel they had a superb time and the people were extra nice and really friendly. If they stopped to look at a street map, locals would come up and ask them if they needed help and show them the way. Can you see that happening in downtown Sheffield? People knock you down if you''re in the way on Fargate.

So enjoy yourself and take lotsa Euros.