Where to stay in Dublin: the best neighbourhoods (2026)
Plenty of cities are noisy at the weekend. Dublin is not noisy only at the weekend: music sessions run seven nights out of seven, from the Cobblestone to O'Donoghue's, and booking a Tuesday protects you from nothing. The first criterion here is not the view, it is the number of streets between your bed and the music.
The Liffey gives you the simplest landmark: pubs and the highest rates to the south, cheaper beds a ten-minute walk to the north. A good central three-star asks between 90 and 160 EUR, a dorm bed between 30 and 50, and those figures double at Saint Patrick's or on a rugby weekend. For each of the five areas below, you will know what you can hear at night.
The streets are lively every day of the week, with live music from Monday to Sunday in the famous pubs of this city that never sleeps.
Compare hotel prices in Dublin
In a hurry? Find the best accommodation deals in 3 clicks.
Compare live deals from Booking, Expedia, Agoda and other partners.
At a glance: our picks by traveller type
Pick the profile that suits you to head straight to the recommended neighbourhood.
The neighbourhood map in Dublin
Get your bearings on the neighbourhoods and must-see sights before choosing where to drop your bags. Click a name to jump to its description.
Trinity, Temple Bar and Dame Street South bank, the tourist core
for a first visit, if noise does not scare you
Everything you come to see the first time sits inside this square: the Trinity College Library and its Book of Kells, Dublin Castle, and the Chester Beatty, which is free. The library fills up fast, and labaroudeuzh gives you the right reflex: « It is a must-see in Dublin, but to get the most out of your visit, choose off-peak hours to enjoy the peace and the grandeur of the place. ». Sleeping next door makes that easy. The known downside: the streets of Temple Bar stay loud until the clubs close, around three in the morning. You go out there, you sleep one street away.
What to see & do in the area
Where to stay in this area
The College Green Hotel Dublin Luxury
The 19th-century bank facing Trinity, turned into a hotel: a glass roof, a bar set in the old vaults, and the campus across the street.
The Morgan Mid-range
A design address in the heart of Temple Bar, with soundproofed rooms and a cocktail bar downstairs: the party outside, the quiet inside.
Barnacles Temple Bar Budget
The hostel planted in the middle of the party, on Temple Lane. Clean dorms, a shared kitchen and breakfast included: the floor price for sleeping inside the tourist square.
Pros
- Trinity, the castle and the Chester Beatty on foot
- Both banks linked by the Ha'penny Bridge
Cons
- Noise until the clubs close
- The city's highest rates
St Stephen's Green and Georgian Dublin South bank, south-east
to sleep quietly without leaving the centre
Red brick, lacquered doors and black railings: this is the Dublin people photograph without knowing it. The Green and its swans, Grafton Street and its buskers, then the free national museums around Merrion Square, including Archaeology and its Viking gold. It is the quietest part of the centre, and that is the reason to take a room here. Two reservations: rates match Temple Bar's, and the lower end of Harcourt Street is a row of nightclubs, so ask for a room at the back.
What to see & do in the area
Where to stay in this area
The Shelbourne Luxury
The 1824 house on the Green, where the Irish constitution was drafted in suite 112. The park at the door, Grafton Street three minutes away.
Buswells Hotel Mid-range
Three Georgian houses facing parliament, joined into a 55-room hotel. Mouldings, open fires and a clientele of deputies at the bar.
Albany House Budget
A Georgian house at the top of Harcourt Street, run as a family guesthouse: wooden floors, high ceilings, breakfast included and a lift. Ask for a room at the back, the street is busy.
Pros
- The free national museums on foot
- The quietest part of the centre
Cons
- Top-of-the-range rates
- Little going on at night beyond the restaurants
The Liberties and the two cathedrals South bank, west
for the cathedrals, the Guinness and one price notch less
The oldest Dublin, and the cheapest of the central areas. Christ Church and its medieval crypt, Saint Patrick's and its park, Dublinia for the Vikings, then the artisan lanes up to the Guinness Storehouse and its panoramic pint. Everything is walkable from here, Temple Bar included, for twenty to thirty euros less a night. The downside: between the monuments, several streets have no charm, and the choice of restaurants shrinks after eight in the evening.
Where to stay in this area
Hyatt Centric The Liberties Luxury
A contemporary building on Dean Street, opposite Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Rooms looking onto the spire, underground parking and a gym open at night.
Maldron Hotel Kevin Street Mid-range
A no-surprises four-star two streets from Saint Patrick's: crisp rooms, a hearty breakfast and the centre a ten-minute walk away.
Kinlay House Budget
The red-brick hostel on Lord Edward Street, facing Christ Church. Dorms and private rooms, continental breakfast included.
Pros
- Cathedrals, Dublinia and Guinness on foot
- Twenty to thirty euros less than the centre
Cons
- Charmless streets between the monuments
- Few restaurants after eight
O'Connell Street, Smithfield and the north bank North bank
for the theatres, 1916 and the best prices in the centre
The north bank costs less than the south bank, for the same distances on foot. You will find the General Post Office, headquarters of the 1916 Rising, the needle of the Spire, the Abbey Theatre, and Smithfield with the Jameson distillery and the Cobblestone pub. FlorenceT, who lived in Dublin for a year, advises you should also take a walk on the other side of the Liffey to find other original bars: this is it. The downside: O'Connell Street itself sours after the pubs close, and the side streets beat the main artery.
What to see & do in the area
Where to stay in this area
Riu Plaza The Gresham Luxury
The 1817 hotel on O'Connell Street, taken over by a Spanish chain: a grand lobby, crystal chandeliers and the tram stop at the door.
Wynn's Hotel Mid-range
An address on Lower Abbey Street opened in 1845 and refurbished since: stained glass, a regulars' bar and the Abbey Theatre round the corner.
Generator Dublin Budget
The big hostel on Smithfield Square, facing the Jameson distillery chimney. A lively bar, dorms and double rooms.
Pros
- Theatres, the GPO and the Hugh Lane on foot
- The best prices in the centre
Cons
- O'Connell Street unwelcoming at night
- Fewer Georgian facades
Kilmainham, Heuston and Phoenix Park West, around Heuston station
for the park, the prison museum and the westbound trains
West of the city you trade activity for space. Phoenix Park, the largest enclosed urban park in Europe, holds the zoo, the presidential residence and free-roaming deer; opposite, Kilmainham Gaol tells independence cell by cell, and the IMMA occupies the old Royal Hospital. From there, ArmoniServices walked to the Guinness Storehouse: « It took us about 20 minutes ». The downside: the centre is twenty minutes on foot or ten by tram, and there is almost nowhere to have dinner here.
The park is certainly vast, but also quite empty. It is not necessarily pleasant to walk around in. On the other hand, for a bike ride, it is not bad.
What to see & do in the area
Where to stay in this area
Hilton Dublin Kilmainham Luxury
The four-star on Inchicore Road, opposite the prison museum. A hydrotherapy pool, sauna, parking, and the Luas tram back down to the centre.
Ashling Hotel Mid-range
Two hundred and twenty-six rooms on Parkgate Street, between Heuston station and the park entrance. A big breakfast, the tram at the door.
Phoenix Park Hotel Budget
A refurbished family house at 38 Parkgate Street, with a bar and a coffee shop downstairs. Two hundred metres from Heuston station, the park at the end of the road.
Pros
- The park and the zoo at the end of the road
- Heuston: trains for Galway and the west
Cons
- Twenty minutes on foot to the centre
- Almost nowhere to have dinner
Our tips for booking the right place
- Thirty minutes on foot covers almost everything: The whole centre fits inside a half-hour walk, and the Liffey is crossed by a dozen bridges. Beyond that, two Luas tram lines, the coastal DART train and the buses take over, with a daily cap on the Leap Visitor Card. The airport has no train: it will be the 747 bus or the Aircoach, thirty to fifty minutes depending on the hour.
- The music starts earlier than you think: At the Cobblestone in Smithfield, sessions begin in the middle of the afternoon; at the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in the city, the evening one starts around 9pm. Last orders fall around 11.30pm on weekdays, a little later at the weekend. A Dublin evening therefore begins early, which leaves the night for sleeping if the room is well placed.
- The dates that double the prices: Six Nations weekends at the Aviva, the Gaelic football finals in September and the concerts at Croke Park make rooms disappear and rates climb. Saint Patrick's books out several months ahead. May, June and September remain the easiest months.
- Taking a room that looks onto Temple Bar. The streets there stay loud until the clubs close, around three in the morning, seven nights a week and not only at the weekend. One street of set-back is enough to get your sleep back without losing anything of the location.
- Booking above a music pub or a nightclub without checking. Several central hotels, notably on Harcourt Street, have their own club on the ground floor and hand out earplugs at reception. The information is on the property's page: read it before you pay.
- Believing the airport hotels advertised as 'twenty minutes from the centre'. That is true without traffic; at rush hour on the M1, count double, and the shuttles thin out in the evening. For a single night before an early flight it is fine; for a stay, no.
FAQ: where to stay in Dublin
Which area should you choose for a first visit to Dublin?
Where to stay cheaply in Dublin?
Which area for a family stay?
Where to go out at night in Dublin?
Do you need a car in Dublin?
How much does a hotel night cost in Dublin?
About the author
Keep exploring
Discover everything in Dublin
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first!