Dublin · Rainy Day
The Best Rainy-Day Things to Do in Dublin
Dublin rain is rarely the right reason to lose a day. These are ten indoor hours we'd happily plan a trip around, in roughly the order we'd take them.
The places we recommend to friends.
Quick Answer
Long Room at 8:30am, National Gallery at 10:30am, lunch at Etto, MoLI in the afternoon, afternoon tea at The Shelbourne at 4pm. One indoor Dublin day, no compromises, no umbrella required. Slot it into Day 1 or Day 3 of our 3-day Dublin itinerary.
- No. 01
The Long Room at Trinity College
College Green
Two stories of oak, 200,000 books, no daylight needed. Book the 8:30am slot and the room is yours. The Book of Kells exhibition below adds another forty minutes indoors.
- No. 02
The National Gallery of Ireland
Merrion Square
Free entry, two hours of European masterworks, and a café in a glass courtyard. Room 15 has the Caravaggio most visitors miss. Pair with a long lunch at Etto on Merrion Row.
- No. 03
Marsh's Library
St Patrick's Close
1707, unchanged, candle-lit even on bright days. The reading cages alone are worth the rainy hour. Five euro entry, almost never busy.
- No. 04
MoLI (Museum of Literature Ireland)
St Stephen's Green
Joyce, Beckett, Heaney indoors, a courtyard garden you can skip if it's pouring. Audio guide included. Allow ninety minutes, longer if you like the gift shop.
- No. 05
Guinness Storehouse Gravity Bar
St James's Gate
Indoors top to bottom, the rooftop bar is glass-enclosed, and the rain over the rooftops is honestly part of the view. Book the 10am slot to avoid the worst of the crowd.
- No. 06
Afternoon Tea at The Shelbourne
St Stephen's Green
Two hours of cake, harp music and rain you cannot see. The room is the antidote to weather. Book three weeks ahead. See our full guide to afternoon tea in Dublin.
- No. 07
Chester Beatty Library
Dublin Castle gardens
Free, indoor, and one of the most underrated museums in Europe. Persian miniatures, illuminated Qurans, a Japanese tea ceremony room on Wednesdays. The castle café next door is the best wet-weather lunch nearby.
- No. 08
EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum
CHQ Building, Docklands
Built in vaulted brick warehouse cellars, so the weather disappears the moment you enter. Two hours minimum. Cinema-quality storytelling. The dockside restaurants are a covered walk away.
- No. 09
Hodges Figgis bookshop
Dawson Street
Four floors of bookshop. An umbrella you don't need indoors and as much time as you want. Coffee at Café en Seine across the street for the in-between hour.
- No. 10
Sweny's Pharmacy reading
Lincoln Place
Free, indoors, fifteen minutes long, a chapter of Ulysses read aloud by volunteers most afternoons. Buy the lemon soap on the way out. The most Dublin thing to do in light rain.
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