How would you define a pub crawl? By definition, a pub crawl is when you walk from one pub to the next and have a drink at each one. By the end of the night, you might have had one too many and that is why you could end up crawling to the next pub. Metaphorically speaking……
Now I knew when I went to Dublin that I had to take my nieces on a pub crawl. They had to experience this for themselves since I had done one many years ago and loved it. Back then, when I was staying in England, I went on a pub crawl with some people from the hostel where I was staying. We did the pub crawl on our own. Flash forward…… June 2013…… I wanted to plan on which pub crawl I wanted to do with my nieces where the pubs we went to were planned out and I didn’t have to figure out which pub to take them to next. Did you know there isn’t one pub crawl in Dublin but many to choose from the literary pub crawls to ones that are geared for backpackers to ones that are for any age. In the end, Dublin City Pub Crawl won out. This was the one for us and in the end; my nieces agreed with me that I had chosen the best one for us. They loved it and thought it was one of the best parts of our trip to Dublin. The only thing they wished I hadn’t done was booked it on the day we arrived from the states to Dublin. Going on a pub crawl when you are jet lagged isn’t the smartest thing to do.
After arriving in Dublin, we met our group at Porterhouse Central at 8:00 pm. We got there early so we sat at the bar and ordered a drink while waiting for our guide to arrive. We were introduced to Clare, our guide, and slowly more people started arriving who was with our group. Staying at Porterhouse for a while, we got to know everyone in the group. It was a small group of no more than 20 people which is one of the things I liked about it. It gave us a chance to get to know one another which wouldn’t have happened if there were too many people going on the crawl. A few of the people we met through Dublin City Pub Crawl was Travis from Texas and his dad who is living in Germany, Keith whose been living in Dublin for seven years and a couple from Nashville, Tennessee. Before we left Porterhouse, we were given a ticket for a free drink. My drink of choice whenever I am in the U.K. has always been cider so I ordered one to have before we headed out to the next pub.
Pub Crawl route: (June 2013) – Click on the link for each pub/lounge and you will be directed to their website. Rush Bar doesn’t have a website and none that I could find. Included are the addresses for each place in case you want to check them out for yourselves if you are ever in the Dublin area.
The Porterhouse Central – 45-47 Nassau Street Dublin 2. Meeting point for the group. Free drink upon arrival. Plenty of time to chat with everyone in group.
Trinity Bar – 46 – 49 Dame Street Dublin 2. Different vibe. Downstairs had a pub feel to it. Walk upstairs and the vibe changes. Small round tables with three chairs to a table. You can order your drink downstairs and walk upstairs to sit at one of the tables if you don’t want to sit at the bar.
O’Neill’s – 2 Suffolk Street Dublin 2. Free pub grub; chicken wings, cocktail weenies, french fries. This is the pub you want to visit if you want to watch traditional Irish music first hand.
Rush Bar – Small bar where you walk in and the bar is to the left of you with plenty of bar stools for everyone. Great place to mingle and talk to everyone in the group.
Grafton Lounge – Royal Hibernian Way Dawson Street Dublin 2. Great place for dancing. Be prepared for the dance floor to be crowded if you want to do any dancing. Very popular with the young crowd. Bar located off to the side of the dance floor and some tables are located across the way on the other side of the dance floor with a Bob Marley wannabe musician playing to the crowd in the central area off from the dance floor.
Check out the site for Dublin City Pub Crawl and book this crawl if you are ever in Dublin and want to experience a pub crawl for yourself. You will not be disappointed!
Have you ever been on a pub crawl? Where were you when you did your own pub crawl? What city did you do the pub crawl in and did you do it on your own or did you book it through a company experienced in pub crawls? Do you plan on doing one of these pub crawls when you travel if you have never done one in your life? I would love to hear what you think of pub crawls and the fascination some of us have with them?
