The Temple Bar in Dublin

Temple Bar in Dublin's city centre is an area of great contradictions. On the one hand Temple Bar on a Saturday night is without a doubt stag and hen heaven, but on all other evenings and through the day it remains a place with a cosmopolitan, chic feel to it. The narrow cobbled streets lead you past various bars and restaurants, including the famous Temple Bar itself, the original corner pub which bares the name of the area. The exterior of the bar is beautifully painted and decorated and tourists queue up to take photos of this unusual looking old pub.

While Saturday nights at Temple Bar might be reserved for revellers, Sunday evening sees buskers and street entertainers dotted along the side of the road, lit by the overhanging fairy lights that decorate the street. The pubs are emptier and seem a lot quieter. Even The Hard Rock Café looks sleepy and inviting and the restaurants open their doors and openly beckon you in with the aromas of Italy, Spain and good old traditional Irish cuisine.

During the day Temple Bar takes on a different persona again. With the presence of the Irish Film Institute and the strong literary connections Dublin enjoys, Temple Bar is a mini cultural hub of art activity by daylight. On Saturday afternoons the area hosts a charming little book fair, where visitors can browse table tops and stands of second hand and rare books. Stop for a coffee or a pint of nourishment in the form of locally brewed Guinness and you have yourself a perfect Dublin experience.

Temple Bar might not be to everyone's taste on a Saturday night, but with the areas ability to change its many faces by morning, night and days of the week, it certainly is to everyone's taste at some point.

Hotels in the area are available to suit all types of budget and requirements and the shuttle bus which runs from the airport will drop passengers at various points near to their hotels. Eat in one of the many restaurants which back onto the River Liffey, also beautifully lit up at night, or check out one of the smaller, intimate restaurants on the backstreets, including the atmospheric little tapas bar Pintxo.