Medieval Dublin and the Liberties on foot: a self-guided walk from Dublin Castle's gate to the Guinness Storehouse, with what is open each day

One of 2 self-guided walks in Dublin. See every walk.

In this guide

💡 The Short Version: Start at Cork Hill on Dame Street, 700 m from the Trinity Luas stop, and finish at the Guinness Storehouse, 580 m from the James’s stop: 3.0 km, about 45 minutes of walking and a day with the visits. Dublin Castle is closed to the public until January 2027 and the Chester Beatty until the end of December 2026, so the walk passes the castle gate. Go Tuesday to Saturday: Marsh’s Library is open only then, and the cathedrals keep short hours on Sundays. The Storehouse sells timed slots from €24 online, and St Audoen’s visitor centre closes for the season on 5 November. Or book a tour: the 2-hour historical walking tourad is from €19.

The route

Map of the walk numbered stops in walking order

Open the whole route in Google Maps - all the stops in walking order, set to walking directions, which is the version to put on your phone.

Dublin grew from two settlements in the 9th century, rose under the Vikings and then became an Anglo-Norman walled town with a castle and a cathedral. The Liberties lay outside that wall. The route runs west from the castle gate to Christ Church, past the one gate of the wall that survives, south to St Patrick’s and then west along Thomas Street to the Guinness brewery at St James’s Gate. Prices are the adult rate in euros from each operator.

Walk it with a guide

A guide adds the stories, and none of these includes entry to the sights above unless it says so. Dublin Castle is closed to visitors, so a walk passes it from the street. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person.

• Dublin: Award-Winning 2-Hour Guided Historical Walking Tourad: from €19, 4.8 stars from 1,319 reviews, 2 hours. It covers Dublin Castle, Temple Bar, City Hall and the medieval city.
• Dublin: Book of Kells, Dublin Castle and Christ Church Tourad: from €22, 4.8 stars from 1,862 reviews, 2 to 3 hours. The three-hour option adds timed entry to the Book of Kells; entry to Christ Church is not included.
• Dublin: Teeling Whiskey Distillery Tour & Tastingad: from €22, 4.6 stars from 1,318 reviews. It is the distillery’s own tour, at the price on Teeling’s site.
• Yellow Umbrella Tours runs a free walk on tips from the Spire on O’Connell Street at 10am, 11am and 2pm, past the castle and both cathedrals. Dublin walking tours compares it with the paid and pub walks.

1. Cork Hill: Dublin City Hall and Dublin Castle

Castle closed until January 2027 · Chester Beatty closed to the end of December 2026 · City Hall Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 17:00

From the Trinity stop, walk west along Dame Street for 700 m to Cork Hill. Dublin City Hall stands here, beside the Palace Street gate of Dublin Castle. It is open Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 17:00, and closed on Sundays, bank holidays and for private events.

The castle was built in the early 13th century on the site of a Viking settlement, and for centuries it was the headquarters of English and later British administration in Ireland. It was handed to the new Irish government in 1922. The campus is closed to the public until January 2027, because the castle is the main State venue for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and the Chester Beatty inside it is closed from 15 June to the end of December 2026. The Chester Beatty’s 3D virtual tour and digital collections are online. Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty has the prices when the castle reopens.

The dome of Dublin City Hall. Photo: Robert Linsdell, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Walk up Lord Edward Street to Christchurch Place: 360 m.

2. Christ Church Cathedral and Dublinia

Cathedral €12 at the desk, less online · with Dublinia €25 · Christchurch Place

Christ Church is a working Anglican cathedral. It was originally a Viking church, reputedly founded by the Norse king Sitruic in 1030, and its present look dates from an 1870s restoration paid for by the whiskey distiller Sir Henry Roe. The visit has an audio guide and takes about an hour. It takes in the crypt, which the cathedral calls the city’s oldest building still in use, a tomb reputed to be Strongbow’s, a rare copy of the Magna Carta and the mummified cat and rat.

The nave of Christ Church Cathedral. Photo: Diliff, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

• Tickets: €12 at the welcome desk for an adult, €10 for a senior or student, €4 for a child under 12 and €28 for a family of two adults and two children. The cathedral says tickets bought online are cheaper, and nothing needs booking in advance.
• Hours: Monday to Saturday 9:30 to 17:00 and Sunday 12:30 to 15:00 in November and December. Until 31 October it is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 9:30 to 18:00, Tuesday and Thursday 9:30 to 17:30, and Sunday 12:30 to 15:00 and 16:30 to 18:00. Last admission for tours is 45 minutes before closing.
• Guided tours are in English only, ring the bells in the belfry and are booked at the welcome desk, not online.

Dublinia is in the old Synod Hall, joined to the cathedral by a bridge over the street. It is a museum of Viking and medieval Dublin, with a climb up St Michael’s Tower, and takes about 90 minutes. It is €16 online and €18 at the door, and open daily 10:00 to 17:00, with last entry at 16:00, except on 24, 25 and 26 December. The joint ticket for Christ Church and Dublinia is €25 and is sold at the cathedral’s welcome desk or at Dublinia’s ticket office. St Patrick’s and Christ Church cathedral tickets has the other prices.

Walk west along High Street, past St Audoen’s Church, to the gate: 340 m.

3. St Audoen’s Church and the city wall

Free · visitor centre daily 9:30 to 17:30, last entry 16:45, until 5 November 2026 · High Street

St Audoen’s is the only remaining medieval parish church in Dublin, according to Heritage Ireland. Admission is free. The Guild Chapel of St Anne has an exhibition on the church’s part in medieval life, and visitors can see the part of the church still in use by the Church of Ireland and the 15th-century tomb of Baron Portlester and his wife. The visitor centre’s 2026 season runs from 27 March to 5 November.

The Anglo-Norman city wall had 19 gates at its largest. St Audoen’s Gate, on Cook Street, is the only one left, and a stretch of the wall runs through St Audoen’s Park beside it. Another section is kept at Lamb Alley, at Cornmarket. Cook Street was where the city’s ovens and bakeries stood, outside the wall to limit the spread of fires.

St Audoen’s Gate and the city wall in St Audoen’s Park. Photo: P. Hughes, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

• Tailors’ Hall, 250 m on in Back Lane, is Dublin’s only surviving guildhall, built in 1707. It is An Taisce’s and open by appointment, and its entrance is on Back Lane.

Walk south to St Patrick’s Close: 560 m.

4. St Patrick’s Cathedral and Marsh’s Library

St Patrick’s €11.50 · Marsh’s €8 · both €17 · St Patrick’s Close

St Patrick’s is Ireland’s national cathedral. The cathedral says Saint Patrick baptised converts nearby over 1,500 years ago. The adult ticket is €11.50, and the joint ticket with Marsh’s Library €17 against €19.50 separately. It opens at 9:30 Monday to Friday with last admission at 17:00, and at 9:00 on Saturday with last admission at 18:00. On Sundays it opens in three windows, from 9:00, 13:00 and 16:30, with last admission at 10:30, 14:30 and 18:00. Free guided tours run Monday to Saturday at 10:30 and 14:30; if one does not run, ask at the Welcome Desk.

Marsh’s Library is on the same close: an eighteenth-century library with a hidden garden and an exhibition of its most beautiful bindings. It is €8, open Tuesday to Friday 9:30 to 17:00 and Saturday 10:00 to 17:00, and closed on Sundays, Mondays and bank holidays. It is also closed from 13:00 on 23 December 2026 to 10:30 on 5 January 2027. The main library is not accessible to wheelchairs. You can book online or pay at the door.

Walk on to Francis Street, 220 m south-west.

Detour: Teeling Whiskey Distillery

Tours from €22 · daily 11:00 to 18:00, Saturday to 19:00 · Newmarket · adds 0.83 km

Skip this on a short day, or take it instead of the Storehouse. Teeling is 570 m from St Patrick’s and calls itself the first new distillery in Dublin for over 125 years; it opened in 2015. Every tour is guided and ends with a tasting. The €22 Teeling Tasting takes 50 minutes with a Small Batch whiskey and a seasonal cocktail, with a non-alcoholic option you ask for at reception. The €26 Trinity Tasting is 50 minutes, the €35 Distillery Select 55 minutes and the €60 Connoisseur Cask Collection an hour in a small group. Tours leave every 20 minutes, and the distillery is closed on 24, 25 and 26 December. Book at teelingdistillery.com. Dublin whiskey distillery tours compares it with Pearse Lyons and Jameson.

Walk on to Francis Street: 800 m.

5. Francis Street and Thomas Street

Free · streets

A liberty was an area outside the walls with its own lord. The Liberties grew from the royal Abbey of St Thomas the Martyr, founded in 1170 on the orders of Henry II, and nothing of the abbey remains. Francis Street has antiques shops and galleries, and Meath Street, which runs off it, has a market atmosphere, according to Christ Church’s own guide to the area.

Turn west along Thomas Street, the road to the Storehouse. The National College of Art & Design at No. 100 stands on the site of John Power & Son’s whiskey distillery, which opened in 1791 and closed in 1975.

Walk west along Thomas Street to the brewery: 900 m.

6. The Guinness Storehouse

From €24 online · €2 more at the door · Monday to Friday 10:00 to 17:00, Saturday 9:30 to 18:00, Sunday 9:30 to 17:00 · St James’s Gate

The Guinness Storehouse Experience is self-guided over seven floors, takes about 90 minutes and ends in the Gravity Bar with a pint of Guinness, another beer, Guinness 0.0 or a soft drink. Entry is in 15-minute slots. The Storehouse strongly recommends booking on its own site, because a door ticket is €2 more, card only, and is not sold once the slot has sold out online. Tickets are not refundable, and a booking can be changed up to 24 hours ahead. The building stays open to 19:00 on weekdays and Sundays and to 20:00 on Saturdays.

• Other tickets: the Guinness Academy is €36, the STOUTie €32 and the guided Home of Guinness Experience €48, Monday to Friday from 11:00 to 15:00, for over-18s. Guinness Storehouse tickets compares them.
• Next: Pearse Lyons Distillery, in the restored St James’s Church at 121 James’s Street, is a five-minute walk on, with tours hourly from 11:00 (from 12:00 on Sundays) and the last at 17:00.

Where to eat

Leo Burdock

2 Werburgh Street · takeaway only · daily 12:00 to 23:00

Fish and chips to take away, a short walk from Christ Church. The business dates its first shop to 1913, in Christchurch. Where to eat in Dublin has the other fish and chip shops.

Variety Jones

79 Thomas Street · one Michelin star · dinner Wednesday to Saturday · closed 24 December to 5 January

A restaurant of 12 tables on the road to the Storehouse, with one chef’s choice sharing menu and no vegetarian menu. Dinner sittings are at 17:00 to 17:30 and 20:00 to 20:30, and a cancellation list is open. Its site is varietyjones.ie.

Phoenix Café at Teeling

Newmarket · Monday to Friday 8:00 to 16:00, weekends and bank holidays 10:00 to 18:00

The distillery’s café, on the Teeling detour. The Bang Bang Bar next door is open 12:00 to 19:00 Monday to Saturday and from 12:30 on Sundays.

The best day to go

The timing that works, Tuesday to Friday: be at Christ Church for 9:30, spend the morning there and at Dublinia, see St Audoen’s and the wall at midday, and take St Patrick’s free tour at 14:30 with Marsh’s Library afterwards. Book the Storehouse for a late-afternoon slot and finish there, or swap it for Teeling. To lengthen the walk, add the Teeling detour and drop Dublinia.

What closes:

• Sundays: City Hall and Marsh’s Library. Christ Church opens 12:30 to 15:00, and St Patrick’s has no free tour.
• Mondays: Marsh’s Library.
• Bank holidays: City Hall and Marsh’s Library.
• After 5 November 2026: the St Audoen’s visitor centre, for the season.
• From 1 November: Christ Church closes at 17:00 Monday to Saturday, and does not reopen in the evening on Sundays.
• To January 2027: Dublin Castle. The Chester Beatty is shut to the end of December 2026.
• 24 to 26 December: Dublinia and Teeling. Marsh’s Library is shut from 13:00 on 23 December to 10:30 on 5 January.

What does not close: the streets, the wall and St Audoen’s Gate, and the Storehouse, Dublinia and Teeling, which are open seven days a week.

Getting there and back

• To the start: Cork Hill is on Dame Street, 700 m from the Trinity stop on the Luas Green Line and 510 m from the foot of Grafton Street, where the Georgian Dublin walk ends. The Dublin Express airport coach stops on Wellington Quay for the castle. Leap card and Dublin public transport has the fares.
• From the end: the James’s stop on the Luas Red Line is 580 m from the Storehouse, on James’s Street. Hop-on hop-off buses stop at the Storehouse, and Dublin Bus routes 13 and 123 connect James’s Street with Dame Street.
• In reverse: start at the Storehouse for a morning slot and walk back east. Marsh’s Library and St Audoen’s close earlier than the Storehouse, so the order above leaves them to the middle of the day.

What to do with the rest of the day

• Georgian Dublin: the Georgian Dublin walk ends at the foot of Grafton Street, 510 m from Cork Hill along Dame Street, and runs from Trinity College to Merrion Square.
• The castle: Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty says what is open nearby and what the castle shows when it reopens.
• The cathedrals: St Patrick’s and Christ Church cathedral tickets has the joint tickets.
• The drink: Guinness Storehouse tickets, Dublin whiskey distillery tours and oldest pubs in Dublin cover it.
• Guided walks: Dublin walking tours compares the free, paid and pub walks.
• The days: 3 days in Dublin puts the cathedrals on day two, and what to book before you go to Dublin has the closed days for every sight.
• Where to sleep: hotels near Temple Bar lists the hotels beside Dame Street, and where to stay in Dublin compares the areas.

Common questions

How long is the medieval Dublin walk?

3.0 km from Cork Hill to the Guinness Storehouse, measured along the streets: about 45 minutes of walking. The Teeling Distillery detour adds 0.83 km. The visits fill a day: Christ Church and Dublinia take about two and a half hours together, St Patrick's an hour, Marsh's Library half an hour and the Storehouse 90 minutes.

Is Dublin Castle open on the walk?

No. The Dublin Castle campus is closed to the public until January 2027, and the Chester Beatty inside it is closed from 15 June to the end of December 2026. The walk starts outside the castle gate, and Dublin City Hall beside it is open Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 17:00.

Which day is best for the medieval Dublin walk?

Tuesday to Saturday. Marsh's Library is open only from Tuesday to Saturday, Dublin City Hall is shut on Sundays, Christ Church opens at 12:30 on Sundays and St Patrick's has no free guided tour that day.

Is the medieval Dublin walk free?

The streets, St Audoen's Church and the city wall are free. Christ Church is €12 at the desk, Dublinia €16 online, St Patrick's €11.50, Marsh's Library €8, the Guinness Storehouse from €24 online and the Teeling Distillery from €22. A joint ticket for Christ Church and Dublinia is €25 and one for St Patrick's and Marsh's Library €17.

What do I need to book for the walk?

A Guinness Storehouse slot, because entry is in 15-minute slots and nothing is sold at the door once a slot has sold out. Teeling tours are booked online too. Christ Church, Dublinia, St Patrick's and Marsh's Library take walk-ins.

Where does the walk start and finish?

It starts at Cork Hill on Dame Street, 700 m from the Trinity stop on the Luas Green Line, and finishes at the Guinness Storehouse, 580 m from the James's stop on the Red Line. The Georgian Dublin walk ends 510 m from the start.