Four of the entries below are really the same walk approached from different ends. Ringsend, the Great South Wall, the Poolbeg Chimneys and Poolbeg Lighthouse all sit on the man-made peninsula that runs four kilometres out into Dublin Bay. Walk it once and you have covered the lot: level granite the whole way, with nothing between you and the weather.
A second cluster runs along the foot of the Dublin Mountains, south of the city. Marlay Park in Rathfarnham is 300 acres of former demesne, with a walled garden, a craft courtyard and the start of the Wicklow Way. Stepaside adds Fernhill Park and Gardens and the climb up Three Rock Mountain. Bohernabreena’s two Victorian reservoirs sit in the Glenasmole Valley, 3.5 km southwest of Tallaght, with two easy waymarked loops around the water.
Transport shapes most of the rest. The Black Linn Loop begins at Howth DART station and needs no car at all, 8.1 km up the cliffs to the summit and back down the line of the old tram, about two and a half hours. The Dublin Coastal Trail strings eleven villages along 64 km of shoreline and follows the DART, so you can walk a stretch and take the train home. Milltown’s Dodder path is on the Luas Green Line. In poor weather the city centre and the Georgian Quarter still hold up; the cliff and sea wall walks do not.
A 300-acre former demesne at the foot of the Dublin Mountains, with a walled garden, a craft courtyard and the start of the Wicklow Way.
Howth's car-free cliff walk climbs 8.1 km from the DART station to the summit and back, roughly two and a half hours with seals below.
Two easy waymarked loops around Victorian reservoirs in the Glenasmole Valley, free to walk, with kingfishers, dippers and herons on the water.
A square mile you can cross on foot in twenty minutes, holding a Viking castle, four free national museums and Ireland's oldest pub.
Sixty-four kilometres of shoreline linking eleven seaside villages, tracking the DART line so you can walk a stretch and train back.
23 of 23 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Rathfarnham, dublin
Marlay Park is a 300-acre former demesne at the foot of the Dublin Mountains, 9 km south of the city. The Georgian Marlay House, a walled garden and a craft courtyard sit alongside playing pitches, two playgrounds and the start of the Wicklow Way, and in summer the lawns become one of Dublin's biggest concert grounds.
Howth, dublin
The Black Linn Loop is Howth's car-free cliff walk – 8.1 km from the DART station, up along the sea cliffs to the summit and back down the line of the old Howth tram. Reckon on two and a half hours, watch for grey seals below the path, and keep well back from the unrailed edges.
3.5 km southwest of Tallaght, dublin
Two Victorian reservoirs in the glacial trench of the Glenasmole Valley still supply drinking water to about 35,000 Dublin homes. Around them run two easy waymarked loops, past the ruined church at St Ann's and water alive with kingfishers, dippers and herons – free, and 15 km from the city centre.
Dublin, dublin
Dublin's centre packs a Viking castle, four free national museums and Ireland's oldest pub into a square mile you can cross on foot in twenty minutes. The trick is to bank the free museums by day and let the Liffey lead you south as the trad sessions start up of an evening.
Dublin, dublin
The Dublin Coastal Trail links eleven seaside villages along 64 km of shoreline that follows the UNESCO-designated Dublin Bay Biosphere, from Skerries in the north to Killiney in the south. Because it tracks the DART and Irish Rail lines, you can hop on and off at any stop for a car-free day out. A 2025 extension added five more places, bringing the total to sixteen.
Dublin city centre, dublin
Stroll through a continuous ribbon of 18th-century red-brick townhouses, where pastel doors and wrought-iron railings frame a streetscape of remarkable uniformity. Home to grand public squares, world-class museums and the Irish parliament, the Georgian Quarter captures Dublin’s architectural golden age.
Dublin, dublin
At the time of its completion in 1795, the Great South Wall was the world’s longest sea wall, extending over four kilometres into Dublin Bay. Today it offers a linear promenade where industrial silhouettes, the red Poolbeg Lighthouse and sweeping maritime views mingle for walkers and cyclists.
Dublin, dublin
Milltown is a quiet Dublin 6 suburb on the River Dodder, about fifteen minutes from St Stephen's Green on the Luas Green Line. The draw is the riverside path, which runs under the 1854 Nine Arches Viaduct, now carrying the Luas, and joins the Dodder Greenway toward the mountains. Add a coffee at Wilde & Green or a pint at The Dropping Well and you've had the best of it.
Dublin, dublin
Poolbeg is a man-made peninsula reaching into Dublin Bay, tipped by the red Poolbeg Lighthouse at the end of the Great South Wall. Walk the 18th-century granite causeway for seals, seabirds and close views of the Poolbeg Chimneys, then warm up in Ringsend. It's free, exposed and open at all hours.
Pigeon House Rd, dublin
The two red-and-white Poolbeg Chimneys, at just over 207 metres, are Dublin's tallest structures and the city's most argued-over landmark. Decommissioned in 2010 and saved from demolition, they can't be visited up close but make the backdrop to the Great South Wall walk out to Poolbeg Lighthouse.
Dublin, dublin
The 207-metre Poolbeg chimneys and the long, level Great South Wall are the two reasons to come to Ringsend. Walk the wall out to the working Poolbeg Lighthouse for the best view of Dublin Bay, then head inland to Thorncastle Street for the battered ray that gave the place its nickname, Raytown.
Dublin, dublin
The Royal Canal Greenway is the longest in Ireland – 130 km of level towpath from Maynooth to Cloondara, where the canal meets the Shannon. It follows a waterway built between 1790 and 1817, past working locks, stone bridges, the reputedly haunted 13th lock at Deey Bridge, and cafés in Maynooth, Enfield and Mullingar.
Stepaside, dublin
Fernhill Park and Gardens, one of Dublin's newest public parks, opened in 2019 across 34 hectares of former estate on the edge of the Dublin Mountains. Stepaside pairs it with a 10th-century high cross, a €7 nine-hole public course and the climb up Three Rock Mountain for the widest view over the bay.
Western suburbs of Dublin, dublin
Growers once filled this sheltered Liffey valley with strawberries, sold with cream on a cabbage leaf to day-trippers who came out by horse and carriage. Today it is a narrow rural road 7 km west of the city, with three family-run pubs, a riverside walk, and the cast-iron Farmleigh Bridge – restored, but still closed to walkers.
Fingal, dublin
Swords grew up around a monastery St Colmcille is said to have founded in 560 AD, and High King Brian Boru's funeral procession rested here after the Battle of Clontarf. The 9th-century round tower and the restored castle still anchor what is now a busy commuter town beside Dublin Airport.
South Dublin, dublin
Dublin, dublin
Glenasmole, dublin
Lucan, dublin
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, dublin
Santry, dublin
Balally, dublin
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, dublin
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