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Travel guide: Dublin, Ireland
From its boutique hotels to its delectable cuisine and fashion locales, Dublin is one happening city.
By Noreen Flanagan
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Temple Bar, a popular tourist hangout.
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What's your favourite stylish town to shop till you drop in? Discuss in our forums.
Where Dublin, Ireland's capital, is located in the province of Leinster, at the mouth of the River Liffey, on Dublin Bay, an inlet of the Irish Sea. Its Irish name is Baile Átha Cliath, meaning "Town of the Ford of the Hurdles."
Your guide Marian Keyes, author of The Other Side of the Story and Sushi for Beginners. "When I moved back to Dublin from London, I was worried that I'd hate its small-town feel, but what I hadn't realized was that while I'd been away it had become Groovyville. It's now nearly impossible to buy a grand cup of tea because all that's available is skinny, double mocha lattes."
The vibe "Beyond the urban, cocktail-drinking, expensive-handbag-carrying women, there's still the old culture out there. I think we're still far, far friendlier than London. The way we use language is also more colourful. I love how Irish people talk."
Local style "Irish women take their style cues from London," explains Keyes. "Younger women, especially, go for the girl-band look. They have highlighted, ironed hair with blond stripes, wear hipsters and carry designer- handbag knock-offs. More stylish women, particularly a band of posh Southsiders called Foxrock Fannies, wear ironed pastel linens and designer labels and have perfectly ironed blond bobs and holiday in Spain."
Cravings "Irish girls crave flatirons, spray tans and fake nails!" The popular nail bars are at Toni & Guy and Brown Thomas. The hot hair spots are Zoo Hair Salon and Dylan Bradshaw's studio. "Dylan does The Corrs' hair, and Nue Blu Eriu is known for its amazing facials and cosmetics lines. For hair removal, Urban Wax rules."
What to bring "Your umbrella! [The eastern half of the country gets between 750 and 1,000 millimetres of rain each year.] I dread the rain! It's my hair I worry about," says Keyes, laughing. "Most Irish people don't carry umbrellas-it's considered a little wussy. We're used to the rain. It's like living next to a train station-eventually you don't hear the trains." Irish rain lingo: "A 'soft day' is a gentle rain-the Evian mist of rainfalls."
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