A walk from Parnell Square on the Northside to St Stephen's Green or Merrion Square on the Southside only takes about half an hour, but on that one route, you could take in: the James Joyce Centre, the Irish Writers' Museum, the Hugh Lane Gallery, the Gate Theatre, the Spire of Dublin, the GPO, the Liffey Boardwalk, Temple Bar, Trinity College, The National Museum, the National Library, the National Gallery, the Mansion House, and Leinster House (phew!).
And heading west from O'Connell Bridge at the very centre of the city, another half hour will let you take in Dublin Castle, St Patrick's and Christ Church Cathedrals and The Guinness Storehouse (add another couple of minutes and you'll get to the Irish Museum of Modern Art and Kilmainham Gaol), or, on the other side of the Liffey, the National Museum at Collins Barracks and the Phoenix Park.
A few words of advice for walkers:
· There are several pedestrianised areas around the city, in particular the main shopping streets: Henry St/Mary St/Talbot St on the Northside and Grafton St and its tributaries on the Southside. Much of Temple Bar is closed to cars, but be careful there – not all the streets are pedestrianised.
· Dublin postal codes are useful as a quick reference. Dublin 1 and 2 are the city-centre postal codes, and this entire area is quite walkable. Dublin 7 and 8 are also very central.
Odd numbers are on the Northside, even numbers on the Southside (so don't assume that Dublin 8, for example, is adjacent to Dublin 9). The codes don't necessarily follow a coherent pattern but in general the lower the number, the closer to the city centre.
· Finally, for Dubliners, jaywalking is pretty much the norm. Needless to say, we strongly advise visitors not to follow suit.
