Dún Laoghaire / Dalkey

What you gain

• ↑The Dún Laoghaire East and West Piers (each 1.4km long) are the finest Victorian maritime infrastructure in Ireland: the granite piers, the lighthouse, and the view back over Dublin Bay to the Wicklow Mountains on clear days create a pier walk that is the finest in the country and free at all times
• ↑The Dalkey coastal cliff walk from Dalkey village to Killiney Hill provides the finest elevated coastal view in the Dublin region: the view from Killiney Hill over Killiney Bay (often described as comparable to the Bay of Naples) is genuinely one of the most beautiful Irish Sea coastal panoramas, and the walk takes 90 minutes
• ↑The seafood restaurant scene in Dún Laoghaire and Dalkey is the finest near Dublin: Cavistons (deli and restaurant, the finest seafood shop in Ireland), Rasam (Indian seafood, exceptional), and the various gastropubs on Dalkey's main street deliver a restaurant quality that the tourist-facing Temple Bar circuit does not match

What you sacrifice

• ↓The DART dependency makes Dún Laoghaire impractical as a daily base for visiting central Dublin attractions: the 25-minute train journey each way adds 50 minutes to every excursion, and irregular Sunday DART timetables create timing dependencies that require planning
• ↓The coastal villages are primarily residential and the evening atmosphere is quiet by 10pm: those wanting Dublin nightlife and late-night options need to take the DART back into the city