The best parks in Dublin

At Dublin’s great museums and monuments, distilleries and other historic sights, visitors can learn about the history and culture of this great city. But it’s in the city’s gracious Georgian squares and sprawling green spaces that you can get close to its greatest asset: Dubliners themselves.

As soon as the sun comes out, locals flock to the city’s myriad outdoor spaces to take a break from work, catch up with friends, play with their kids and check out wild deer (really). Visitors can feel free to join in – or just sit back for some of the best people-watching you’ll find anywhere.

From sprawling green spaces to elegant city squares, these are the 13 best city parks in Dublin.

1. St Stephen’s Green

Best park for people-watching

On the south side of the city center near the Grafton St shopping district, Dublin’s most popular city park boasts tree-lined paths, beautiful floral plantings, and a lake filled with mallard ducks, swans, moorhens and a variety of birds. The perimeter of the park is densely planted with trees to shelter it from the noise of the city, making it a peaceful place for a stroll.

Several sculptures grace the park, including the James Joyce Memorial Sculpture. Other highlights include a scented garden for people with visual impairments, a playground and a bandstand. As a city-center park, the green is intensely lived in, especially on a sunny day. But if you want to get to know Dublin and its people, this is a terrific place to start

2. Phoenix Park

Best park for families, cycling and wildlife

At 1750 acres (that’s more than twice the size of New York’s Central Park), the Phoenix Park is one of the largest city parks in the world. At any given moment in its huge expanse, you’ll find joggers, grannies pushing buggies, ladies walking poodles and 300 fallow deer among its gardens, lakes and sporting oval. In summer, grab a spot amid the crowds of people in the grass by such attractions as the Papal Cross, Waterloo Monument, Magazine Fort or Farmleigh estate and the Irish president’s official residence. Active types will love the cricket and polo grounds, while history buffs can sit down in a Victorian tea room and admire fine 18th-century residences scattered throughout the park. And visitors of all ages will love meeting new friends at Dublin Zoo.

Getting there: Many busses from the city centre will take you there in 10 minutes, or hop on the Luas train and get off at Heuston Station stop. It's a five minute walk from there.

3. National Botanic Gardens

Best park for nature lovers

Founded in 1795, these 48-acre botanic gardens contain a series of curvilinear glasshouses from the 19th century. By the same architect behind the glasshouses at Belfast Botanic Gardens and the Palm House in London’s Kew Gardens, these Victorian masterpieces feature the latest in botanical technology, including a series of computer-controlled climates reproducing environments from different parts of the world.

Local tip: Combine a trip here with a visit to the adjoining Glasnevin Cemetery, and visit the nearby Gravediggers (also known as Kavanaghs pub) for what many say is the best pint of Guinness in the city.

Getting there: Located in the suburb of Glasnevin, it's a 20 minute bus ride from O'Connell Street. You can take the the 4,9,83 or 155 there.

4. Trinity College

Best park for an alfresco pint

The lovely grounds of lively Trinity College are open to the public – and on a sunny day you’ll find bodies of students and other Dubliners sprawled out at the edge of the cricket grounds, and on the grass beside the Pavilion Bar (The Pav) at the campus’ southeastern corner. The bar is the clubhouse of the college, a bright and airy space that’s open to anyone who wants a drink or a bite of food. When the weather is good, most people take their drinks and snacks to the cricket grounds, transforming them into Dublin’s biggest unofficial beer garden.

5. Iveagh Gardens

Best park for peace and quiet

This small park south of St Stephen’s Green never gets too crowded, and the warden won’t bark at you if you walk on the grass. The gardens were designed by Ninian Niven in 1863 as the private grounds of Iveagh House; whimsical features include a rustic grotto, cascade, fountain, maze and rosarium. In summer, the park hosts concerts, and comedy and food festivals.

Getting there: Located right in the heart of the city, Iveagh Gardens are a five minute walk from St Stephen's Green.

6. Merrion Square

Best park for Georgian architecture

Merrion Square is the most prestigious and (arguably) most elegant of Dublin’s Georgian squares. While its well-kept lawns, tended flower beds and colorful statue of Oscar Wilde are all appealing, what flanks the square is perhaps more of interest: on three sides, there are gorgeous Georgian houses with colorful doors, peacock fanlights, ornate door knockers and even foot scrapers (once used to remove mud from shoes). Laid out in 1762, the square is bordered on its fourth side by the National Gallery and Leinster House.

Local tip: Since the playground here doesn’t get as busy as the one in nearby St Stephen’s Green, it’s a good spot for toddlers.

Getting there: Located just outside Trinity College, you can walk to Merrion Square from any part of the city, and take in the beautiful Georgian architecture of the surrounding streets and squares.

7. Killiney Hill Park

Best park for hiking

About 30 minutes by train or bus from the city center, Killiney Hill Park has spectacular views that are well worth the effort to get here. Comprising Killiney Hill and Dalkey Hill, this postcard-perfect green space is a popular spot for hikers, and offers views over the affluent villages of Killiney and Dalkey. On a clear day, you’ll be treated to more distant views of Dublin and Bray Head and – if you’re really lucky – across the Irish Sea to Wales.

Getting there: The best way to get to Killiney is to take the Dart commuter train from Pearse Street or Tara Street Stations to the village of Killiney. It is about a 30 minute ride, during which you get to enjoy some of the most stunning views of Dublin Bay.

8. The People’s Park

Best park for food markets

In the seaside suburb of Dún Laoghaire, this park hosts a popular Sunday food market where you’ll find organic vegetables, local seafood, Irish fruit and farm cheeses among other tasty artisan produce. There are usually street performers or musicians on hand to entertain visitors. Grab a slice of Neapolitan pizza or a wine and cheese board and enjoy a day of people-watching, before hitting the promenade or pier for a sunset stroll.

Getting there: Again, take the Dart from the city centre, Dún Laoghaire, is under 30 minutes on the commuter train. And you could jump off there to eat on your way back from Killiney Hill walk.

9. The Castle Gardens

Best park for reading a book

Just off Dame St in the city center, this small and well-maintained park on the grounds of Dublin Castle is a great place to stop and and relax after visiting the castle or the nearby Chester Beatty Library. The main Dubh Linn Garden is on the site of the original Black Pool from which Dublin got its name (dubh means black and linn pool in Irish). The garden is flanked by the medieval castle walls and surrounded by smaller memorial gardens.

Getting there: Right in the heart of the city, two minutes from Temple Bar.

10. Irish National War Memorial Gardens

Best park for escaping the crowds

Anyone who ventures this far west – and not many visitors do – will find a lovely bit of landscaping at the War Memorial Gardens, as pleasant a patch of greenery as any you’ll find in Dublin’s Georgian center. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the memorial commemorates the 49,400 Irish soldiers who died during WWI, their names inscribed in the two huge granite “bookrooms” that stand at one end. You can combine a trip here with a visit to the nearby Kilmainham Gaol.

Getting there: If you are up for a walk, it will tale about 40 minutes from the city centre. Otherwise you can jump on any of these busses C1 C2 C3 C4 that will drop you outside.

11. Herbert Park

Best park for dogs

This gorgeous swath of green lawns, ponds and flower beds near the Royal Dublin Society Showground runs along the River Dodder and is a great spot for dog walkers. There are tennis, boules and croquet courts and a kids’ playground here, too. Herbert Park is also Dublin’s prime cherry destination, boasting the highest number of the blossoming trees in the capital. What’s more, it’s close to the Aviva Stadium, home to Ireland’s national rugby and football (soccer) teams, making it a great place for a stroll after before or after a match.

Getting there: An E2 bus will drop you there from the city centre in 10 minutes.

12. St Patrick’s Park

Best park for lunch with a view

At the edge of the historic Liberties district, St Patrick’s Park is a fine place to rest your feet on the walk back to the city center from the Guinness Storehouse or one of the area’s whiskey distilleries. Stop here for a takeout lunch from one of the many cafes nearby and find a spot by the medieval St Patrick’s Cathedral. It's believed that on the park grounds St Patrick baptized the first Christians in Ireland more than 1500 years ago. Today, the park features landscaped gardens, a children’s playground and a Literary Parade – bronze plaques that commemorate the work of Irish authors including Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, WB Yeats, Jonathan Swift and other literary lions.

Getting there: A 10 minutes stroll from Trinity College up along Dame Street.

13. Blessington Street Basin

Best hidden gem of a park

Dublin’s “secret garden,” this charming little park is in Phibsborough, one of Dublin’s trendiest suburbs and just a 15-minute walk from O’Connell St. Referenced in James Joyce’s Ulysses, the park is home to a former reservoir turned duck pond where you’ll find swans, mandarin ducks, moorhens, wood ducks, grey herons and other flying visitors. Three of the best places in Dublin for a coffee are all within walking distance: Two Boys Brew, Clement & Pekoe and Bang Bang. Grab a cup and sit on a picnic bench to watch the ducks at feeding time, or take a stroll through the adjoining parks at the opposite end of the main entrance.

Getting there: You can walk to Blessinton Street, it's 15 minutes from O'Connell Street.