The Dublin Sandemans walking tour led by Connor was a standout experience during my British Isles trip. I did five tours across Ireland and Scotland, and this one was my absolute favorite. Connor doesn't just lead you through Dublin, he brings it to life. You can tell immediately he's a true local (born and raised in Dublin), and with more than 10 years of guiding under his belt, the pacing and flow are incredibly polished without ever feeling scripted. His stories are vivid, his local knowledge runs deep, and his enthusiasm is contagious. He has the rare ability to make history feel personal, relevant, and genuinely entertaining. What I appreciated most is how approachable he is throughout the tour. Connor happily answers questions as they come up, and if you're curious about a specific moment in history, a figure, or even a cultural or political detail, he'll dive deeper without missing a beat. And through it all, his love for Ireland shines through in the best way - like he genuinely wants you to understand the heart of the city, not just snap a few photos and move on. If you're going to be in Dublin and have 3 hours to spare, do yourself a favor and book the Sandeman's walking tour. This is the one you'll still be talking about after you've left Ireland and will make you want to come back to Dublin to embrace their local culture. read more

See all

We like Sandmen's Tours so much that when we were in Dublin we took a 2 hour tour. Our tour guide, Siomha, was above excellent!! She was able to make the history of Dublin interesting and entertaining.. I recommend every one should check into Sandeman's Tours whenever they visit any major city. read more

My fourth Sandeman's New Europe tour, after Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Prague and Barcelona. And this one was just as good as the others. Three hours long with a brief stop in the middle for a cup of tea (or a beer). Lots of walking, lots of talking, and lots of Dublin to see. I think that I was quite lucky to have John as the tour guide today as he's got a good history here in Dublin and is even a Trinity College graduate. That was quite helpful as he pointed out the various sites and things to see as we walked around. Dublin Castle, Dubb Linn Garden, the famous Forty Steps, Temple Bar and more. Very nice. My *only* complaint is that the tour group was massive. Usually they break it down into smaller groups of 25 or 30. We had 50 at the start. That's too many. read more

See all

My oldest daughter loves walking tours so she did some research and found this tour to be the best one offered. It's technically a free tour but you really should strongly tip your tour guide. They invest about two and a half hours educating and entertaining each group. We started our tour at City Hall and slowly worked our way around downtown. Lots of great tips and little extra bits of information were highlighted throughout our entire tour. Ciarin has a great sense of humor and was engaging. His willingness to have an interactive group made everything more interesting. I recommend taking the tour on the first or second day of your vacation so that you can double back and visit some of the suggested places. read more

See all

Had a tour from Carl that was really fun and well organized. Carl set out clear expectations for the tour, including length and food/bathroom stops. Learned A LOT and walked away with a list of other recommended stops for our visit. I HIGHLY recommend this tour, Carl specifically, if you are visiting Dublin. read more

I recently went on a Sandemans tour in Dublin. It was about 3 hours and we covered all the castles and cathedrals in Dublin as well as Trinity College. We also were given a tour of the Temple Bar area. Our host was a tall guy named Patrick. He was excellent. Very informative as well as funny. He made the trip memorable by telling history through humorous story telling. This guy would give a great Ted talk, IMO. Sandeman's does a lot of free tours where they cost nothing but you pay what you think the tour is worth. They also sell tickets to their evening pub crawl as well as excursions outside the city. read more

John was a fantastic tour guide-- a great storyteller, funny, engaging. He brought the historic sites to life with his lively stories. Top notch tour! read more

I took a walking tour with Cathal last weekend and was surprised to hear he was new! He knew the city and history very well and made sure to put a funny spin on most stories and even taught us how to greet each other in Irish. I recommend the free walking tour if you're interested in learning more about the history of Dublin and Ireland and want to meet some fellow travelers. They walk you around city center, Dublin Castle, Temple Bar, and Trinity College. Then once you're done with the touristy places you can get actual local tips Just don't forget to tip! read more

See all

I have taken Sandemans tours in 4 different countries and I definitely recommend their tours. They are free so you pay what you think it's worth. Every tour I have had was worth at least $20! I still tell stories and fun facts I learned while taking their tours. A must do if you are in a city where they offer a tour! read more

New Year's Eve of 2018 my best friend and I went on the Dublin walking tour with Jason! We had a fantastic time and it helped us get a lay of the land while learning a lot of great history. Great job Jason! We also did the New Years Bar Crawl (lots of fun and met loads of cool people, locals to other travelers) and the Dark Side of Dublin Tour which had a plenty of great material but our guide was a bit older and felt more like a college course tone than an immersive tour. Still recommend all of these tours. read more

Wally was our walking tour of Dublin guide. He was fabulous. He was very knowledgeable about Dublin and imparted information in a fun way. The day was bitter cold complete with snow flurries at Maggie Malone's statue. And even with that this Florida girl had a great time! Great job Wally! read more

I'm surprised that everyone (not just on this site) rated the tour so high. Don't get me wrong, I liked the tour, but it is not what I was expecting. I thought we would be walking the entire time and getting to see things all over the city (the tour is 3 hours), but that was not really the case. We stayed relatively close to Temple Bar for the entire tour, we never even crossed the river. When I go somewhere new, I like to walk around as much as possible and see everything, that is not what you get on this tour. What you do get is a really enthusiastic tour guide that knows the city well and has a bunch of good stories. The tour works by walking for a short distance and then stopping and listening to the guide talk for 15-20 minutes. So you really do get to hear about a lot of history which is good if that is what you are looking for. In short, go on this tour if you want to hear about a lot of history and don't really want to walk all that far. If you are looking to really explore the city and see as much as you can, this tour is not for you. read more

I only had a limited time in Dublin so I decided a walking tour would be one of the best ways to see the city with limited time. My experience on the free morning walking tour was excellent! It lasted about 3 hours which can sound very long but I was enjoying myself the entire time and it went by very fast! Our guide, Carl, was outstanding. He was very knowledgeable about all of the sites that we walked by and was very enthusiastic about his job. I could not have asked for a better experience to learn about the city of Dublin and the history it has. Thanks Carl! We also decided to go on the Pub Crawl that night which was very fun! We even got to see some Irish Dancing at the third stop. Drink specials and not having to worry about where to go was very nice. I would recommend both experiences! read more

An excellent tour taken at the beginning of our Dublin holiday! We had booked the tour ahead of our arrival, saving our family of 6 from dealing with paperwork at the meeting point. Our tour group was large enough that it was split in two and a second guide was brought in, causing some temporary disappointment as we had heard great things of the first guide. We need not have worried though, because our new guide, Chris, was fabulous! A recent Irish History grad, Chris' tour was full of history, entertaining stories, and humor. We walked all over for 3 hours, stopping off at the larger places of historical significance as well as some smaller ones. At the end of our tour one of our kids said "I thought I was going to really hate that tour, but it was great! I learned stuff!" No parent could ask for more! read more

This was a tour for the books! On a bright and sunny late September day, Patrick took our group on a fabulous walking tour of the city of Dublin. He had a wealth of knowledge from a historical perspective as well as being well versed on the city sights and current events. He made other tour recommendations and pub referrals to where the locals go. He was very patient with all our questions which sometimes bordered on the ridiculous! Why is the sun shining today? Cmon! Some philosophizing as well which kept us quite entertained. The "Stiffy on the Liffey" lol Another one- "Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story." Patrick was the best and as we wound our way around central Dublin, I felt this was the best approach to learn about this fun city on our first day! Great tour and guide! Welcome to Ireland! read more

The FREE Walking Tour concept is fantastic! I have taken advantage of these tours in Budapest, Krakow and now Dublin. Actually, I've done the Sandeman's New Dublin tour twice since temporarily relocating to Ireland this past June. Given my positive tour experiences in other cities, I made the Dublin walking tour the top activity on my itineraries for our friends and family visiting this summer. Back on August 9th I took the tour for the first time with my wife's cousins. We had a fabulous time with Mike. I'll be honest, I was a bit skeptical at first when Mike started the tour, I thought he had a strange Irish accent. Turned out he was from Rochester, New York! But buy the end of the tour you would have tought Mike was born and raised in Dublin, he was excellent; both entertaining and informative. I took the walking tour again last Tuesday, Sept 11 while my inlaws were in town. We were led this time by Stephen. We all had a great time with him. Especially loved his Trinity College tour! It was great to go on the same tour with two different guides to gain a greater perspective on the history of Dublin. Stephen and Mike did a great job sharing thousands of years of Irish history in just 3-3.5 hours. But don't let the length of the tour scare you, the time flies and there is a break halfway through in Temple Bar. It's not a long break, but plenty of time for you to run to Farrington's Pub and grab a quick pint. Seriously, if you're visiting Dublin, DO THIS TOUR! Keep up the great work guys! read more

Although it has been 2 months since we had the tour, I still remember many details of it and more, our tour guide Michael Rice! He is both funny and knowledgeable. Even we did homework before we went, we learned a lot more from him -- the city, the country and the history. The tour was long and Michael talked all the way, not an easy job. Our family of 4 from Atlanta highly appreciate his work and recommend him! read more

Great walking tour with Ciaran today. I'm so glad we chose to do a walking tour on our first afternoon here, because so many places that we would have just walked past have fascinating stories behind them. Ciaran gave a fantastic tour with a great balance between the historical and quirky, and gave lots of tips for visiting the rest of Ireland when we asked. I really love that he covered so much history- he made it clear that any questions were welcome if we wanted to go a bit more in depth. If he had focused too much on one period we would of missed so much about modern day Ireland, and how Ireland even came into existence. We also got a great run down on bars and things to visit, which felt like sincere and honest recommendations that we now have worked into our next couple of days here. read more

Meh. I've been on many free walking tours around Europe but this was my least favourite. I was disappointed too because I'm from Dublin. The guide was knowalagble but was not a very good story teller. He rambled on and was distracted easily. I feel like it would have been better if he focused on a certain era as he switched back and forth from different times and the tourists that did not have English as their first language was a bit confused. read more

See all

I've used Sandman's free tours in several cities now, including Berlin and most recently Dublin. It's not that I'm adverse to paying for tours - I just feel you get more bang for your buck when people have to win over your money. I've always been impressed with the tour guides and routes that seem to be the best way to get an idea of a new city. Dublin tours seemed a bit of a let down. It didn't seem to cover much ground for the amount of time spent on the tour. The tour really missed out on some exciting bits and aspects of the city. Although the tour guide (a local to Dublin who lived in Berlin for some time and studied as a dramaturg and historian) claimed to know his stuff - there were quite a few inaccuracies in his stories. Perhaps I'm being picky, but getting very famous events wrong a few years - guessing centuries and getting stories mixed up with other events.... it makes you less engaged. Plus he seemed pretty flat and indifferent. Dublin's history is a bit depressing, but come'on. Also pretty amazing and full of drama. However despite this - that was one tour guide and these tours do what they say on the Tin. Show you around, give you the basics and point you tward the fun stuff. read more

LOVE SANDEMANS. I look for their tours in every city I visit. Really enjoyed my tour of Dublin, and John the guide was absolutely fantastic. Shared really interesting stories, one of the reasons I love these tours. Definitely recommend! read more

I highly recommend NewEurope tours in any city that they offer it. First off, it's FREE. The guides work on tips and they are all relatively young so they have tons of energy and are really great people person. Second, they take you to all the highlights of Dublin and provide you with historical context as well as give you recommendations on where to eat and what to do in that area. Third, tours usually last 2 to 3 hours. So if you're only in a city for a day or so, they take you to all the highlights and then you can decide where you want to go back later. Dooooo it. You know you want to. read more

This was a lovely tour presented by the very knowledgeable Alita. She's very delightful and really enjoys giving the tour of her new hometown. Our group learned a lot about the history of Dublin, government, pop and pub culture. The tour offers a stop at Dublin Castle, Temple Bar, Christchurch Cathedral, Trinity College, art posts on famous Dublin writers,artists and musicians; a great detailed history of the Easter Uprising and more. It's really worth booking and best of all it's free and at your discretion to tip the guide. Get to know a bit of Dublin by a local. read more

Went on the Sandeman's Pub Crawl and it was one of the worst tours I have ever been on. The guide was indifferent and almost treated us like we were just a nuisance to him. He even went as far to tell us that the pubs he was taking us to would never be ones he'd actually frequent. The pubs were nondescript and boring - we had no idea why these particular ones were chosen as nothing was every explained. There was nothing special about the drink "specials" and the kicker to being the worst tour ever was... The guide crossed the street at a light that turned red and kept walking with a handful of the group - while 25 of us were left waiting for the light to turn green again before we could cross. The guide just kept walking and was completely out of sight to the rest of the group. We had to guess to figure out which way he went. Great Experience - not! The guide should be fired. BTW - I tried to post this on Trip Advisor but funnily enough - the Sandeman's Pub Crawl page won't open - despite all the one star reviews - they are now linking it to their "Free Historical Walk" which is actually excellent. read more

We took this tour on the first day that we were in Dublin. I'm not usually a big history buff, but this tour was fantastic! We walked to several different areas of the city and learned both major historical facts, as well as some not-so publicized, juicy history about Dublin. Our tour-guide Ciaron was welcoming, incredibly knowledgable about all things dublin (I don't think there was a question he didn't know the answer to), and funny. He kept our tour very engaging, fun and informative. Simply it, go take this tour! The guides are not paid by the tour company, they offer this as a free service so they work on tips. Make sure you bring cash so you can to your guide handsomely. Also be certain to bring rain gear or pack an umbrella. Both came in handy during our tour. read more

My husband and I were in Dublin for just one day as part of a cruise itinerary. We signed up for this tour, because it was so highly rated online. Unfortunately, this tour was not the tour for us. Of the 3-hour tour, we only stuck around for the first half, and we didn't see much in that time. We stayed for Dublin Castle and the walk to Christ Church Cathedral. During the first 20 minutes of the tour, the guide stood our group outside of Dublin Castle and talked about the tour itself (its purpose, structure, etc.) and about himself. We then spent about 15 minutes in the Castle, and learned a good bit about its history. After that we walked to the courtyard just across from the Castle for about 15 minutes more history. Our tour made its way up Swift Alley, where the guide spoke about its significance. The guide also spent a good bit of time talking about other sights that we could go see just a few hours away from Dublin. By this point, we were about 75 minutes in and realized that this was not the tour for us. We had "toured" very little and we were learning more about all the things that we wouldn't have time to do while in port for the day. Our group then walked to Christ Church Cathedral, which is a sight we were interested in seeing so we broke from the tour and walked off on our own. In short, this would have been a decent tour if we were going to be in Dublin for several days and had no idea yet what we wanted to do. But if you are in the city for just the day, find a tour that takes you to the sights instead of talking about the sights you should go see afterwards. read more

Had a great tour experience with Sandemans. Great quality tour at a price you decide. Can't be beat. Our tour guide was fun, funny, and extremely knowledgeable. We had a great time and met some really nice people. Excellent. read more

I've done this tour two separate times and each time it was fantastic. I've dont these tours in cities across Europe and they are the most consistently entertaining and informative tours I've been on. The Dublin tour is great because you get to walk the city and get your bearings will learning about the people, culture, and history of Dublin. For any who might be put off or suspicious of the fact that it's free...don't worry. These guides work hard to keep you engaged and entertained and you can honestly tip them whatever you can or whatever you feel they deserve, even if it's €0. I recommend this tour as the first morning activity of the first full day in the city to everyone who visits Dublin. read more

This tour was great! And Lisa was amazing, I would definitely suggest this as a first stop for anyone visiting Dublin. Lisa gave us a great list of all must sees that are definitely work checking out like Trinity library and a list of stuff to avoid, places to eat and drink and explore. read more

If you've only got a few days in Dublin to soak in the sights, and you wanna make the most of your limited time, this 3-4 hour tour of the main central historical points of Dublin centre is a very good idea. Apart from the chance to cram in an awful lot of history and sightseeing in a short stretch of time, this tour has the added benefit of being both free and quite social. It also finished up in O'Neils where you get a concession on the carvery lunch. I've been on the tour twice myself (largely because there was a lot of information on the tour, and i had forgotten most of it by the time i did the tour the second time!), and the weather was smashing both times. On the downside, if you choose to do this tour in favor of going on a paid walking, bus or cycle tour, then prepare yourself for the constant plugging that goes on. It is a tour which is loudly and proudly "sponsored by Temple Bar pub, O' Neil's, Workman's Pub Crawl...and pretty much anyone our company has a deal with....oh, and by your tips!!". Seriously, watch out for that last one. These guides clearly work for free, and count on tips, and they will plug for tips at the beginning and then again at the end...some people will have a problem with that. The other problem is that it being a free tour and run by staff who work for free, this means that the quality of the tour is impossible to guarantee. It depends on which tour guide you get, and whether or not that particular guide has had a good week!! Also, if the tour is about to start, and it's one of the young, student-looking blokes...walk away immediately, and come back when the tour is being given by someone older and a bit more "I am not doing this for a laugh because i'm a fairy fucking Trinity student...i'm doing this because this money is paying my rent!!" They tend to have more charming charisma and are better story tellers! But to be fair, if you do get a nice day, and a good guide, you could do a lot worse with 4 hours....and actually, yeah...the food in O'Neils is good, i gotta give them that!! read more

Carl carl carl, absolutely perfect guide. I use these guys a lot when we travel and this was a terrific tour. Please do not be fooled by others. Stick with these guys !! Carl was personable and smart, able to answer questions and give great advice read more

I had Conor as my guide, and since he was so awesome and with a touch more Irish history in his presentation and a bit more walking to some of the key sites would easily have given one of the best tours I've had, I've rounded up to a 5 (in reality, right now, he's about a 4-4.5)... He spoke a mile a minute with an energy unrivaled by most people I've ever met. From the first moment as we stopped outside the Dublin Castle, I thought, "Well, I'm going to learn A LOT if he talks this fast." (Unfortunately, however, as wonderful as he was and despite how fun the tour was, I will note that he talked about other tours he suggests (since he does others to Howth and has participated in ones to the Cliffs of Moher, etc. over his life), venues he thinks are worth visiting and other non-Dublin-history facts and tales as much as the history itself, so if you're looking for three hours of history, well, you won't get it... at least not with Conor unless you bombard him while walking from stop to stop.) Conor was on the younger side, but had graduated college and used his interest in Irish history, business and acting to become a vivacious self-employed tour guide with Sandeman's (in other words, he gets paid by those on the tour, not Sandeman's). His energy was wonderful, and he was truly inspirational in his ability to time his comments about Irish history with good, witty humor and simply to tell a good story. We didn't walk a lot--both because we stopped every few blocks at spots good for a group to convene and then he talked for about 20+ minutes until we moved to the next spot. The spots themselves weren't necessarily amazing or symbolic; specifically, I remember stopping at the Dublin Castle, the arch/walkway of Jonathan Swift, on a side street in Temple Bar under an awning, and at City Hall. So... as others have said, if you're hoping for a walking tour of the whole city, well, that's not what this is; it's more of a *talking* tour of the city and good, rather, for pure entertainment and for those who do NOT want to walk a lot. And, because it started raining, we actually ended our tour by sitting in the corner of the first floor of City Hall, Conor telling us [his version of] the Story of Oisín and Tir Na N-Og. Again, he was an amazing storyteller--super inspirational and entertaining to the point at which I'd hire him to tell me bedtime stories each night if I could. But, again, I only learned a touch about Irish history. That said, after the history part was over, some folks tipped and left to do other things; after all, three hours for a tour is a long time. (FYI, most folks tipped €10-€20 per person, which was collected by handing directly to Conor, so if you're hoping for the anonymity of a collection basket or hat, you won't get it.) Bottom line: Would I recommend the tour? For sure. If you can spare a few hours, or even if you leave early, it's a good way to learn a little, be entertained a bit and just get a better intro to a city than you might otherwise get if you haven't studied up before your visit. read more

Very average. Dublin has an amazing history dating back to early AD but our guide was easily distracted and tried to cover 2000 years of history. Would have been better off to focus on one particular period. read more

Wonderful Walking tour- our guide Patrick Hughes was amazing. A great guide makes all the difference. I would always use this tour group

This was soo much fun! I had just arrived in Dublin that morning and met up with the 11am tour. Chris (a red haired, freckly Trinity student) was the tour guide, he was great! very entertaining and informative. The tour was detoured a little by the Queen's visit, but Chris just rolled with it. What a great value! Free tour, just tip the guide. I gave what I figured I would have paid anyway (hey I'm an overtipping American, what can I say). After, a bunch went to O'Neill's for lunch and got a little discount. Great use of my time! read more

I was in Dublin for 4 days and wanted to get the most out of my trip so I decided to take the NEW Dublin tour. This tour was unbelievable. First of all, it was free, although our tour guide, Peter, gladly accepted tips. He took us around on a 3 hour walking tour of the city. During this time we learned about Irish history, architecture, as well as where the locals hang out and which pubs are the best. A truly enjoyable way to spend the afternoon. I think this tour should be required for those new to Dublin, it was so informative and fun. Make sure to wear good walking shoes, you'll be walking over cobblestones most of the time. And pack an umbrella and rain gear, Dublin's weather can't make up its mind so it's best to be prepared. And, of course, bring your camera. You literally will see pretty much all of Dublin, which is a beautiful city, so have it ready. This same touring company does walking tours in a number of other European cities. Check out their website to see if there's one where you are traveling to and become educated! read more

This tour was incredible. If you have the chance, tour the city with John and learn about the story of the lost underwater city of Atlantis (hint: it may be closer than you think), where our understanding of leprechauns came from, Trinity College, Lady Injustice, the rock legend Rory Gallagher, how Dublin really feels about U2, and so much more. I've infrequently had this much fun on a guided tour but I was hanging on his words. A definite must!! read more

This tour is structured very well! The company puts on a very detailed tour, they also offer the tour in several languages. The only downside is that we only saw a few iconic sites. read more

My mom and I had an excellent tour by Eoin this morning! He took us to Dublin Castle, the gardens at Dublin castle, Chester Beatty library, around Temple bar to the bars owned by U2, to both churchs, Trinity college, and to the Molly Malloy statue. It was a great tour with a great guide! Sandemans is a great organization and they never disappoint! read more

I was recommend to Sandemans by a friend who did one of their free tours in Madrid. We signed up for the one in Dublin on our first day in Ireland and it was a perfect way to get a taste of the history, the center of town and some of Dublins more iconic locations. This was a walking tour, but I didn't feel exhausted physically by the end. We took a break half way near a local coffee shop and got a drink. Our tour guide's name was John and not only was he incredibly knowledgeable and friendly, he sold us on doing a pub crawl with Sandeman's later that night and it was 100% worth every euro (12 euro to be exact). It was everyone's favorite part of the trip. I love the company's reasoning for not having the tour cost anything and simply and plainly encouraging you to tip your tour guide at the end. That sounds kinda weird, but I honestly thought that it made John work really hard. We each tipped between 10-20 euro a piece. It started at City Hall and ended at Trinity College. It took about 3 hours. LOVED THIS. Could not recommend more. read more