Things to do in Europe · Dublin
Dublin in October: the Cliffs of Moher, the Storehouse, two distillery tours, and the free Bram Stoker weekend
Which day trip to book from Dublin, the Guinness Storehouse and Jameson, the Wicklow day, and the Bram Stoker Festival's free parade and gothic park.
- For visitors from the US
- For Europeans
- For visitors from East Asia
Dublin's paid list is two drinks and three day trips, and the October bank-holiday weekend, Saturday October 24 to Monday October 26, is the Bram Stoker Festival, when the city's free programme is at its best. The bookings below are from our partner's Dublin catalogue, 161 experiences as read on October 1, ranked by how many people booked and how they rated them. Prices are "from" prices in euros. The free weekend is the city council's and the National Gallery's, on Glentio's Dublin page today.
While you're in Dublin
A few things to do in Dublin from our partner GetYourGuide. Booking happens on their site.
Glentio earns a small commission when you book through these links, at no extra cost to you. Prices as shown on GetYourGuide on 1 Oct 2026; today's price and availability are on their site. More things to do in Dublin
The three day trips
- Cliffs of Moher, the Burren and Galway city, from €78. Rated 4.8 by 27,800, the most-booked experience in Dublin and the best-rated of the long days. A full day across the country and back; October light on the cliffs is the reason the photographs look the way they do.
- Giant's Causeway, the Dark Hedges, Dunluce and Belfast, from €60, 4.8 from 10,000, the northern day, over the border and back.
- Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough and Kilkenny, from €45, nine hours, 4.8 from 9,500. The shorter and cheaper day, rated the same as the other two, and the one with autumn colour in it.
Three days of coaches is too many. Book one, two at most, on the clearest forecasts.
The two drinks
- Guinness Storehouse, from €37, 4.7 from 26,600. The second-most-booked thing in the city and the pint at the top is the point. Book the late-afternoon slot.
- Jameson Distillery tour with tastings, from €31, 4.7 from 7,800. Rated the same, half the crowd, on Bow Street.
Booking happens on the partner's site; Glentio earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Free around it: the Bram Stoker weekend, and the Gallery
The festival runs over the bank-holiday weekend. Stokerland takes over St Patrick's Park beside the cathedral from Saturday October 24 to Monday October 26, 11:00 to 16:30: a Victorian ghost ship crewed by undead acrobats, a family dance party and a free carousel. On Saturday morning the National Library runs a research hunt through its catalogue and archives, 11:00 to 13:00; on Sunday October 25 at 13:30 the National Museum hosts a family mask-making workshop in its Creativity Hub. Monday October 26, the bank holiday, is the big day: Dracula's Disco for children in the Mansion House's Round Room at noon and 14:00, and at 19:00 the Macnas Parade: Fiáin, the Galway spectacle company's giant-puppet night parade from North Great George's Street to Seán McDermott Street. Book the Storehouse for the Monday afternoon and walk to the parade.
The National Gallery on Merrion Square runs free tours all month: the highlights tour on Saturday October 10 at 14:30, a tour through an LGBTQIA+ lens on Sunday October 11 at 14:30, the Open House architecture tours of the Dargan Wing on October 17 at 11:30 and a sensory tour on October 18, a tour in Irish on October 18 at 14:30, Women in Art on October 24 at 13:00, and in Halloween week an improv duo's comic, partly invented walk through the collection on October 25 at 14:30. On Thursday October 29 at 19:00, Maïa Nunes performs Lake Burst live inside the Gallery. The Sunday family drop-in workshops run in the Shaw Room from 11:30 each week.
For visitors from the US
Dates on posters are day first: 26/10 is October 26, the holiday. Prices above are in euros; the Cliffs day costs about a theme-park ticket at home, the Storehouse about a nice lunch. Book the Cliffs and the Storehouse before you fly; the Gallery tours need nothing.
For Europeans
Dublin is a short flight from everywhere and the bank-holiday weekend is the one to take: Stokerland by day, the Macnas parade by night, one day trip on the Sunday. London is the same format across the water.
For visitors from East Asia
Mid-October is after Golden Week and before the Christmas season. Ireland applies a minimum purchase per receipt for a VAT refund; ask for the tax-free form at the till. The partner tours run in English; the Storehouse's audio runs in Japanese, Korean and Chinese; the parade needs no language.
Sources
- The partner catalogue for Dublin, as read on October 1, 2026, for every price, rating and review count.
- Dublin City Council's Bram Stoker Festival and the National Gallery of Ireland, checked October 5, 2026, for the free listings.