Five Really Cool Things To See When You Win Lite Rock’s Dublin Trip

If you're the grand prize winner of Lite Rock's Workday Getaway of the Lifetime trip to Dublin, Ireland, you really can expect to have one of the most amazing times of your life, complete with tickets to see Billy Joel live in concert!

Dublin is one of the most walkable cities in Europe. Start in the north at Phoenix Park and head south to the River Liffey, cross the famous Ha'Penny Bridge and find your way to the medieval streets of Temple Bar.

Pause for a pint before heading to the Trinity College campus. Shop along nearby Grafton Street before jaunting on to the peaceful St. Stephen's Green. From there, literary fiends can drop by the Writers Museum or the James Joyce Centre while visitors that enjoy a drop of the good stuff can tour the Guinness Storehouse or the Old Jameson Distillery.

With thanks to Lonelyplanet.com and USNews.com, here are five really cool things you should include in your Dublin sightseeing.

1-Guinness Storehouse :

The most popular visit in town is the beer-lover's Disneyland, a multimedia bells-and-whistles homage to the country's most famous export and the city's most enduring symbol. The old grain storehouse, the only part of the massive, 26-hectare St James's Gate Brewery open to the public, is a suitable cathedral in which to worship the black gold; shaped like a giant pint of Guinness, it rises seven impressive stories high around a stunning central atrium. At the top is the head, represented by the Gravity Bar, with a panoramic view of Dublin.

2-Dublin Castle:

The center of British power in Ireland for most of 800 years, Dublin Castle sits atop Cork Hill, behind City Hall. It was originally built on the orders of King John in 1204, but it’s more higgledy-piggledy palace than castle. Only the Record Tower, completed in 1258, survives from the original Norman construction. Parts of the castle’s foundations remain and a visit to the excavations is the most interesting part of the castle tour. The moats, now completely covered by more modern developments, were once filled by the River Poddle. The castle is also home to one of Dublin’s best museums, the Chester Beatty Library.

3-National Gallery of Ireland:

The collection at the National Gallery is made up of nearly 13,000 paintings, sketches, prints and sculptures, including such highlights as Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ and the impressive Beit Collection, made up of a huge inventory of masterpieces by Vermeer, Velázquez and Goya. Local favourites, however, are the paintings by William’s brother Jack B Yeats.

4-St. Patrick's Cathedral:

It was at this cathedral, reputedly, that St Paddy himself dunked the Irish heathens into the waters of a well, so the church that bears his name stands on one of the earliest Christian sites in the city and a pretty sacred piece of turf. Although there's been a church here since the 5th century, the present building dates from 1190 or 1225 (opinions differ) and it has been altered several times, most notably in 1864 when the flying buttresses were added, thanks to the neo-Gothic craze that swept the nation. St Patrick's Park, the expanse of green beside the cathedral, was a crowded slum until it was cleared and its residents evicted in the early 20th century.

5- Gravediggers (aka Kavanagh’s)

The gravediggers from the adjacent Glasnevin Cemetery had a secret serving hatch so that they could drink on the job – hence the pub’s nickname. Founded in 1833 by one John Kavanagh and still in the family, this pub is one of the best in Ireland, virtually unchanged in 150 years. In summer time the green of the square is full of drinkers basking in the sun, while inside the hardened locals ensure that ne’er a hint of sunshine disturbs some of the best Guinness in town. An absolute classic.