Where to stay in Dublin

The cobbled quarter between Dame Street and the Liffey: live music in every pub, the Irish Film Institute and a weekend food market. Central, fun and loud until late; the hostels are here, and the pints cost more than anywhere else in town.

Around St Patrick's and Christ Church cathedrals and the Guinness Storehouse: distilleries, antique shops and some of the city's oldest pubs. Cheaper rooms, real neighbourhood life and a fifteen-minute walk to Grafton Street.

North of the river: the cobbled Smithfield square beside the old Jameson distillery and the village streets of Stoneybatter, with some of the city's best neighbourhood pubs and restaurants. The Luas red line runs through.

South to the Grand Canal: red-brick terraces, the restaurants and bars of Camden and Wexford streets, and a short walk to St Stephen's Green. Small hotels and quieter nights than the centre.

Merrion Square, Fitzwilliam Square and St Stephen's Green: the national museums and gallery, the Merrion and the Shelbourne, with Grafton Street a minute away.

South-east of the centre among the embassies and the Aviva Stadium: big hotels, leafy roads and the DART to the coast. Calm and expensive, twenty minutes' walk from Merrion Square.