Grafton Street
Grafton Street features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Dublin. Give it roughly ~45 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type landmark
- Suggested visit ~45 min
- Dublin Dublin guide
About Grafton Street
Dublin's premier pedestrianised shopping street, with Bewley's Oriental Café, the Molly Malone statue, and Ireland's best street performers.
Grafton Street is the beating commercial heart of central Dublin, a kilometre-long pedestrianised shopping street running from Trinity College south to St Stephen's Green, lined with flagship stores, boutiques, and some of Dublin's most celebrated cafés and restaurants. Busking is officially licensed on Grafton Street, and the standard of street performance, everything from classical violinists to full bands, is often remarkably high.
Bewley's Oriental Café at No.78 has been a Dublin institution since 1927, serving coffee and pastries in its beautiful Art Nouveau interior with stained glass windows designed by Harry Clarke, one of Ireland's greatest artists. In its Georgian rooms upstairs, the James Joyce free exhibition recreates the literary atmosphere of early 20th-century Dublin.
At the foot of Grafton Street, at the corner with Suffolk Street, stands the statue of Molly Malone, the fictional fishmonger of the Dublin song who 'wheeled her wheelbarrow through streets broad and narrow'. The bronze figure is a Dublin landmark and an obligatory stop for photographs, though Dubliners affectionately call her 'The Tart with the Cart'.
Did you know? Buskers on Grafton Street must audition for an official licence, the competition is so intense that many professional musicians have been rejected.
How long is a visit to Grafton Street?
Set aside roughly ~45 min for Grafton Street. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Grafton Street worth your time?
Grafton Street is among the 42 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Dublin, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Dublin
Hear the story of Grafton Street
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