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Dublin: Christmas Lights Festive Bus Tour with Afternoon Tea
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From €62 per person
There’s something genuinely special about seeing Dublin dressed up for Christmas, and doing it from the top deck of a 1960s vintage double-decker makes it even better. For 80 minutes you roll past City Hall, Trinity College, and the city’s best-known streets while they’re glowing at their festive best - all the charm of the old bus, none of the draughts.
You can pick your spot upstairs or downstairs, and the drinks arrive straight away. Tea, coffee, or hot chocolate - whatever suits you. The food is proper afternoon tea: classic bites, the tour’s own Christmas sandwich, and mince pies to finish things off nicely. Your guide keeps things lively with stories about Dublin and the landmarks you’re passing, so there’s a bit of real local knowledge woven through the whole experience.
It’s a lovely way to take in the city lights without walking the same cold streets everyone else is on. The afternoon tea format means you’re comfortable and fed throughout, which makes for a much more relaxed evening than most city tours manage.
Book as early in the Christmas season as you can. Festive bus tours in Dublin fill up fast, especially on weekends in December. If you’ve got a specific date in mind - Christmas Jumper night out, a work do, a family visit - lock it in early and you won’t end up disappointed.
The top deck is worth it if you can manage the stairs. You get a much better view of the lights from up there, particularly when you’re moving along O’Connell Street or passing the illuminated trees around St. Stephen’s Green. It’s a bit colder than downstairs, but the hot chocolate takes care of that.
Dress warmer than you think you need to. Even with the hot drinks, vintage buses aren’t as well insulated as modern coaches, and Dublin in December has a way of getting into your bones. An extra layer goes a long way toward making the whole thing more enjoyable.
This works beautifully as a lead-in to a night out. The 80-minute format is compact enough to slot into an evening without taking over it. A lot of people use it as the first act - get the lights tour done, get warm and fed, then head to a pub or restaurant nearby to carry on.