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Dublin: Grand Canal Cruise with Dinner
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From €70 per person
The Grand Canal moves at its own pace, and this evening follows suit. You board the canal barge for two hours on a quieter, leafier side of Dublin - floating under the trees while the crew steers you through the working canal locks. The timber lock gates operate exactly as they did when they were built over 228 years ago. It’s one of those small Dublin details that tends to stay with you.
Dinner is three courses, all freshly prepared on board. Your booking includes a glass of house wine or a bottle of beer, and you can order more from the bar during the cruise, paid separately at the end of the evening. The pace is relaxed and unhurried, which is the point. It works equally well for visitors wanting something a little different from the usual Dublin evening and for locals looking for a proper night out.
The Grand Canal towpath is one of Dublin’s favourite walking and cycling routes, but you’ll see a completely different side of it from the water. The bankside trees create a green tunnel effect in summer that you’d never appreciate at pavement level.
The canal passes through some genuinely beautiful stretches of Dublin, including Baggot Street Bridge and beyond toward Portobello and Harold’s Cross. Many of the Georgian terraces along the banks are among the most photographed in the city, and from the barge you get the full picture without the parked cars.
If you’re celebrating something, this is the kind of experience that lands well. The atmosphere on board is social without being forced, and the combination of food, drink, and a moving landscape does most of the work for you.
Dress in a layer more than you think you need, even in summer. The canal can be a few degrees cooler than the city centre in the evening, especially as the light fades. A light jacket stowed in a bag is good insurance.
Patrick Kavanagh’s seat is on the south bank of the Grand Canal at Baggot Street Bridge, a bronze sculpture of the poet sitting exactly where he used to sit. If you’re in the area before or after the cruise, it’s worth knowing about.