← All Ireland tours via partner · From €30 · 5 hours 
The Houses of Guinness Tour with Pint of Guinness
Free cancellation Booked securely via partner
Check availability & prices →
From €30 per person
The Guinness name runs through Dublin’s streets, buildings, and parks in ways most visitors walk straight past. This five-hour walking tour through the city centre pulls all of that together - connecting the family’s houses, the landmarks they funded, and the places they shaped, in a way that puts real flesh on what you might know from the House of Guinness TV series.
You’ll see the statue of William Conyngham (4th Baron Plunket and husband to Anne Guinness), and Iveagh House on St Stephen’s Green - the Guinness family home. The tour covers Lord Ardilaun (Arthur Guinness), the philanthropist who restored St Stephen’s Green and gifted it to the people of Dublin, and takes you to St Patrick’s Cathedral, rebuilt at the expense of Benjamin Lee Guinness (who also became Dublin’s first Lord Mayor after the City Council was reconstituted). From there it’s through St Patrick’s Park to see the housing and educational facilities built for the working poor of Dublin by Lord Iveagh (Edward Guinness).
The route continues through Dublin Castle and Temple Bar, crossing the River Liffey - once the main transport route carrying Guinness from the brewery to the ships that carried it around the world. The tour finishes with a pint of Guinness at a surprise venue that’s closely linked to the very beginnings of the Guinness dynasty.
Note: this tour doesn’t visit the Guinness Brewery, which sits a little outside the city centre. A private tour alternative that includes the brewery can be arranged separately.
Five hours on foot is a real commitment, so take it seriously when the tour says comfortable shoes. You’re covering most of the city’s south inner city, and the ground includes cobblestones around Dublin Castle and the cathedral quarter. Broken-in walking shoes beat new trainers every time.
If you’ve watched the House of Guinness TV series before you come, you’ll get considerably more out of this tour. The series gives you a sense of the family’s dynamics and ambitions; the tour shows you exactly where all of that played out on the streets. If you haven’t watched it yet, even a couple of episodes beforehand will add a lot.
St Stephen’s Green is easy to take for granted - it’s a lovely park and Dubliners use it every day - but the Guinness connection changes how you see it. Lord Ardilaun’s restoration and gift of the Green to the public was a significant act of philanthropy for its time, and the guide puts it in context in a way that makes the park feel different as you walk through.
St Patrick’s Cathedral is worth a proper look on its own if you have time before or after the tour. Benjamin Lee Guinness paid for its restoration in the 1860s, and the building holds a lot of Irish history beyond the Guinness connection - Jonathan Swift is buried there, among others.
The finishing pint is genuinely part of the experience, not just a token add-on. The venue is chosen for its connection to Guinness history, not just for being the nearest pub, and a properly poured Guinness at the right location after five hours of walking is a good way to end the afternoon.