Dublin to James Joyce sites: Private day trip

The opening scene of Ulysses is set in this squat Martello tower above the sea at Sandycove, and the tower still stands exactly as Joyce described it, now housing a small museum of extraordinary intimacy.

What to see

• The James Joyce Museum in the tower itself, with first editions of Ulysses, personal letters, Joyce's guitar, waistcoat, and death mask, among the most evocative literary relics in Ireland
• The gun platform on top of the tower, from which Buck Mulligan's famous opening lines are spoken, with views across Dublin Bay to Howth Head
• The Forty Foot bathing place below the tower, a sea bathing spot that appears in Ulysses and has been in continuous use since the 18th century

What to do

• Read the opening passage of Ulysses before or during the visit — the tower and its surroundings snap into focus immediately
• Swim at the Forty Foot if the weather allows; the water is bracing year-round

Take note

• The museum is open daily from April to October; check jamesjoyce.ie for winter hours

A granite-quarried village on a rocky headland south of Dublin, Dalkey carries an unusual density of literary association. Joyce lived here briefly, Samuel Beckett grew up nearby, and Flann O'Brien and others drank and wrote here for decades.

What to see

• The medieval castle towers on Castle Street, two of the original seven that served as fortified warehouses for English merchants in the 15th century
• The main street of Dalkey village, with its independent cafés, bookshops, and pubs that retain the character Joyce and his contemporaries would recognize
• Sorrento Point and the elevated coast road, with views south towards Bray Head and north to Howth across the bay

What to do

• Walk to Coliemore Harbour for the view across to Dalkey Island, whose Martello tower and early Christian church can be seen from the shore

What to eat

• Lunch at one of the village's fish restaurants, Dalkey is known for fresh Dublin Bay prawns and grilled fish

A working fishing village on the north arm of Dublin Bay, Howth is where Leopold Bloom proposed to Molly on the Hill of Howth, and where Joyce himself walked the clifftops as a young man, committing the views to memory.

What to see

• The harbor and its colorful fishing trawlers, still landing prawns, crab, and sea bass daily from Dublin Bay
• The Howth cliff walk, a 6-kilometer loop above the sea with views across to Ireland's Eye, the Mourne Mountains, and Wales on clear days, the specific landscape of Molly's 'yes' at the end of Ulysses
• The ruined Howth Abbey (13th century) in the grounds of Howth Castle, where the legendary pirate Grace O'Malley is said to have kidnapped the lord's heir

What to do

• Walk part of the cliff path, even a 30-minute section, gives the scale of the headland's beauty
• Browse the Sunday fish market at the harbor for the freshest Dublin Bay seafood

What to eat

• Fresh Dublin Bay prawns with brown bread and butter at one of the harbor-front seafood shacks, a Howth institution