Dublin is the sixth most visited city in Europe after London, Paris, Rome, Prague and Barcelona

Read up on Irish history before your trip. It will all then make more sense when in Dublin

Horse racing fans will be delighted with the four racecourses near Dublin

Hurling and Gaelic Football are pretty well peculiar to Ireland and are the country's most popular sports

There is plenty to attract the visitor on a Dublin city break besides the usual round of tourist attractions both in Dublin City itself and in the surrounding area.

Dublin Writers' Museum

The Dublin Writers' Museum is just the place to explore Dublin's amazing literary heritage. Here you'll find that Oscar Wilde was a promising boxer when at Trinity College while another aspiring writer, Samuel Beckett, was a fine cricketer.

There are exhibitions and much to see and learn at the restored Georgian mansion on Parnell Square, a treasure in itself. The sumptuous plasterwork in the first floor Gallery of Writers is alone worth the visit.

Kilmainham Gaol

You can learn much about Ireland's political history by taking a tour around Kilmainham Gaol, now a museum and one of the largest unoccupied prisons in Europe. It opened in 1796 and closed as a prison in 1924. It opens all year round and a visit includes a guided tour, tales of famous prisoners with some staying all too short a time before execution, an award-winning demonstration and an exhibition. All groups must be pre-booked.

National Aquatic Centre

Children will love a trip to the National Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown, West Dublin, where there is an Olymic-sized swimming pool and a water-park with slides, flumes, fun pools and a pirate ship. It may be wet but at least it is warm. Open daily throughout the year

Fry Model Railway

Another treat for the children is the Fry Model Railway at Malahide Castle, just north of Dublin. The miniature 0-scale railway (1:43) is enormous with locos, stations and other railway paraphernalia, all modelled in exquisite detail. Started by railway engineer Cyril Fry, it took decades to build and the locos, coaches and wagons are exact reproductions of those used in Ireland. It opens April - September

Glasnevin Cemetery

Graveyard visiting may sound like a morbid pastime but Glasnevin Cemetery must be one of the most interesting lesser-known sights of Dublin. Considered Ireland's national cemetery, many famous Irish figures are buried here. Established in 1832, it now has around 1.2million graves covering 120 acres. The central point is a fake round tower dedicated to Daniel O'Connell, nearly 170 feet high. It shows that a city break in PLINK2219

Dublin sport

Dublin is a great city for sport from international rugby to horse racing and golf as well as the Gaelic sports of hurling and football.

Racing fans will head to Kildare where The Curragh racecourse, Irish National Stud and Irish Horse Museum can be found and Dublin rugby fans will welcome the new 50,000 Aviva Stadium, due to open in 2010.

The rules of hurling may be a mystery to those from outside of the Emerald Isle but if you are ever offered a ticket to one of the big games, do whatever it takes to get there. Hurling is played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Played primarily in Ireland, it's said to be the world's fastest field team sport.

Gaelic football is also played mainly in Ireland and attracts huge crowds. The game has teams of 15 with H-shaped goals. You score by kicking or striking the ball with the hand and getting it through the goals.

Try something different with a visit to Harolds Cross and Shelbourne Park stadiums for the greyhound racing. There's often deals on tickets.