Dublin Ulysses Tours
Dublin Ulysses Tours
5
08:00 - 20:00
Monday
08:00 - 20:00
Tuesday
08:00 - 20:00
Wednesday
08:00 - 20:00
Thursday
08:00 - 20:00
Friday
08:00 - 20:00
Saturday
08:00 - 20:00
Sunday
13:00 - 16:00
Full view
About
A guided walking tour of Dublin explaining the world's most celebrated novel, James Joyce's modernist masterpiece Ulysses.
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Dublin Ulysses Tours
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5.0
68 reviews
Excellent
67
Very good
0
Average
0
Poor
0
Terrible
1
Kathleen L
1 contribution
Jan 2020
Whether or not you have read Ulysses, you will come to know Dublin on a deeper level with this excellent walking tour. David weaves together the locales, the fictional characters, the literary genius, and passages from the novel to create an enriching understanding of James Joyce and the Dublin of 100+ years ago. This is not a "hop-on hop-off" checklist of the city, but a chance to savor the flavor of Dublin as you are guided through alleyways, darkened pubs and quiet reading rooms. David's tour was well-paced and engaging throughout. I couldn't have asked for a better guide to old Dublin or for a better instructor on Joyce.
Written 29 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
davidpatricia21
The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, UK50 contributions
Jan 2020
Like most people we had given up after the first few pages of Ulysses but David Halpin's gentle erudition and deep understanding of a literary masterpiece is an inspiration. From the opening visit to a genuinely traditional Irish bar to the pharmacy at the finish of the tour, pausing along the walk for refreshment in the restaurant where Leopold Bloom takes his lunch ( try the gorgonzola sandwich with mustard as he ordered - it is surpisingly good ) the whole experience was a delight. We even got to see a hidden sculpture of James Joyce which is a modern work of great artistry. Everything is explained in David's soft Dublin tones - you don't notice how quickly the time passes or how much you have learned.
A wonderful afternoon... we would highly recommend.
A wonderful afternoon... we would highly recommend.
Written 5 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
kbflo
12 contributions
Jan 2020 • Friends
My book club read Ulysses and rewarded ourselves with a trip to Dublin. We took the Ulysses walk with David and it was a highlight of our trip. He was engaging and definitely knows the book inside and out. I enjoyed the passages he read and offered explanation for, and the places he chose as his stops were not all fictional, he showed us Dublin through a James Joyce lens. I know we took way more of his time than bargained for, but he was extraordinarily accommodating. We ended at Sweny’s Pharmacy and then had a pint across the street at Kennedy’s. It was a fascinating afternoon, and I may even tackle a second reading of Ulysses! Even without having read the book, however, this tour would be very enjoyable.
Written 25 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
shepherdgary
57 contributions
Jun 2018
My first time in Dublin (having read Ulysses when doing my degree), it was a real treat to join an American family group on David's tour. To a person who has not read Ulysses this tour would be great introduction to the novel and to the Dublin of James Joyce's time. To people who have read Ulysses this is even better as you visit some of the places in the novel and get some contextual background (especially the places you would not stumble across on your own). This was a thrill for me as it is 35 years since I first read the novel, so to finally see those places was great, and I know further readings will be even better now I have experienced Dublin. David is an excellent guide giving a great a mix of humour and seriousness, where appropriate, and his love of the subject matter is immediately apparent and interesting in how he discovered Ulysses. This is no tired scholar on an academic exercise but an enthusiast who is trying to instill this in others. I learned a lot but also enjoyed talking about the book with him, and indeed many of our shared interests in other writers and musicians. He is good company and the type of person you would like to have a drink with - and so we had a few Guinnesses in Kennedy's bar after the tour and the whole group had a really nice time. So a 3 hour tour turned into about 5 hours in total which was extremely good value! There is really no-one else doing this kind of tour - and I stress it would be still great if you knew nothing about the novel (and a good way of underlining why you should know something about it). I recommend you also go to Sandycove (on the train) to the Martello Tower James Joyce Museum which is breathtaking for those who know the novel, and my five friends who are not interested in Joyce really enjoyed it too (and the Joyce themed pub Fitszy's) - this makes a good outing and gives even more context to David's tour. Thanks David for a great tour and I will come back again next time in Dublin - this is strongly recommended for everybody visiting Dublin, not just Joyce enthusiasts.
Written 11 June 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Fred R
Cazenovia, NY7 contributions
Jul 2017 • Solo
The tardiness of this review is inversely related to the quality of my experience with David, having spent the better part of a day with him on an individual tour. We began not at the Palace Bar, but at the Gresham Hotel where I was staying. We spent a pleasant first hour in the lobby doing a tour d'horizon of Joyce -- his biography and works, his Dublin. Only then did we set lightly out on foot, skipping from venerable site to venerable site, fueled by David's running (but never overwhelming) commentary, punctuated by appropriate readings from the text. Most powerful and lastingly memorable elements of the day for me were (1) our visit to Sweny's pharmacy for tea and a reading of the "Wake" under the baton of the inimitable PJ Murphy; and (2) our jaunt by train to the Martello Tower (with its important museum). Though comprehension of Joyce remains a receding ideal, always beyond the grasp, I can at least imagine physically inhabiting the Telemachus and Lotus Eaters episodes as a result of David's masterful guidance. Yet David is no didactic lecturer, like the Citizen in the Cyclops episode. Nay, he is rather like Dante's Virgil (a fitting Joycean allusion): a friend and traveling companion. Though he protests he is not a scholar, David has read "Ulysses" eight times at last count; rest assured he knows his text and is alive to the ghostly reality of Joyce's Dublin still perceptible in today's city. I'm sure his group tours are great, but I do recommend the personal tour format. As a result of it, "Ulysses" is a different book for me now, and James Augustine Joyce a constant and palpable shadow about me.
Written 1 February 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jg275103
New York City, NY2 contributions
Mar 2023 • Couples
I have tried to contact this facility to make a reservation for months, both by email and by phone. They have never answered. There is no voicemail on their phone. I have no idea whether they exist. An extremely frustrating experience!
Written 25 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Brandon A
Braunschweig, Germany1 contribution
Apr 2019
I strolled along the streets of Dublin with David, following Leopold Bloom's footsteps and thoughts. Modern Dublin gave way to early-20th-century Dublin, and Bloom and Dedalus accompanied us once we emerged from The Palace Bar. We saw the monuments to Joyce and his superlative novel that Dublin has erected. But most importantly, I found a fellow being who loved the book as much as I did. It was less of a tour and more like a walk with a dear and like-minded friend. David is an excellent guide and he is adaptive. He knows how to mold the few hours discovering, or re-discovering Ulysses based on the person, or persons, he is with. I can only highly recommend this tour to anyone with any interest in James Joyce.
Written 21 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sam M
Jamestown, NY11 contributions
Aug 2017 • Friends
David was a wonderful host, the walking tour a delight, highly recommended to all. You should consider this tour if you think that you know something or even a lot about Joyce and Ulysses. David will bring it all to life.
More importantly, even if you know nothing about it, by the end of the tour, you will know more on the subject that those who have spent semesters mastering James Joyce. You will be able to hold your own in any book club discussion on Ulysses.
More importantly, even if you know nothing about it, by the end of the tour, you will know more on the subject that those who have spent semesters mastering James Joyce. You will be able to hold your own in any book club discussion on Ulysses.
Written 18 August 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks, Sam, for your very kind words. I like to think that the tour can be the ideal introduction to a complex subject, and an experience that leaves my guests well-equipped to "hold their own" in any dinner party chat or study group discussion. Glad you took a lot from it. Thanks again!
Written 25 September 2017
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
rdinap
6 contributions
Sept 2019
Dave is a wonderful tour guide; funny, engaging and full of knowledge on Joyce and his times. He starts off in the Palace Bar, winds his way through the Temple Bar area, heading over to Grafton St., Davy Bryne's, and the National Library, ending at Sweny's Pharmacy, with a surprise stop in between. This was a highlight of our Dublin trip. Well worth the time, even if you have never read the book.
Written 20 November 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nancy B
Carmel, IN8 contributions
Jul 2019 • Couples
We spent an afternoon with David, learning about the literary milieu of Dublin, walking in the footsteps of Leopold Bloom, reading passages from Ulysses, and talking about James Joyce. David is both knowledgeable and passionate and it was a delight to explore Joyce's Dublin with him. My husband is not a reader, and he also enjoyed the tour very much. I highly recommend the experience.
Written 25 July 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
How did you reach David to book the tour? They haven't responded to my email to dublinulyssestours
Thanks.
Written 3 August 2018
Try again - he may take a day to respond as he is very busy - but he will get back to you. Well worth persevering.
Written 28 September 2018
What is the cost?
How do we contact you directly?
What time does the tour begin?
Will the tour be offered on May 22?
Written 30 April 2018
Where do I sign up for or pick up the Ulysses tour when I am in Dublin
Written 27 March 2018
Call David. Dublin Ulysses Tours is on TripAdvisor. His phone number is there. Enjoy, it was awfully fun.
Written 8 April 2018
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