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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Michelle Cullen

Tourists visit the home of Ireland's most expensive pints and aren't impressed at all

Every year tourists flock to Ireland to get a taste of all that the Emerald Isle has to offer.

From food, drink, culture and breathtaking scenery, many visitors begin their exploration of the country in the capital as they look around the city.

Temple Bar is often their first stop as new arrivals wander around the cobbled lanes and stop into some of its many pubs for a drink, a bite to eat and maybe some live music.

READ MORE: Irish pubs: Call for bars and nightclubs to offer lids for drinks in bid to tackle spiking

However, even though Temple Bar is often packed with people, it has established a reputation as the most expensive place in the country to buy a pint.

Ireland, Dublin, Temple Bar area, Crown Alley (gettyimages.ie)

Some tourists evidently learned this the hard way and took to TripAdvisor to express their frustration after visiting the well-known spot and paying "extortionate prices" for their pints.

One disappointed visitor said: "Overpriced drink, below to average food and the whole area is awash with street thugs and pickpockets. Every city has an area like this and this is a blight on Dublin which is a GREAT city to visit", they added: "My advice is to AVOID the Temple Bar area at all costs."

Another commented on the "outrageous prices" and said they were met with "bizarre aggression" and would rather head for a weekend in the desert than spend another in Temple Bar.

Giving the tourist hotspot one star out of a possible five, they said: "In my opinion Dublin as a whole has aggressive people generally, and Temple Bar excels in ripping off customers with outrageous prices.

"The food portion's seem to be derived from portion's from the second world war rationing era and are so overpriced as to amount to usery, including the userous price of drinks which I have never encountered elsewhere.

"If you ask a simple question or correct them in any way for their mistakes in overcharging you or providing the wrong item, you are invariably met with bizarre aggression and the prefix "Wha!" which is used constantly as a reflex reaction in Dublin.

"The central city in some areas is filthy, and the only place remotely worth visiting is the national museum which is free (for now).

"Dublin, and Temple Bar especially is over crowded and smells like vomit and urine in the mornings. Phlegm on the pavements and elsewhere (spitting seems to be a national sport) is frequently encountered.

"The prices are outrageous for most things. Why anyone would want to visit Dublin or Temple Bar is a mystery. There are other cities which offer far better sightseeing, nicer people and even though still pricey are better value for money. A year in a desert would be preferable to a weekend in Dublin or Temple Bar."

A third commented: "Welcome to Rip Off Ireland. Temple Bar is over the top. It's crowded with tourists and it's overpriced. There's nothing authentic about it. If you want the real Ireland, get out of Dublin and go elsewhere."

While a fourth added: "Nothing more than a tourist trap and the prices go up as the night gets longer

"So many other lesser known pubs to go in that are honest."

Others revealed the price they were charged for a pint of Guinness in the city centre.

They said: "Everyone assumes the Temple Bar is the reason why the district is called 'temple bar'. This is actually not the case... A Guinness costs you 8 euros there, just because they can... A Guinness should cost around 5/5,50 euros. So I would recommend visiting other bars in that area or going to camden street where the locals also go. :)"

READ MORE: These tourists came to Ireland and some of our best attractions - but absolutely hated it

READ MORE: 'I compared the energy cost of an air fryer vs an oven and one was a lot cheaper'

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