I’m heading away from Dublin city centre, watching high rises, graffitied overpasses and traffic queues give way to pasturelands and swathes of red valerian swaying against the rails. Meadows of wild carrot and hawkbit break into wide expanses of boat-flecked open sea. It’s a Monday morning in June and I have the northbound Irish Rail almost entirely to myself.
When most visitors think of Dublin, they picture Temple Bar’s pubs, Georgian streets and literary legends. Yet Ireland’s capital also sits on Dublin Bay, the world’s only capital-city Unesco Biosphere Reserve, recognised for the way its wildlife and human inhabitants coexist in a working urban landscape.
“Most people don’t even know there is a coast,” says Helen Cole of Fáilte Ireland, the country’s national tourism development authority. “They weren’t even aware that Dublin City, our capital city, is sitting on this amazing bay.”
That is why the Dublin Coastal Trail was created: to encourage travellers to venture beyond the city centre and explore more than 65km (40 miles) of Ireland’s east coast. Launched in 2022 and expanded this year, the self-guided route links 16 seaside communities by rail. And while you could ride the entire route in about 90 minutes, the real reward lies in hopping off to explore fishing villages, medieval castles, dramatic cliff walks, wildlife-rich beaches and some of Ireland’s finest seafood.