Dublin by Private Minivan: Four Hours, Eight Stops and the Deer in Phoenix Park

Four hours of Dublin in a private minivan, with a guide who speaks English, Spanish or Portuguese and room for up to seven people on one booking.

The route is a string of timed stops. It opens with 20 minutes on O'Connell Street by the General Post Office, then 40 minutes in Phoenix Park, where there are deer, the Wellington Monument and Áras an Uachtaráin, the President's residence. Back in the centre come St Patrick's Cathedral (15 minutes), Dublin Castle (20) and 40 minutes in Temple Bar, with a break to grab a snack in a café or pub. After a 20-minute stroll through the Trinity College campus, the van runs along Dame Street without stopping, then pauses for 10 minutes on Grafton Street and 25 in St Stephen's Green.

Admissions are not among the inclusions, so this is Dublin seen from its streets and parks rather than from inside its buildings, and the Dublin Castle stop is marked as one where an extra fee applies. Breakfast is not included either. The minivan is air-conditioned, has WiFi on board and is wheelchair accessible.

Eight stops in four hours is a brisk pace: enough to walk each place, not enough to linger in any of them.