I have a couple of friends visiting recently from Switzerland and France. As they were arriving late in the evening, they assured me that I wouldn’t need to meet them upon their arrival and we arranged to meet the next day instead. Which we did. And the very first thing they asked me – “where are all the maps next to the bus stops?”.

Ops. Come to think of it, we don’t have those in Dublin. In fact, we don’t even normally have maps of the bus routes at the bus stops (which is rather annoying actually), least of all to expect a map of the area in vicinity. Dublin is not, unfortunately, like many European cities, where lost tourists can consult large maps adjacent to bus stops or metro stations etc.

Pat Liddy and one of the tourist information traffic boxes (Photograph by Aidan Crawley)

Luckily, a few weeks before that, the good folks of Dublin City Business Improvement District (BID) and historian Pat Liddy (who runs excellent walking tours – I’ve been on one with him and loved it) had just launched a new initiative of using traffic light boxes as historical and tourist information points, and guess what – there’s a great map on every one of them! Needless to say, I pointed those out to my friends so they know what to look for the next time they want a city map in a jiffy.

Living in the city and with the city centre area being relatively compact, this is something that I’ve never paid much attention to. But I can imagine the difficulty visitors may face, especially those who are staying only for a weekend or so and didn’t think they would need to get a map before hand. But now, we have these amazing traffic light boxes that educate and aid orientation. Fabulous.

There are 14 of these info-boxes around the city at the moment, including on Dawson Street/Trinity College junction, Dame Street, Temple Bar, O’Connell Street and Capel Street. Of course, there are more traffic signal boxes around the city. Those not used as info-boxes are now visually enhanced with decorative art coverings.

Personally, I like these changes and I’m sure many would agree with me. Do take a look at them the next time you pass by one, or better, recommend them to your visitors. After all the efforts put in to improve the city, we should rightly appreciate and make use of them. ;-)

When we travel, we often take the time to unearth information about the cities that we’re visiting, perhaps read up about them on the guidebooks or Wikitravel, and so forth. However, when it comes to where we actually live, how much do we really know about the sights that earn the admiration of many? Or do we merely rush past on a day-to-day basis in our hurry to get to work, to go home, to attend meetings and the likes?

Dublin City Business Association (DCBA) and historian Pat Liddy has teamed up to offer free walking tour of the city centre of Dublin every Sunday throughout the month of June, starting at 11am under the clock at Clerys. The 1-hour-45-minutes tour promises to be informative and entertaining!

The O'Connell Monument

Do you know that there used to be 9 cinemas on O’Connell Street alone?
Do you know the names of the winged statues (i.e. the angels) on O’Connell Monument?
Do you know about the privileges of scholars in Trinity College?
Do you know how reasonable it was to buy the Mansion House in the old days?

The answers to the above questions are some of the nuggets of information that I’ve learned just last Sunday when Mo and I went on the walking tour with Pat Liddy. We may have live in this city for sometimes now, but there are still things that we are unaware of, or failed to notice even!

What I appreciate most about the tour is that it’s not just about dispensing facts and figures. It is about seeing the city in terms of historical value, to pause and take note of the subtle beauty of the monuments. I also thoroughly enjoy the dynamic interaction between Pat and the participants of the walking tour. The genuine interest from everyone in attendance made it all the more gratifying. Of course, we were also extremely lucky that Sunday morning was absolutely sunny and gorgeous, with clear blue sky.

I hope you take advantage of this wonderful offer in the upcoming Sundays. And I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you get lovely weather to go with it too. I wish for you to enjoy the city as much as I have!

If you’re hankering for more walking tours but trying to keep an eye on your pocket, here’s something that you’ll appreciate. Dublin City Council are organising a series of free walks around the city – not always in city centre though – so you should definitely have a look at the schedule of Let’s Walk and Talk! and participate.

Happy walking. :-)