Dublin Zoo, in Phoenix Park

The zoo covers 28 hectares inside Phoenix Park, the great park west of the centre, and has more than 400 animals of seventy species, with an African savannah you can see from a raised path. For children it makes a perfect half day; afterwards, the park is huge for running about and there are often deer roaming loose on the grassland.

Buy online: it works out considerably cheaper than at the ticket desk. In November, December and January it closes at 16:00 (last entry at 15:00). From the centre, take a bus or the Luas tram to Heuston and then walk for twenty minutes.