Dublin Private Walking Tour | Highlights, History & Hidden Gems

David Ryan, our guide, led us on a tour to fit our interests in past and contemporary Irish history. He’s extremely knowledgeable. Additionally, I’m interested in Irish music and he took us to see the place where Paddy Maloney helped start The Chieftains and supported other Irish musicians. And, you should ask David to sing an Irish tune. You will have a treat! Awesome guide!

David made our trip with his incredibly informative and energetic tour. He started out with an amazing rendition of Molly Malone that garnered applause from everyone standing around the statue. He kept our kids engaged the entire time and we all learned so much. He went above and beyond to spend extra time showing us a few extra sites we were interested in. David’s knowledge is incredible and his storytelling ability second to none. Would highly recommend to anyone wanting a fantastic tour of Dublin.

Dave was the most gracious host and guide! We booked our tour for the same afternoon as our flight into Dublin, but the flight was delayed an hour! This put our tour meeting about 45mins late, but Dave waited patiently and told us not to fret. He then went at almost breakneck speed showing us a few key amazing sites - buildings, parks, monuments - and sharing a few of the rich stories of Dublin. He tailored our tour to our interest in history, and we were impressed by his extensive knowledge!! He also peppered our tour with suggestions for pubs, restaurants, and other sites to visit during the rest of our stay. He is a lovely guy, and has a beautiful singing voice, which he shared with us when breaking into some traditional folk songs. The walking speed of the tour did exhaust us, and we clocked 11,000 steps! Also, our brains were reeling afterwards with the extensive amount of information he gave us. We highly recommend a tour with Dave, but if you’d prefer a more leisurely walking pace, make sure to request that of him beforehand.

David was an incredible guide and added richness and colour to our Dublin experience. We would need weeks to properly mine his extensive knowledge and enthusiasm for the city. I highly recommend this way of seeing the city.

David is a very interesting and involving guide. He’s was able to give us all the facts and details in a clear and concise manner. I had not realized we were the only guests with him so it felt have having a new friend taking us around the city of Dublin, and letting us in in all the history. We were blessed with a mostly dry and sunny day.

★★★★★ If you’re considering a tour in Dublin, book with David. When my husband and I miscalculated our arrival time, David graciously adjusted his schedule to accommodate us. That flexibility and kindness set the tone for the entire experience. David brought all of his Irishness to the tour—his humor, warmth, authenticity, and gift for storytelling made us feel genuinely welcome from the moment we met him. He is not only an exceptionally knowledgeable guide, but also a generous and gregarious soul whose company we thoroughly enjoyed. A former actor, David has a natural talent for bringing Dublin’s history to life. One unforgettable moment was when he jumped up beside the Molly Malone statue and broke into song, delighting us (and everyone within earshot) one of Ireland’s most beloved ballads. It was spontaneous, charming, and perfectly captured the spirit of the city. As someone who travels extensively and takes guided tours around the world, I can honestly say that David stands head and shoulders above most guides I have encountered. His knowledge is impressive, but it is his heart, humanity, and passion for Ireland that make the experience truly special. We arrived as visitors and left feeling like we had been welcomed by a friend. Highly, highly recommended.

My wife and I toured with David and had a wonderful experience! David was sure to ask us questions to get a sense of what we were interested in seeing and curated the tour accordingly. He was incredibly knowledgeable. I'd highly recommend seeing Dublin with David!

We had a group of clients visiting Dublin and they had a bit of spare time for a tour of the city. David brought Irish history to life for them, engaging, informative, funny and always audible! Thanks for a great tour!

Having been introduced to Dublin (and Ireland) by David, it is hard to imagine a world in which we were NOT introduced to Dublin (and Ireland) by David. He is a human fireball of positive energy. If only the rating scale went to “11.” We were travel-weary from a redeye flight and were second-guessing our decision to take a tour of Dublin as opposed to taking a nap. We made the right call. David met us at 2:00 with high adrenaline and a smile. That, plus a cup of coffee, and we were off to the races. David’s knowledge of Dublin and Ireland is encyclopedic, he is an extrovert on steroids (without being overwhelming), and his storytelling/presentation skills are unrivaled. (He was a Shakespearean actor and it shows.). Don't be surprised if he breaks out in song and knows literally everyone he sees. As he got to know us as the tour progressed, he made judgment calls as to where to go next. For example, we briefly mentioned that we liked fine art and —- BOOM — we were inside Dublin’s Museum of Art and he was telling us a gripping story about a long-lost Caravaggio. He gave us excellent recommendations, which we followed up on. And, after we forgot to retrieve sunglasses that we asked him to carry in his backpack, he showed his kindness by traveling all the way to our hotel to drop them off. We had never been to Ireland before. He set the stage as nobody else could. - Rick and Molly

My husband and I took this walking tour as a port stop on a cruise. David was our guide. We also wanted to visit Trinity College and the Book of Kells so David suggested that we complete our visit to those places first. This suggestion worked perfect so that we didn't have to cut our walking tour short. David was a fabulous tour guide! Since we are used to walking at home, we gave David free rein to go at his pace so that we could see as much as possible on our tour. Although it rained off and on throughout the tour, David was able to find places for us to get out of the rain while he talked. We walked a lot, learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed this tour! (Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes.)