A stay on campus allows guests to experience Trinity College after hours and enjoy its beautiful grounds and gardens …
For the last six weeks, I’ve booked into Trinity College Dublin, staying in one of its heritage rooms on campus. It’s possibly one of the city’s best kept secrets where overnight stays cost from €93, which includes a full Irish or continental breakfast in The Buttery. As such, it is one of the best value stays in Dublin city centre.
There’s a choice of accommodation options including single, twin and double rooms as well as private apartments (from €396). The latter includes fully equipped kitchens, a living area and up to four bedrooms, ideal for a family or group of friends visiting the city.
The bonus is the central location, and the chance to explore the campus which spans 47 acres and its cobblestone pathways, beautiful grounds and gardens, architectural squares, iconic buildings and impressive sculpture and art installations. Once the (hordes of) tourist have left for the day, the campus and Library Square is remarkably tranquil and safe (there are night watchmen patrolling the grounds and the main gate is closed).
Photograph by Ste Murray
My room has been in the historic Rubrics building which dates from c1699 and is the oldest on campus. Windows look onto Library Square, or the New Square to the rear. During term time, this beautiful red-brick building is home to new staff and visiting scholars. It reopened earlier this year after an 18-month conservation and restoration project. The building houses nine student rooms, 17 studios/one-bed apartments and five guest rooms.
I’ve stayed in most of the Rubrics rooms and all have been bright and functional with a good desk and lighting, ample bookshelves, a mini wardrobe and new ensuite bathrooms. Overnight guests have plenty of fluffy towels and Paul Costelloe amenities. (Do bring a hairdryer though if that is a necessity for you). One of the pleasures of these stays has been to watch the sun set and rise over the buildings and suffuse the squares with a romantic beauty.
As part of my stay, I went on a Trinity Trails guided walking tour, €16, which explores some of the university’s hidden gems and recounts anecdotes of famous alumni. This starts from the Bell Tower (currently being renovated) in the Front Square and is a very enjoyable 45-minute loop led by current students or recent graduates. Guests taking the tour can have a cuppa or lunch in one of the student restaurants and cafés. There’s also a pretty new pop-up coffee van from Good Vibrations which sells delicious cakes and other treats in the Front Square.
Photograph by Barry McCall
Another must-do is the Book of Kells experience (from €26 for 90 minutes), which includes a self-guided tour of the Old Library, and new immersive digital experience. One of the most stunning elements of this tour is Gaia in the Long Room, an illuminated artwork by Luke Jerome which features detailed NASA imagery of the earth’s surface. Gaia seems to float in the Old Library where the majority of the books have been removed as part of an ongoing conservation project.
Photograph by Zoe Ardiff
Accommodation is still available until term time. Yes, it’s a no frills experience but one that is infused with history and like the college motto, points to its future. (Perpetuis futuris temporises duraturam – translated as “it will last into endless future times”). Revenue and proceeds from stays and the Trinity Trail is invested back into Trinity College Dublin to support the academic mission of the University and fund development projects and conservation programmes.
Printing House, photograph by Eva Power
To book: www.visittrinity.ie/stay/.