TRAVEL: Zoo won't believe how much there is in Dublin for the family

The old joke about Dublin being the biggest city in the world (it keeps on doubling) almost seems to ring true every time I visit the fair city.

Every time I come down, whether it's with family for a weekend away or with friends for a night out, it always seems that Dublin has grown, become even bigger and there's even more to see and do in an ever-changing city.

We decided to get away as a family for a city break after a manic few weeks of getting back into routine following the end of the summer.

Our first port of call was Dublin Zoo, a mainstay of family outings to the city since 1840 when it first opened its doors to the public.

I had visited before with my wife back when she was my girlfriend. This time we had a VIP with us - our three-year-old - and I was interested to see how our experience would differ as parents.

To be honest we were shocked when we were leaving to discover that we had managed to spend the entire day in the zoo. As well as the animal attractions there were plenty of little play areas to stop off in, great options for food - even though they were a little expensive, three chips and one drink for a daddy who didn't bring his water cost over €20.

We were left particularly impressed by the sea lions and the tigers, who weren't afraid to get up close and personal with the zoo's visitors. At one stage I found myself kneeling down to say hello to the tiger, before catching myself on. 

After the obligatory trip to the gift shop, where a vet set was the order of the day, we hit the road and headed to our hotel for the evening. I’m pretty sure our VIP had conked out in the back of the car before we had even left the car park.

It was during this journey on a beautiful Saturday evening that we realised how much Dublin had to offer - the beautiful buildings and parks; people off out for a night out in one of the many, many bars; people returning home after a busy day of shopping. Just what the doctor ordered.

We arrived at our hotel, which on this occasion was the Maldron Hotel Merrion Road. We decided to stay here because you are incredibly close to the sea, which if you’re a three-year-old who likes looking at boats is fantastic. While it’s outside the city centre, a quick hop onto the Luas gets you there in 10 minutes or so, plus you get the benefit of staying in a four-star hotel without all of the hustle and bustle of the city centre.

Our stay there was really enjoyable and our meals, two chicken dishes for the adults and pizza for the VIP, were outstanding. My mouth is actually watering just thinking about it now. I’ll definitely be back just for the food alone.

After dessert our VIP decided that it was time for us all to go to bed to watch a movie. Naturally, he decided he would stay up until Match of the Day was over around midnight due to his earlier snooze and a belly full of ice cream.

I do have to say, though, that the six hours of sleep that I got in-between Match of the Day and the VIP deciding he wanted to play with his toys were extremely comfortable.

After a lovely buffet breakfast, we packed our bags, said cheerio to the super friendly staff and headed off for a day around the shops, or as we called it: ‘Mummy’s day’.

However, not long after we arrived in Dublin, which as everyone knows has a great array of shops, the heavens opened and we decided that it wasn’t fair to drag a child around in that sort of weather. I’m not sure if my wife was referring to me or our son when she said that.

Anyway, it gives us an excuse to go back...