Phoenix Park

Our second visit - we are on three week tour of Ireland

The Phoenix Park is the largest enclosed public park in any capital city in Europe, at more than 700 hectares in area. It was created as a royal deer-hunting park in the 1660s and only opened to the public in 1747. The park is now home to Dublin Zoo and Áras an Uachtaráin - home to the President of Ireland.

The Phoenix Park has been the location for a number of major events - from an international motor-racing event in 1929 to the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979, when more than a million people attended the celebrations.

The park itself is exceptionally scenic. A large herd of fallow deer still calls it home. Enjoy the landscape from one of the many walks and cycle routes available to the public.

What a beautiful scape! If you like parks, definitely put this one on your agenda. It's a feel good, peaceful respite from the city! Great for walking, take your time, do it right, take in all the details.

It is about a 20 minute bus ride to the park. When we first arrived, it started to rain a little bit but not too bad. Where we were at there was enough shelter under a large oak tree. We had to find our sense of direction and in the distance we could see that we had passed the Wellington Monument. We found that it was a partly cloudy day, it will quickly blow over. Always have a rain coat/jacket or umbrella with you.

The Phoenix Park as a whole is huge, twice the size of Central Park, NYC! It had at least 2 working cricket fields, polo practice fields, a couple large ponds, and the city zoo!

Nice little park to walk around in. There was a small pond and monument, and it was very peaceful. Nothing particularly outstanding or stellar about it however, coming from as a tourist.

I visited this park on Dublin's city bike and in the beginning I thought I could have a tour of this park or at least cross it. I completely overestimated my energy and underestimated the size of the largest park in Europe...
So eventually, I only had a tour of around 10% of this park on the south end, and it was such an enjoyable and beautiful ride. I couldn't believe that I was biking in a park in big city since it felt like biking in a mountain. After biking along a tranquil road like in the country side without seeing anybody else, I saw a huge, gorgeous and lavish mansion with big yard and grill fence. More strangely, I even couldn't find it on the Google Map. How come Google Map miss such a big mansion? Before being killed by my curiosity, I biked up to the front door. It's the residence of the U.S. Ambassador in Ireland! Meh, refund my tax please and I am sorry for your daily commute Ambassador.

According to the U.S. gov, this mansion is a historic site built in 1776 but it's such a regret that nobody can visit. https://ie.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/policy-history/io/

Visited this place yesterday and it was amazing. It's one of the largest enclosed public parks in the capital city of Europe and its truly spectacular and beautiful. It's a full day visit so please make sure the weather is nice, sunny and you have your walking shoes on as it's a big stretch to walk and roam around the park. It's a long walking track but it's best to walk as you can explore the whole park, the monuments, and the Dublin zoo.

My favourite place in Dublin for cycling and outdoor activies in general, I've often spent most of the day up there. Steeped in history and as the largest enclosed pqrk in Europe there's no shortage of new areas to explore and history to learn about.

Tididy maintained with police presence, it's a safe place to bring kids, walk your dog or run/stroll alone during the day. As for at night, well I wouldn't consider any park safe after dark.

Could do with more public toilets and the introduction of drinking fountains.

This review is for walkers looking for wild deers.

We started our amble towards Phoenix Park from the Spire. It takes about 1 hour and 10 mins of normal walking speed to get to the park entrance. We walked along the river, on the way you can see the Dublin City Center, and then eventually, the Guinness storehouse.

While it is a scenic stroll along the river, the side walks are a bit narrow with lots of tourists (and their luggage in tow) and loud engines (& bus fumes) zooming through.

Once in the perimeters of the park, the hunt for deer begins. Obviously they are hiding or in the far back end of the park. It is worth trekking through the trail paths that goes through trees. Luckily for me, we found 2 deer resting in trees, then another one standing. Play a bit of I spy and try to look for the distinct shape of their horns. They blend into the wooded areas quite well.

The park itself is quite well maintained, vast amount of green interspersed with trees and there are a number of white benches for you to take a break. For people who dislike dogs, dogs are allowed to wander unleashed.

Since its a park, bathrooms aren't quite readily available, but we found one in the walled garden. If you see it empty, go immediately. My urgency coincided with bus load of tourist.

On the way back we decided to walk along the street where the trams go. It was much more pleasant with less crowd and wider sidewalk. On the way, there's also a free national museum of ireland (yay clean bathroom!).

A return trip is about 25000 steps and about 3 hour of walking time plus any time you spend wandering looking for deers.

Overall, deer sighting is always special, particularly in a city. But if you have been to Nara in Japan, keep your expectations low.

Impressive. A bit of everything here. I was here to see the Pope's cross- but I'd like to have explored a lot more. It's a gorgeous huge park with lots of fascinating things to see.

Also, do try the ice cream here. It's amazing.

Absolutely gorgeous green park, very large in size, the biggest park in Dublin. Lots of outdoor activities, picnic area, coffee shops, running, cycling and so on. The zoo is near this par as well.