5 guides, each rated 1 to 5 with the reason — and two lists per place, where you are comfortable and where to pay attention. Nowhere is called dangerous; the specific thing is what helps.
Safe and very sociable. The pubs are the point and the centre gets crowded and drunk at weekends without much trouble in it. The Atlantic coast is what to respect: the Cliffs of Moher have unfenced sections and people have died taking photographs at the edge, and the Burren rock is slippery and full of holes. Weather changes fast on the west coast.
Comfortable: the Latin Quarter · Salthill · the Claddagh · the Spanish Arch · Eyre Square
the canal and dock edges late at night — unfenced water beside the route home from the pubs, which is the city’s standing warning
the Prom at Salthill in a westerly — waves come over the wall and people are taken off it
the Cliffs of Moher near the edge — the ground is undercut and the fence is set back for a reason
driving the Connemara roads — single track, unmarked and with sheep on them
Very safe. The roads are the hazard: the Ring is narrow, the coaches are wide, and they run clockwise so a car going the other way meets them head on. Irish mountain weather turns in an hour and the MacGillycuddy's Reeks are a real range.
Comfortable: the town · the national park · Muckross · Kenmare
the Ring of Kerry in a car — narrow, and the coaches run clockwise — drive the other way and you meet them head on
the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks — a real range and Irish weather turns in an hour
the jaunting car prices — agreed before you get in, not after
The cliff edge has no barrier outside the visitor centre and people die here — the grass overhangs the drop and gives way. Stay behind the flagstone line, keep well back in wind, and do not go out on the path in a gale. The Burren is bare limestone and ankles go over on it.
Comfortable: the visitor centre and its walled paths · Doolin · Lahinch · the Burren roads
the cliff edge beyond the flagstones — there is no barrier, the grass overhangs the drop, and people die here every year
the coast path in wind — a gust at the wrong moment is the whole danger
the Burren pavement — bare limestone with deep cracks in it, and ankles go over
Generally safe and easy to walk, with a rougher edge after closing time around the north inner city and parts of Temple Bar. Bike theft is endemic and phone snatching has risen. The one thing visitors misjudge is the weather: it changes four times a day and a jacket in July is not optional.
Temple Bar — at closing time, which is drunk crowds rather than crime — and is where every pint costs double
North Inner City — and around Connolly late at night
Bike theft, which is endemic, and phone snatching, which has risen sharply
The weather, which changes four times a day and which people underestimate on a coastal walk
The ratings are this site's own, from the guides' authors and the corrections readers send in; they are not an index. Read the general advice in travel safety tips.
