Temple Bar has been labelled the world's third biggest tourist trap in new research released by Nomad eSIM.
Staff at the organisation scoured reviews of some of the world’s top tourist attractions online, looking for mentions of the phrase ‘tourist trap’.
People who visited Dublin’s Temple Bar used the phrase 687 times - behind only Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco and Las Ramblas in Barcelona.
Tourists routinely left reviews complaining that the area is overpriced, unsafe and lacks local culture.
But how accurate is the assessment?
On Lunchtime Live, listener Alex got in touch to say he agreed the area is overrated.
“It’s fun to go down there, there’s lots of great places to eat,” he said.
“But when you come back out and you realise how much you’ve actually physically spent for getting anything else, you feel a sour taste in your mouth.”
Alex continued that for him, the big sticking point is the cost of visiting the area.
“But the prices of food and the prices of the pint are insane,” he explained.
“I have the greatest sympathy for the pubs and the restaurants because their input costs have gotten ridiculously insane.”
A busker in Temple Bar. Picture by: Alamy.com.Defending the area, Temple Bar Residents Association Chair Declan O’Brien said the City Council has done a “much better job” cleaning the streets in recent months.
“For the price of a pint in Temple Bar, you can go to a lot of the cultural institutes in the area and see new Irish music, new Irish plays - all that sort of stuff,” he said.
“They’re not wrong when they say it’s overpriced but there’s a lot more to the area than just the pints.”
The Temple Bar area in Dublin. Picture by: Richard Green / Alamy Stock Photo.Mr O’Brien added that there is “a lot of good free stuff going on here as well”.
“The pedestrianisation of Parliament Street recently, that’s been a huge step for making the area much nicer to visit and much more visible,” he said.
“So, yes, there’s places where it’s a tourist trap and you get the usual rolling out acoustic versions of Wonderwall, but there’s more to it.”
Main image: Tourists having pints in Temple Bar. Picture by: Alamy.com.
