Another song from Seamus, our tour bus guide, crackled over the speakers to the open top deck. “This is Dublin, there’s no need to hurry”, his jovial voice reminded the sightseers. Apart from scrambling to cover my camera from another shower of rain, I had to agree.

This is Dublin — home to no less than four Noble Literary Prize winners, seat of the nation’s turbulent political past, and nurturing ground to a globally recognised force in music. Bronze statues scattered throughout the city introduce wanderers to the heroes and heroines of a history intertwined between folklore and fact.

“There’s no need to hurry”, said the barman, as we waited in revered silence for the black gold to settle in our glasses. Who were we to argue?

With a population of just over one million people, Dublin is hardly a sprawling metropolis — perfect for exploring by foot, tour bus or local municipal transport. The choice of walking tours alone demand that you make more time than you planned.

Dublin Footsteps Walking Tours explore medieval Dublin or 18th century Dublin. Both the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl and the Dublin Musical Pub Crawl, as the names suggest, give you the inside stories of the city’s artists washed down with the taste of her ales.

Like many other European cities, Dublin owes its origins and its name to water. Viking raiders of the ninth century established a trading base at the point where the River Poddle joined the Liffey in a black pool, in Gaelic dubh linnn.

The river Liffey cleaves its way through the heart of the city, clearly demarcating the north from the south, with the Grand and Royal Canals forming a circular boundary to the city proper. It is said that a true Dubliner must be born between these watery arms. Considered the poorer, less developed half, the North is home to the Dublin depicted in the film The Commitments. Full of hard knock kids with mouths quicker than Irish Terriers, the area’s got “soul”.

The impressive General Post Office, situated on O’Connell Street was the site of the unsuccessful Easter Rising in 1916. Members of the Irish Volunteers and Irish Citizen Army seized the building on Easter Monday, when Patrick Pearse read out the Proclamation of the Irish Republic from its steps. The rebels held out for a week until shelling from the British eventually forced them out. The entire building, with the facade, was destroyed and from the street you can still see the bullet scarring.

A huge sculpture of the mythical Children of Lir rests in the Garden of Remembrance, dedicated to those who suffered in the struggle for freedom. This favourite Celtic fairy tale tells of four children who were turned into swans by their jealous step-mother, Aoife. She sentenced the children to 300 years as swans living on Loch Lir in Country Westmeath. Still able to speak, they enchanted all who sort their company until such a time as Christian bells were heard to peel across the land. At this moment they resumed their form as humans, although considerably older.

The Dublin Writer’s Museum proudly holds the record of Ireland’s illustrious literary tradition, unbelievable in its depth and impact in the international world of literature. Dramatists George Bernard Shaw, Samual Beckett (both Noble Prize winners) and Sean O’Casey are sons of the Irish muse, as were novelists Bram Stoker, Jonathon Swift, Oscar Wilde and most acclaimed of all, James Joyce. Poet W.B. Yeats completes what must be one of the most distinguished writing lineages in the world.

Crossing over the decorative Ha’Penny bridge leads you into the more elegant South side, where stately Georgian mansions around Merrion Square form the backdrop for the tourist heart of the city. Ireland’s oldest university, Trinity College provides the focal point.

Originally an institution for the Anglo-Irish community, up until 1966 Catholics required special dispensation to study there or risked excommunication. The famous Book of Kells, an eighth century illuminated manuscript of the four gospels is housed in the Collinades, on campus. It is worth the time spent queuing to catch a sight of the intricately hand decorated pages embellished with religious icons. A ticket to view the manuscript also includes entrance to The Library — a must for book lovers. The 65 metre Long Room with its high arched ceiling is covered wall-to-wall with thousands of antique books, permeating the room with the most wonderful smell of leather, parchment and the intangible sense of knowledge.

Referred to as the Covent Garden of Dublin, Temple Bar is the area to head for to sample the energetic side of the city. Crammed with bars, restaurants, galleries and museums, it is where Dublin is building her new reputation as being one of the most preferred city destinations in Europe. Traditional and contemporary music filter into the streets by evening and during the day, buskers give you something to cruise to as you wander the cobbled streets.

Another side of Dublin and Irish spirit is played out on the sports field. Two of the most exciting to watch are the Gaelic football and hurling, considered one of the world’s fastest field games. National finals of both sports are held in September.

Of course there’s still the Guiness Factory (but that needs no introduction), castles, cathedrals and a wonderful coastline to explore. Luckily it’s Dublin, where there’s no need to hurry.