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"When going to Ireland one must do activity is the Guinness Storehouse. This has to be the most popular tourist attraction in Dublin.
On the journey to the storehouse you will see just house big the Guinness site is, it seems to go on for ages and every time you turn a corner there is another wall, gate, fence, you name it, all displaying the Guinness logo. It really brings home just how big Guinness is over in Ireland.
Once inside you go up an escalator to the opening area which also has the Guinness store for you to buy all your souvenirs. The tour is self guided so you don't have to wait for a new guide to start, instead you pay for your tickets and off you go.
Once inside the tour has 7 floors to explore.
1st floor (also where the shop is) – Here you can see the 4 ingredients used to make Guinness (water, barley, hops and yeast). As you go round there are videos and displays to say how the ingredients are processed and where they come from. This floor also introduces you to Arthur Guinness, otherwise known as 'the fifth ingredient'
2nd floor – Here you see how the brewing process actually works. We were told that if you time it right you can actually start a brewing process yourself although we didn't see this bit. There is also a 'tasting station' here where you get to try a small amount of Guinness, its only a bit here though, you have to wait to get to the top for a full pint.
3rd floor – This floor contains all the information about the advertising of Guinness including those weird and wonderful TV adverts. This section was being re-done when we visited so I cannot say what this bit was like.
4th floor – This was an interactive floor which had touch screen computers for you to use. The bits on here included looking at the effects on different parts of your body of drinking alcohol and videos to do with drinking sensibly.
5th floor – This floor had the story of the building though pictures and explained how it was developed since its beginning to get to the massive modern site it is today. There is also a big board where you can put little message cards on
6th floor – This floor contains a bar where you can learn to pour your own pint of Guinness and another bar where you can get food although we didn't try either. Also on this floor is a section showing all the poster campaigns used and explaining the thinking and stories behind the different characters.
7th floor – If you like Guinness this will be what you were waiting for. This is the gravity bar. It is a 360 degree bar which offers a fantastic view of Dublin and of course your complimentary pint of Guinness! Also I must confess to not really liking Guinness myself, when in Dublin do as the Dubliners do, so I did manage to finish my pint and it wasn't that bad.
There are many ways to get to the storehouse but the way I would recommend and the way we did it was on a city tour bus. This bus has 21 stops around Dublin stopping at the main sites and if I remember right costs about 14 Euro. One of the stops was the Guinness Storehouse and your bus ticket gets you 10% off the entry to the storehouse. A full price adult ticket is 14 Euro.
This is one of the best attractions in Dublin and I would definetely recommend it.
;)
