Dublin's Docklands, stretching east along both banks of the Liffey from the city centre to the sea, is the most dramatically changed part of the capital. Once a derelict quarter of warehouses and quays, it has been transformed into a gleaming district of glass office towers, a magnet for tech firms that has earned it the nickname Silicon Docks.
The area's signature landmark is the harp-shaped Samuel Beckett Bridge, designed by Santiago Calatrava, beside the angular Bord Gais Energy Theatre on Grand Canal Square. The restored Jeanie Johnston famine ship and the EPIC Irish Emigration Museum, housed in a vaulted old warehouse, tell the story of those who left from these very docks.
Modern, breezy, and waterside, the Docklands make a pleasant walk away from the historic centre, especially on a clear day along the boardwalks toward the sea.