The Guinness Storehouse fills seven floors at St James's Gate. As Ireland's most popular attraction, it's busy almost year-round. To make sure you get the most out of your time there, we've broken down exactly what to expect from each floor, the tasting rooms, and the rooftop Gravity Bar. When you travel with My Ireland Tour, your entry ticket is 100% included.
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Why visit the Guinness Storehouse?
Back in 1759, Arthur Guinness walked up to St James's Gate and signed a 9,000-year lease on an old, disused brewery for an annual rent of just £45. It turned out to be a fairly nifty bit of business. Today, the vast brick building that houses the visitor experience was actually the site's original fermentation plant, operating from 1902 right up until 1988. In 2000, it opened its doors to the public, completely hollowed out and redesigned around a central atrium shaped like a giant pint glass.
What makes the Storehouse work so well today is that it completely skips the dry, dusty factory tour format. Instead, you walk through seven floors of modern, immersive exhibits at your own pace. You learn exactly how the ingredients are roasted and mashed, get a proper crash course in the brand's iconic advertising history, and eventually end up 46 m (150 ft) above the city in the Gravity Bar. Plus, because the entire experience is indoors, it's one of the best ways to spend a rainy afternoon in Dublin.
Essential visitor information
Time needed:
Allow two hours to do it properly. There are seven floors to get through, and you don't want to be watching the clock by the time you reach your pint in the Gravity Bar. On a guided tour the group is usually given a 90-minute window. That's doable, but it won't exactly leave you time to read every poster or snap every exhibit.Opening hours:
The Storehouse opens seven days a week: 10am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, 10am to 6pm Friday, 9.30am to 6pm Saturday and 9.30am to 5pm Sunday, with longer hours through the summer. It closes on only a handful of days a year, usually Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and St Stephen's Day. Time slots book up fast, so checking ahead is essential.Best time to visit:
Midweek is the quietest stretch of the week: Tuesday to Thursday, on one of the first slots after the doors open. If you'd rather time your rooftop pint with the sunset over the Dublin skyline, a late afternoon slot works just as well.Tickets & entry:
Your general admission ticket covers the self-guided tour and a free pint of Guinness (or a soft drink) in the Gravity Bar at the end. On a My Ireland Tour, entry is already included in your tour price. One thing worth knowing: you can't carry a drink on the escalators, so if you're holding a pint you'll have to take the lift.Getting there:
Located in the Liberties, it's about a 20-minute walk from the city centre. If you'd rather not walk, hop on the Red Luas line and get off at the James's stop. The brewery gates are a short walk from there.Kids:
Children are more than welcome. Under-18s get a soft drink at the top instead of a pint, and there's plenty of colourful, sensory stuff on the advertising floors to keep them somewhat entertained.Accessibility & facilities:
The building is fully accessible. There are lifts to all seven floors, accessible toilets throughout, and plenty of ramps, making it very straightforward to get through with a wheelchair or a buggy. The escalators only run upwards, so the lifts are also the way back down for anyone who can't manage the stairs.What to bring:
Comfortable shoes. Even with the lifts, you'll be doing plenty of standing and walking as you make your way up through the seven floors.
Considerations from the experts
We never send our guests anywhere we don't know and love ourselves. Based on our own trips to the Guinness Storehouse, and plenty of chats with the people who work there, here's exactly what you need to know before you go.
It's an exhibition, not a working factory:
One of the most common mistakes visitors make is expecting a gritty industrial tour of the working brewery. While St James's Gate is a huge, active brewery, the Storehouse itself is a modern exhibition centre. You won't see the actual factory floor, so go in expecting a high-tech, interactive museum experience rather than a behind-the-scenes factory walk.Not a drinker?
Don't let the subject matter put you off. The sheer scale of the building, the deep dive into local Dublin history, and the views over the city from the top mean you'll enjoy it just as much, even if you never touch a drop of the black stuff.Crowds & getting a seat:
It gets absolutely jammed. Friday afternoon through Sunday, roughly noon to 4pm, is the worst of it. July and August are the busiest months, and the weeks around St Patrick's Day and Christmas fill up fast too. Part of that is structural: the venue admits several coach groups at the same time, so a scrum is not your tour operator's doing. Because the tour is self-guided, bottlenecks form fast, and the worst of them are the gift shop, the tasting stations on the way up, and the Gravity Bar at the top. People settle in up there and stay put, so a spot with a clear view is close to impossible at peak times. If squeezing through a crowd for your pint doesn't appeal, book a midweek morning slot instead.How much walking is involved:
Seven floors, and you'll be on your feet for the duration. Escalators connect the exhibition floors but only run upwards, so you ride up and come back down by lift or stairs. The descent is the slow part: the tour ends in the Gravity Bar, so a whole slot's worth of people wants the lift at once, the lifts hold about four, and priority goes to older visitors and anyone with mobility issues. If you're on a coach with a fixed departure time, allow a good ten minutes to get from the top floor back to the coach.Photography:
Most of the interior is genuinely dark, which is the thing that catches people out. A phone copes well enough, but a proper camera will need its ISO pushed up, and you'll get far more decent shots from the neon signage and the backlit copper than from the general exhibition floors. Upstairs in the Gravity Bar, shooting through the thick curved glass throws back a lot of glare, so try getting your lens right up against the pane to cut out the reflections.Mobility & access:
The venue does a good job with accessibility. There are wide doorways and lifts to every level, meaning visitors with limited mobility can access the exact same exhibits and views as everybody else.
Options and inclusions
The walkthrough below describes the standard "Storehouse Experience" admission ticket. This covers your self-guided walk up through the seven exhibition floors, the history and ingredients displays, the tasting rooms, and your final drink up in the Gravity Bar. The venue also offers paid add-ons, like the "Stoutie" (getting your selfie printed on top of the head of a pint) or the Guinness Academy, where you learn how to pour your own pint behind the bar.
If you're visiting the Storehouse as part of a vacation with us at My Ireland Tour, your standard entry is fully included in your tour price. All entry tickets are 100% included. We handle the time slots and the bookings, so you can skip the logistics and just enjoy the tour. If your tour is with another provider, or you're travelling independently, you'll need to book directly. Prices can vary depending on the time of day, so checking the official Guinness Storehouse website for off-peak rates is always a smart move.
A step-by-step walkthrough of the Guinness Storehouse
The self-guided layout means you can move at your own speed. The tour naturally pushes you upwards through the building, floor by floor, saving the best view for last. Here's how the journey usually goes.
Start on the ground floor
Right at the base of the glass atrium, you'll find Arthur Guinness's original 9,000-year lease safely encased in the floor. This level breaks down the four core ingredients of stout: water, barley, hops, and yeast, complete with a huge, illuminated indoor waterfall.
Feel the heat of the roast
Guinness gets its famous dark colour from roasting the barley at exactly 232°C. On the first floor, you get to step right up to a fiery exhibit that lets you feel the heat of the roasting process, learning exactly how the master brewers pull those coffee and chocolate notes out of the grain.
Master the tasting ritual
Right beside the brewing exhibits, before you get a full pint, the tasting runs across two connected rooms. In the first, a stark white sensory room, guides hand you a tiny sample glass and show you how to actually taste it rather than gulp it. From there you step into the Velvet Chamber, which is black and darkly lit, for the second half.
Walk through the brewing history
Higher up, the exhibition turns to the brewing process itself and to how the stout left Dublin. You're surrounded by vintage machinery, polished copper pipes, and old wooden transport barrels, with the shipping story spread across the next two floors. It's a nod to the heavy, dirty industrial work that used to happen right here in the Liberties.
Explore the advertising floor
Arguably the most colourful part of the building, and for a lot of visitors the highlight. You walk through decades of award-winning campaigns, from the balancing toucans and whistling oyster to the surfing horses, and it's the old enamel signs and the redrawn logo that make it. Rupert Guinness set the standard: "The quality of our advertising must be equal to the quality of the beer."
Finish with a pint in the Gravity Bar
The final payoff is right at the top. You hand over your ticket token, and the bar staff pour you a perfect pint of plain. With its floor-to-ceiling glass walls, the Gravity Bar gives you unobstructed 360-degree views right across the Dublin skyline and out to the Wicklow Mountains.
Where to Eat & Drink Nearby
You don't have to leave the building to grab a bite. The Storehouse has its own 1837 Bar & Brasserie on the fifth floor, which pairs a menu of Irish classics with their stouts, and Arthur's Bar if you just want a slightly quieter spot for a drink than the rooftop.
The Storehouse is a real spectacle, but it is undoubtedly a major tourist attraction rather than a cosy local. If you want to step out into the streets of Dublin for a more authentic atmosphere, you're right in the heart of the Liberties. A five-minute walk down Thomas Street brings you to Arthur's Pub (not to be confused with Arthur's Bar inside the Storehouse). It's a traditional, fire-lit spot known for great live music and hearty pub grub. (If you don't mind travelling slightly further, The Cobblestone Pub in Smithfield is also legendary for its authentic Irish music).
