Guides ·Day trips

The drive north and where to park

Dublin sits directly north of Upper Arlington along the same river, and the pleasant way to get there is Riverside Drive rather than the highway. From Kingsdale, head north on Tremont Road to Fishinger Road, west to Riverside Drive, then north past Griggs Reservoir and the Scioto's wooded bends. It is 8 to 12 miles and about 20 minutes without traffic. The alternative, I-270 west to US-33, is faster at rush hour but dull. Either way you arrive in a suburb of about 50,000 that has spent 20 years building something genuinely walkable.

Parking is free everywhere in Dublin, including the structured garages at Bridge Park, which is the single best reason to base a day here rather than downtown Columbus. Aim for the Bridge Park garages off Longshore Street or the small lots in Historic Dublin along North High Street. On weekends, Historic Dublin fills first, so use Bridge Park and cross the pedestrian bridge on foot. During the Dublin Irish Festival in early August or Memorial Tournament week in June, expect shuttle systems and plan an extra 30 minutes.

Historic Dublin and the Dublin Link

Historic Dublin is a handful of blocks of limestone buildings along North High Street, some dating to the 1830s and 1840s, quarried from the same local stone that paved much of early Columbus. It is small, which is the point: a morning of independent shops, a bakery, an old-school tavern and Indian Run Falls Park hidden immediately behind the commercial strip, where a short trail leads to a modest but genuine waterfall in a limestone gorge. Give the whole thing 90 minutes to two hours, more if you shop.

The Dublin Link, opened in 2020, is the connector and the landmark: a 760-foot single-tower S-shaped suspension bridge for pedestrians and cyclists spanning the Scioto between Historic Dublin and Bridge Park. It is free, open all hours, and the best photograph in the northwest metro at dusk when the tower lights come up. Riverside Crossing Park sits at the east landing with lawns, an amphitheater and river overlooks. Walk it in both directions, because the view back toward the old village is better than the view out.

Bridge Park and lunch

Bridge Park is the new-build district on the east bank, mixing apartments, offices, hotels and about two dozen restaurants along Longshore Street and Bridge Park Avenue. The anchor for visitors is North Market Bridge Park, a satellite of the historic downtown market with a dozen or so counters serving everything from Middle Eastern plates to ice cream, with most lunches landing between $12 and $18. It has indoor seating, a rooftop bar upstairs, and reliable restrooms, which makes it the natural midpoint of any Dublin day.

If you want a table rather than a tray, the district has steakhouses, sushi, a pizzeria and several patios facing the river, generally $18 to $35 for a main. Coffee is easy here too. The AC Hotel Columbus Dublin sits in the middle of it if you decide to stay over at $150 to $220. In warm months the outdoor seating along the promenade fills by 6 pm on Fridays, so either eat early or book. Everything is walkable within about 10 minutes of the garages.

Public art, parks and the odd stuff

Dublin takes public art seriously and two pieces are worth a detour. The Field of Corn on Frantz Road is 109 human-height concrete ears of corn standing in rows on a former farm field, officially titled Field of Corn with Osage Orange Trees, installed in 1994 and now the most photographed object in the suburb. It is free, open dawn to dusk, and takes 15 minutes. Chief Leatherlips, a 12-foot limestone portrait head built into a hillside at Scioto Park on Riverside Drive, honors the Wyandot leader executed in 1810 and is equally free.

For green space, Scioto Park has river frontage and an amphitheater, Glacier Ridge Metro Park northwest of the city has boardwalks and a wetland observation tower, and the Dublin bike path network runs for dozens of miles with the Scioto as its spine. Cyclists can ride from Bridge Park north along the river for an easy hour. All Metro Parks are free and open from dawn until dark, and none of them charge for parking, which keeps a family day in Dublin close to the cost of lunch.

Golf, festivals and timing your visit

Muirfield Village Golf Club, designed by Upper Arlington's own Jack Nicklaus and opened in 1974, sits on the northwest side of Dublin and is private. The public window is the Memorial Tournament in early June, when grounds tickets run roughly $85 to $110 a day and the whole suburb reorganizes around shuttle lots. If golf is why you came, that week is the trip, and hotel rates across the northwest metro double, so book months ahead. Outside tournament week you can only view the club from the road.

The other date to know is the Dublin Irish Festival, held the first full weekend of August at Coffman Park and billed as one of the largest three-day Irish festivals anywhere, with multiple stages, dance competitions and admission generally in the $20 to $28 range per day. It is genuinely good, and it is also the one weekend when driving up Riverside Drive from Upper Arlington takes twice as long. Otherwise, Dublin is quiet and easy any day of the week, and Sunday mornings are the calmest.

How to build the day

The tight version: leave Upper Arlington at 9:30 am, park at Bridge Park, walk the Dublin Link into Historic Dublin, do Indian Run Falls and the shops until noon, cross back for lunch at North Market Bridge Park, then drive 10 minutes to the Field of Corn and Scioto Park in the afternoon. Home by 5 pm. Total cost for two people is about $40 including lunch and gas, since parking and all the sights are free. That is the cheapest half-decent day out from Upper Arlington that does not involve a state park.

The extended version adds Glacier Ridge Metro Park or a bike ride along the Scioto trail in the afternoon, then dinner on a Bridge Park patio and a walk back over the illuminated bridge after dark. If you have children, swap the metro park for the play areas at Riverside Crossing Park and add ice cream. Either way, you are 20 minutes from your Upper Arlington base the whole time, which makes Dublin the ideal half-day when weather or energy rules out a longer drive.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask before they set off on this one.

Rooms worth pairing with this guide.

Dublin Embassy Suites by Hilton Columbus Dublin

4.3/5 $217/ night

Dublin Marriott Columbus Northwest

4.4/5 $223/ night

Dublin Holiday Inn Express Columbus Dublin by IHG

4.4/5 $180/ night

24 with a full page

More guides to Upper Arlington

All guides

Itineraries · 9 min read 48 hours in Upper Arlington

Two nights, one small city of about 36,000 people, and roughly 12 square miles of parks, 1920s architecture and shopping centers you can cover almost entirely on foot and by short drives.

Itineraries · 10 min read One week in Upper Arlington

Seven days built around a single base, with 5 days inside Upper Arlington's parks and shopping centers and 2 days reaching out to Dublin, downtown Columbus and the countryside.

Itineraries · 9 min read Upper Arlington in 3 days on a budget

Three days for roughly $340 per person including a $120-a-night room, built on free parks, $2.00 bus fares and lunches under $10.

Find a hotel