The train ride to Dublin's surprising coastline

Most visitors don't realise Dublin has a coastline. Now, a newly expanded rail trail makes it easy to explore the world's only capital city within a Unesco Biosphere Reserve.

I'm heading away from Dublin city centre, watching high rises, graffitied overpasses and traffic queues give way to pasturelands and swathes of red valerian swaying against the rails. Meadows of wild carrot and hawkbit break into wide expanses of boat-flecked open sea. It’s a Monday morning in June and I have the northbound Irish Rail almost entirely to myself.

When most visitors think of Dublin, they picture Temple Bar's pubs, Georgian streets and literary legends. Yet Ireland's capital also sits on Dublin Bay, the world's only capital-city Unesco Biosphere Reserve, recognised for the way its wildlife and human inhabitants coexist in a working urban landscape.

"Most people don't even know there is a coast," says Helen Cole of Fáilte Ireland, the country's national tourism development authority. "They weren't even aware that Dublin City, our capital city, is sitting on this amazing bay."

That is why the Dublin Coastal Trail was created: to encourage travellers to venture beyond the city centre and explore more than 65km (40 miles) of Ireland's east coast. Launched in 2022 and expanded this year, the self-guided route links 16 seaside communities by rail. And while you could ride the entire route in about 90 minutes, the real reward lies in hopping off to explore fishing villages, medieval castles, dramatic cliff walks, wildlife-rich beaches and some of Ireland's finest seafood.

It takes 45 minutes to reach the trail's northernmost point at seaside Balbriggan. As we glide into the station, I spot a pale beach with a lighthouse-tipped breakwater stretching into the sea. Within moments, I'm on the sand amid lulling waves. Around me seniors in swimming caps wade into the water while schoolchildren roll up their trousers to hop among scavenging ravens and gulls.

The Dublin Coastal Trail runs through 16 coastal communities, from Balbriggan in the north to Killiney in the south. Balbriggan, Skerries, Donabate and Malahide are served by Irish Rail; at Malahide, transfer to the Dart for the remaining stops towards Killiney. Check timetables before travelling, particularly at weekends, and bring waterproof clothing and sturdy shoes: coastal weather can change quickly.

Despite being less than an hour from Dublin, it feels like another world entirely, and despite having visited the city many times, I've never ventured this far. Before setting off, I'd asked a few city-based friends if they'd ever explored the coast themselves. They looked at me as though I'd suggested another galaxy.

"A lot of Dubliners live in these villages," says Cole, who was born and raised........

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