Which is better, the Guinness Storehouse or the Jameson Distillery?
The honest answer: which do you actually drink?
If it’s whiskey, or you’re curious about it, Jameson Distillery Bow St in Smithfield is the one. It’s smaller and more personal than the Storehouse, every visit is guided, and you finish with a proper tasting rather than a pint in a crowd.
A little history
John Jameson’s distillery has been on Bow Street since 1780. Whiskey isn’t distilled there any more. Production moved to Midleton in County Cork decades ago. But the old buildings around Smithfield are where the story starts, and the tour is built inside them.
Before Jameson, this whole quarter of the north inner city smelled of malt and smoke. Now it smells of coffee and craft beer. Progress, apparently.
The tours and prices
These are the official prices on the Jameson website (checked November 2026):
- Jameson Experience with Tasting (the main tour), from €26, 45 minutes. A fully guided tour, a comparative tasting of three Jameson whiskeys, and a Jameson cocktail.
- Experience with Tasting & Cask Draw, from €41, 60 minutes. The same tour with an extra tasting drawn straight from the cask.
- Secret Whiskey Tasting, €40, 45 minutes. A guided tasting of four premium whiskeys in John Jameson’s “secret office”, in a small group.
- Cocktail Making Class, €60, 60 minutes.
- Black Barrel Blending Class, €60, 90 minutes. You blend your own whiskey.
- Redbreast Tasting, €50, 60 minutes.
For a first visit, the main tour is all you need. If you already know you like whiskey, the blending class is the one people come back raving about.
Book Jameson Distillery Bow St tours on the official site
Not drinking? Bringing children?
There’s a non-alcoholic ticket for €15 on the main tour, so you can come along with someone who is drinking.
Children are welcome on the main tour only. Under-12s go free, and anyone 12 or over needs a €12 ticket. The premium tastings are full-price tickets for everyone, with no non-drinker option.
Do you need to book?
The main tour leaves roughly every 15 to 30 minutes and gets busy, especially in the afternoons and at weekends. Book online, or at least arrive early.
Getting there
The distillery is on Bow Street, just off Smithfield Square in Dublin 7, about 15 minutes’ walk west along the quays from O’Connell Bridge.
- Luas: Red Line to Smithfield, which leaves you right on the square.
- Walking: follow the north quays west from O’Connell Bridge, past the Four Courts, and turn right up Church Street or Bow Street. Smithfield is a couple of minutes from the river.
Whiskey elsewhere in Dublin
Jameson isn’t the only whiskey stop in town any more. Within walking distance of the Guinness Storehouse in the Liberties, Roe & Co runs whiskey and cocktail experiences in the old Guinness power station, and there are several newer distilleries around the area. The Liberties is becoming Dublin’s whiskey quarter again, two hundred years after it first was.
And then there are the pubs. A good Dublin pub will have a whiskey list longer than the food menu. We’ve written about the ones that let you sit quietly in hidden pubs that still let you sit in silence.
What’s nearby
- Smithfield Square itself, once a cattle and hay market, now with bars and cafés.
- The National Museum at Collins Barracks, free, about ten minutes’ walk west. Decorative arts and history, in a huge old barracks. See our guide to Dublin museums.
- The Phoenix Park beyond that, which will trick you into a 12km walk.
Jameson Distillery FAQs
How much is the Jameson Distillery tour?
The main Jameson Experience with Tasting starts from €26 for 45 minutes.
Is Jameson still made in Dublin?
No. It’s distilled in Midleton, County Cork. Bow Street is the original distillery building and now the visitor experience.
Can non-drinkers do the tour?
Yes. There’s a €15 non-alcoholic ticket for the main tour.
Jameson or Guinness Storehouse?
Guinness for the building and the view. Jameson for a smaller, guided visit and a better tasting. If you’ve time, do both, but maybe not on the same afternoon.
Prices checked on the official Jameson website, November 2026.
Plan the rest of your trip with our guide to things to do in Dublin.