This summer, like many other Irish summers, has brought a mix of scorchers and washouts! This unpredictability means that when we are blessed with a good, sunny day we need to get outside and embrace it (and top up our vitamin D).

Here is a countdown of my favourite places in Dublin and the surrounding area to go picnicking. My one piece of advice, pack sun-cream with your picnic, stop-ed-info.com!

1. Killiney Hill
   

   This is one to pack your sun-cream for! Overlooking the Irish Sea and only a stone’s throw from Killiney Beach, taking your picnic to Killiney Hill for the day won’t disappoint

2. Malahide Castle & Gardens

   About 5 minutes from Malahide DART station, Malahide Castle is definitely worth a visit. With an idyllic walk, decorated with beautiful, colourful flowers and plants, I would highly recommend taking your picnic out here. Why not visit the beach while you’re there too? Malahide Beach boasts lots of pretty shells

   
3. Phoenix Park
   

   There’s so much to see and do in the Phoenix Park, it really requires more than one day. Picnicking just outside the entrance to the zoo means you can just pop over to The Phoenix Café, the cutest coffee shop, for your brew (Who really enjoys tea from a flask?). Then cross the road and take a walk through the forest, you might ever catch a glimpse of a family of deer.

4. Wicklow Mountains National Park

   Want to get out of Dublin but don’t want to trek half-way across the country? Head on down to Wicklow and enjoy the beauty of Glendalough. I am yet to hear someone disagree with me when I say it is one of the most beautiful places in the country.

5. The Great Sugarloaf

   Want to feel like you deserve your picnic? Climb a mountain and you’ll surely be deserving of a feast. The Sugarloaf is suitable for all levels and the views on top are worth being breathless for.

   
6. Dun Laoghaire
   

   If you plan on having a picnic consisting of ice-cream, ice-cream and maybe some more ice-cream go to Dun Laoghaire! Are you an East Pier or a West Pier kind of person? You may just have to visit both!

7. Howth Head

   If you’ve never ventured out to Howth, get yourself on the DART right now! The walk around the Peninsula is excellently sign-posted, with a range of distances that can be embarked on. Although I haven’t come across a picnic spot per say (maybe I just haven’t been looking hard enough), there are plenty of scenic points where you can easily sit yourself down and enjoy the sea views with your ham and cheese sambos.

   
8. St. Stephen’s Green

   I couldn’t make a picnic list without including the iconic Stephen’s Green. Serviced by the Luas Green Line and a plethora of buses, St. Stephen’s Green is a perfect spot for catching up with friends and because it’s just off Dawson Street, your picnic can always spill into “a few drinks”.

9. Iveagh Gardens
   

   I consider the Iveagh Gardens the “Secret Garden” of Dublin. Located on Clonmel Street, just off Harcourt Street (we all know where that is!); the Iveagh Gardens is a spectacular little place with lots of green area for chilling out and a beautiful waterfall for the Instagram photo.

10. Merrion Square

    Despite living in Dublin for 5 years now, I only recently stepped foot in Merrion Square. What a gem of a spot! Right in the city centre and surrounded by a variety of delicious coffee shops, you’d be silly not to visit here at least once this summer.

Why not make up one of your DropChef salads for your picnic? Some of my favourites are the Mushroom Cobb Salad, the Chicken and Quinoa Salad and, probably my #1 salad this summer, the Potato Salad with The Happy Pear pesto. All are ideal for taking to a picnic in a lunchbox; just make sure you keep them cool if you’re including meat #FoodSafety

• Amy Meegan, BSc (Hons) Human Nutrition, UCD
• Facebook: The Baking Nutritionist
• Instagram: thebakingnutritionist