Hillcrest Park

Put down your laptop, close the door to your student accommodation and take a short trip into the heart of Dublin. With a history of famous scholars, the city is home to incredible bookstores where you can browse the shelves, like The Gutter Bookshop. While you’re in the vibrant Temple Bar area, get your culture fix at The Gallery of Photography -- like many of the city’s museums and galleries, entry is free. At night you’re spoilt for choice with plays at theatres like Abbey Theatre, incredible pub crawls or evenings spent at gigs in live music venues like Whelan’s.

Allow yourself 20 minutes to walk to lectures at Dublin City University, or jump on your bike to be there in half the time. Walk up the street from your door to get the bus into the city centre, which is around 20 minutes’ away by bus. If you like a game of tennis or football, Johnstown Park playing fields are a couple of minutes’ walk away. You don’t have to go into the city to get a decent pint and a pub meal, you can pop out to Autobahn Bar and Restaurant and be back to the books in no time.

If you like cooking you’ll love making meals with your housemates in the large house you’ll share with up to eight others. There’s a fridge freezer, oven, microwave and kettle, so there’s no excuse not to make something tasty. Sit and eat in the bright kitchen diner where double patio doors flood the room with light. Dishes done, head to the lounge, settle down on the sofa and use the free Wi-Fi to message mates or catch up on your favourite TV show.

Depending on what your budget can stretch to, you can pick from a single room, double room or twin room with ensuite. You’ll have a wardrobe to keep all your belongings as well as a bedside table to pop your phone on at night. The bed linen will be all ready for you when you move in and you can stay on top of keeping it clean, along with your jeans and t-shirts, using the house’s washing machine. Iron a shirt using the ironing board and iron provided when you want to look sharp on your next night out.