Dublin City Council is determined to get you walking, and you might well do some talking while you’re at it. In 2007, the council started the Let’s Walk and Talk guided walking tours, a free service that brings people to sights around the capital. What was initially a set of 14 walks quickly became a regular event for the council.

“The crowds were increasing all the time. By the end of it, we were saying it would be such a shame to leave it at this,” says Ronan O’Donnell of Dublin City Council. “We decided to start up a couple of weekly walking groups. It’s really taken off.”

There’s plenty of diversity in the walking activities on offer. The main staple of the scheme are its regular weekly walks. These 90-minute excursions across different parts of the city incorporate activities to help the participants to learn more about Dublin. Several of the events also provide refreshments afterwards to enable a more sociable atmosphere.

“The health benefits are important but the social benefits involved are huge and the walks are obviously educational as well,” says O’Donnell.

On top of the regular walks, several special events, which include historical walking tours, are organised. Past events have included wildlife trips to Bull Island and Sandymount, as well as an historical tour along the Royal Canal.

“For March and April we have absolutely tonnes coming up,” says O’Donnell. “For March, we have a walk entitled ‘Great Women of Dublin’, which is for International Women’s day. There’s going to be an after event for that with a play.”

March also sees the council organise a walk following St Patrick’s legacy, visiting monastic locations around Dublin. Another upcoming tour will be the Legal Dublin walk, which will look at the city’s legal quarter.

The themed events continue through April. “We’re linking with the One City One Book initiative. Every year the libraries pick a book to focus on, this year it’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” says O’Donnell. “This year we are running about seven tours on Dublin’s writers. For the one on Stoker, we’re going to Dublin Castle and they are going to put on a screening for us,” he says.

“Social inclusion week also takes place in April and we’re going to have a walk with the visually impaired,” says O’Donnell.

This event will be linked in with the National League of the Blind’s walking group and the National Council for the Blind in Ireland. It will include an historical tour for the visually impaired around the Five Lamps, which will also form part of the Five Lamps Arts festival.

With such a diverse selection of events to choose from, there’s no reason not to put on your walking shoes and join a tour.