If you're planning to visit Dublin and various Bono/U2-related areas, the first thing you'll have to realise is that U2 maintain a deliberately subtle presence. There are no grandiose gestures to mark the band out as coming from Dublin, despite the bestowing of the Freedom of the City of Dublin to them in March 2000. Believe me - I've tried to get people excited about them, but over here U2 are looked upon with acceptance rather than awe.

It was at 10 Cedarwood Road, in the suburb of Ballymun, that Bono was raised. In the 1960s, it was an area that virtually bordered the countryside, but it's clear the region has stayed with the singer, as he has mentioned aspects of it in his lyrics throughout U2's recording career. A few miles east from Ballymun is Mount Temple School, Dublin's first comprehensive, multi-denominational and co-educational school. It was here, perhaps, that the most important part of U2's history was initiated in 1977, when drummer Larry Mullen Jr placed an ad on the school notice board looking for like-minded people to join a rock band, then called The Hype. Sadly, venues where U2 first made an impact, such as The Dandelion Market and McGonagles, are long gone, though you'll still meet folk who insist they were regulars in those early days.

However, on North Earl Street, just off the main thoroughfare of O'Connell Street, in the centre of Dublin, you can still see Bonavox, the hearing aid shop whose name gave the U2 singer his moniker. It means 'good voice' in Latin, and if you speak to the lady nicely, she may give you a Bonavox pen as a souvenir. South from O'Connell Street, on Wellington Quay, is The Clarence Hotel, which borders the edge of the city's tourist hot-spot, Temple Bar. Bought by U2 in 1992, the hotel is one of Dublin's finest, with its Octagon Bar easily one of the most stylish in the city, plus the cutting edge dance nightclub, The Kitchen.

A short distance east along the quays, still on the south side of the River Liffey, is Windmill Lane, the original home of the studios where U2 recorded many of their albums. Here the U2 wall of graffiti has become famous through the years, as fans worldwide have travelled to scrawl their often indecipherable messages on it. Nearby are the Hanover Quay Studios, where the band recorded 'All That You Can't Leave Behind', the 'Rock Album of the Year'-winner at the recent Grammy Awards. These are one of the main Dublin-based recording studios that U2 use, along with Westland Studios and Totally Wired.

What else to see and do if you are desperately seeking Bono? Well, if you're thirsty, there's always The Dockers Pub, on Sir John Rogerson's Quay, close to Windmill Lane and just down the road from U2's Principle Management offices. This pub has been known to serve the occasional member of the band and their crew whenever they're in Dublin. It is the ideal spot to say "Cheers Bono!"